It looks as though Avengers 4 may be the last film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we currently know it.
When Avengers 4 hits theaters on May 3, 2019, it will mark the 22nd film in the MCU, and that looks like it may be a turning point for Marvel Studios.
Speaking with Collider, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige had some thoughts on what is to come.
We’ve been lucky that [contract expirations] haven’t factored in too much. We’ve had people under contract for certain films, then we’ve had new ideas and new directions like Civil War like we wanted to do, and we’ve been lucky enough to make new contracts. Or Spider-Man: Homecoming, the cast has been awesome in their enthusiasm for the direction and the storylines that we’ve been telling. So it really does, right now, all start with where we wanna take the stories. Certainly as we get to Infinity War there is a sense of a climax if not a conclusion to, by the time we’re at untitled Avengers 4, the 22 movies that will have encompassed the first three phases of the MCU. And what happens after that will be very different. I don’t know if it’s Phase 4, it might be a new thing.
This makes sense in a lot of ways. By the time we get to Avengers 4 Robert Downey Jr. will have been playing Iron Man for 11 years and will have appeared in three Iron Man films, four Avengers, one Hulk, one Captain America and one Spider-Man film. That’s a lot of times for one character. He can’t go on playing Stark for the rest of his life, and it will be time to bring in some fresh blood.
Additionally, all of the films have been building (very slowly) towards a confrontation with Thanos. Presuming he is defeated by the end of that 2019 film, there’s going to need to be a new endgame to work towards. Essentially Phases 1 through 3 have been the equivalent of a comic book event series with side stories. Now it will be time to move towards the next one.
Don’t worry… Marvel has plenty of big evils to work towards. Let us just hope it’s not the original version of the Beyonder. Oh yeah… dig that white jumpsuit.
So, here is what’s left over the next hew years in the schedule below. Clearly Marvel knows where things are going, it just isn’t telling us yet. Notice the second Spider-Man film comes after Avengers 4, and we know Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is coming, we just don’t know when yet.
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – May 5, 2017
- Spider-Man:Homecoming – July 28, 2017
- Thor: Ragnarok – Nov. 3, 2017
- Black Panther – Feb. 16, 2018
- Avengers: Infinity War – May 4, 2018
- Ant-Man and the Wasp – July 6, 2018
- Captain Marvel – Nov. 2018
- Avengers 4 – May 3, 2019
- Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 – July 5, 2019
- Untitled – May 1, 2020
- Untitled – July 10, 2020
- Untitled – Nov. 6 2020
I’m ready, Marvel. Bring it on.
