The MCU is getting really, really Canadian. These stars are leading the charge

With She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel fresh in our minds, and new Deadpool and Shang-Chi titles on the horizon, there's one thing undeniably in the MCU's future: Canada.

With the conclusion of its fourth phase of movies — and plans for both the fifth and sixth in the works — the Marvel Cinematic Universe is quickly becoming more Canadian than it's ever been. Here, CBC News breaks down some of those projects, and the wealth of Canadian talent you can expect to see influencing the media juggernaut in the future.

While Marvel fans are getting to know her as the six-foot-seven-inch, fourth-wall-breaking, lean green legal machine, others up north may know Tatiana Maslany better from her work on Orphan Black. The Regina-born actress's work on the show saw her win Canadian Screen Awards and become the first Canadian actress in a Canadian drama series to win an Emmy, but she's now playing Jennifer Walters — a.k.a. She-Hulk — in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. 

The series is the MCU's latest Phase 4 production, and, after it concludes in October, will be one of its last. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will close out the studio's current arc when it premieres in November, with The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special serving as an "epilogue," according to director James Gunn. 

Maslany's turn in the MCU comes just after another Canadian actress's — Markham, Ont.'s Iman Vellani. Vellani stars as the titular Ms. Marvel in the Disney+ series, becoming the first Muslim superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

"Film and TV literally shape how we see people in this world. And so, you know, when you're only representing Muslims in a certain type of light, it gets very one-note," she said at her Toronto red-carpet debut in June.

"I'm so glad that Marvel's providing space for a character like Kamala to exist and to just take up space and tell a very specific story about a very specific girl."

While Ms. Marvel concluded its first — and potentially only — season in mid-July, Vellani is already set to return in 2023's film The Marvels. There, Vellani's character Kamala Khan will team up with Brie Larson's Captain Marvel.

Simu Liu's Shang-Chi was a first in more than one way. The Kim's Convenience alumni became the first Canadian actor to headline an MCU production (technically — more on that later) back in 2021.

Then, Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings was the first film premiering during the pandemic to make over $200 million US at the domestic box office, helping to cement the fact studios could release their movies in theatres instead of continuing to delay them. 

It was also the first Marvel movie to rest on the shoulders of a new superhero since Captain Marvel in 2019. After Avengers: Endgame saw the departure of Iron Man, Captain America and Black Widow, Shang-Chi's success proved that audiences were willing to stick with the MCU brand despite an inevitable shakeup in its cast.

Marvel confirmed a sequel is in the works soon after the film's release, though there isn't a premiere date yet. As an added bonus, the Shang-Chi comic books have been drawn by Toronto's Marcus To since February of this year. 

But before Liu, Vancouver's Ryan Reynolds was helping to make the world of Marvel more Canadian. Reynolds played Deadpool in a number of movies, though due to rights issues with 20th Century Fox he was never technically part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But since the Walt Disney Company completed its purchase of Fox in 2019, that's all set to change.

Back in January, Marvel head Kevin Feige confirmed the studio is working on a Deadpool 3 script with Reynolds, which will be rated R and finally introduce the "merc with a mouth" into the MCU.