After the Endgame

Very soon, we will know what happens in The Avengers: Endgame. We will know how the story that we’ve been following for over ten years and across twenty-two movies comes to a close. This is the culmination of a storytelling project that has never before been attempted on film, and is obviously, without question, one of the most important moments in the narrative of cinematic history. But while it is all of these things, there is one thing it won’t be and that is “The End.”

Yes, while this movie does have a air of “finality” around it’s release, it will obviously not be the final movie in the MCU. Financially this is the most successful franchise in cinematic history, and there’s no way that they’re going to just call it quits after whatever happens in Endgame. (Full disclosure, I haven’t seen Endgame yet so any comments about what might happen in it are pure speculation) While Endgame might have some moments letting us know what will happen in Phase 4 and beyond, there is still very little that we can say for sure about the post Endgame storylines of Marvel. We do know that there doesn’t seem to be any sign of slowing down for Marvel. The release dates for the next ten Marvel movies have been announced (though what the movie’s are hasn’t been revealed yet) with three movies coming out every year between now and 2022. So while this could be a very different set of circumstances by this weekend, let’s see what might happen going forward in the MCU.

Things We Know for Sure:

While Endgame has been the major focus of Marvel for a year now, there have been a few stories that mention movies coming out after Endgame. The most obvious of these is of course Spider-Man: Far From Home, which is the other Marvel movie set to be released later this year, and the only Marvel movie to have an official release date at this time. We also know that James Gunn has been re-hired to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, so that’s back on the schedule though a release date hasn’t yet been announced for the movie. The other titles that have been officially announced are a Black Widow solo movie, a movie based on the Marvel character Shang-Chi, and a movie based on the Jack Kirby series The Eternals. These three movies are all moving forward in development with directors signing on and some casting being announced.

We also know that MCU content is being created for the Disney+ streaming service including a show about Loki, one about Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and one about Scarlet Witch and Vision. While there’s very little information about these shows other than the character’s they’re based on (When will they be released? How many episodes for each? Will they last more than one season? Where do they take place in the MCU timeline?) we do know they they’re supposed to be a part of MCU as a whole and because they’re being produced for Disney’s service, they may have a more integral part to the franchise than the Marvel Netflix shows had.

Things We Can Safely Assume

Right now, there’s not been a whole lot of discussion about sequels to Marvel movies, probably because a large percentage of the Avengers lineup is currently wiped out between Infinity War and Endgame. Of course while Marvel isn’t willing to come out and say that these sequels are happening or are already in production, there are plenty of people on the creative staff who have talked about working on these sequels. Even producer Kevin Feige has admitted to plans for a few of these sequels in interviews before.

Obviously with Black Panther having made more that a billion dollars worldwide, it’s ridiculous to assume that they would ever consider not making a Black Panther 2. The same can be said for Captain Marvel 2 as the first Captain Marvel also passed the billion dollar mark recently as well. While Doctor Strange didn’t have quite the level of success as the other two movies, it was still a huge hit for Marvel and will have a sequel as well. Going further out, while this may not be a part of Marvel’s three year plan from now to 2022, it’s safe to assume that at some point Marvel is planning to create their own versions of the X-Men series and Fantastic Four. These are the last two big pieces of the Marvel universe that have been owned by Fox for years, and now that Disney has bought 20th Century Fox, Marvel will finally get to create a version of these characters that exists in the MCU.

Other Possibilities

So what else might be happening? Even if every single movie mentioned above comes out in the next three years (which is unlikely) there are still some available slots on the calendar. So what else could Marvel be working on? One idea is a third Ant-Man movie. It’s the only movie (other than The Incredible Hulk) from the first two phases to not have a full trilogy completed or at least confirmed to be in the works. Sill, while the Ant-Man movies have made money comparable to Doctor Strange it’s still on the lower end of the Marvel box office. Another option is a fourth installment in the Thor franchise. While most people felt that the Thor movies had run their course after the second one, Thor: Ragnarok seemed to revive the franchise under a new director with a new look and feel to the movie. There has been renewed interest in the Thor franchise, including from director Taika Waititi and star Chris Hemsworth who have both talked about wanting to make another Thor centric film.

It’s also worth noting that these first twenty-two movies in the MCU are now being referred to as “The Infinity Saga” by Marvel, implying that while the franchise may continue in phases as it has done so far, a collection of phases could be considered a Saga, meaning that their next ten years of movies might eventually be seen as a saga as well. (Don’t think for a second that Marvel hasn’t already discussed their next ten years worth of movies even if the plan might not be complete nailed down to the last detail yet.) As we look to the future of the Marvel movies, it’s very possible that they could be getting more cosmic in nature. We know that there is an Eternals movie in the works, and that Adam Warlock was teased as a character at the end of the second Guardians of the Galaxy movie. With the positive reception to the Thor movies focusing on a more cosmic feel as well (there were spaceships in that movie. A lot of spaceships.) it’s very possible that this might be the direction that Marvel wants to go over the next ten years.

When Will We Find Out?

The Avengers: Endgame comes out at the end of April. Spider-Man: Far From Home comes out in July. Right after the release of Spider-Man will be Comic-con which will happen later that month. This could be a great time for Marvel to dominated the pop-culture news cycle with their post 2019 plans. Of course if they didn’t want to compete with whatever anyone else was trying to present at comic-con, Disney has their own expo one month later in August. Again, this would be a great place to announce what Marvel wants to do with their franchise moving forward.

Way back at the beginning of Phase three, a press conference was held announcing the titles and release dates of every movie. Of course things changed. Of course it didn’t turn out to be completely accurate. The Inhumans moved from being a movie to a tv show (one of the few failures of the MCU so far) and getting to bring Spider-man home caused a bit of shuffling down the line, but the key thing here was a major announcement announcing the next several years of the MCU all at once. Will we get something like this to announce phase 4? It’s hard to tell at this point. It will be impossible to recreate the hype machine of building toward Infinity War that they’ve had over the past several years, but the idea that people are growing tired of superhero movies doesn’t seem to be taking hold. But one of the biggest advantages that Marvel has  utilized over the last decade is their ability go non-stop. There’s always been something to look forward to, and in a few weeks that won’t be Endgame any longer. Sure there will be a well deserved victory lap for pulling off a twenty-two film saga the likes of which we’ve never seen before, but don’t be surprised if that victory lap includes more than a cursory glance toward the future.