So in a lot of threads people are talking about what the death of Tony Stark means for the MCU, being the original superhero in it, the most popular, making the most money overall in his solo outings, and generally being the leader / quasi leader of the team and the bedrock for the identity of the MCU going forward.
Also at the time of posting numbers are still coming in but it's looking like Endgame is going to be a financial monster, grossing hugely in its opening weekend and busting down records. It's a given that it will be breaking the 2 billion mark at this point. Some posts have pointed out how difficult it would be to replicate that level of success again. Others have pointed out how 'unprecedented' most of the MCU has been in terms of critical and commercial success.
A recap-
Phase 1-
Iron Man
The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man 2
Thor
Captain America
Avengers
Phase 2-
Iron Man 3
Thor - The Dark World
Captain America - The Winter Soldier
Guardians of the Galaxy
Avengers - Age of Ultron
Ant Man
Phase 3-
Captain America- Civil War
Doctor Strange
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Spider-Man Homecoming
Thor- Ragnarok
Black Panther
Avengers- Infinity War
Ant Man and the Wasp
Captain Marvel
Avengers- Endgame
Spider-Man Far From Home
So there has been muted talk that the 'phase' concept is not what they are doing going forward, and that they are collectively calling Phase's 1-3 as "the Infinity Saga". Also the concept of phases is kinda marketing BS but whatever. What I think is more interesting is how they are all structured- Obviously Phase 1 has your origin movies, then a big world ending drama with Avengers. After Avengers, you have Iron Man 3 but a relatively muted instalment in that series that is much more personal and intimate, and less world ending and cosmic or crazy. From there you have seen Marvel actually make sure that it's not too many films where everything is too samey coming out together. A definite criticism of Phase 1 is everything looks a bit samey, and it's kind of true- I actually think Iron Man has a nice feel and look to it but Captain America and Thor aren't exactly huge lookers of films and Avengers directed by Whedon... love or hate the film but I think we can agree it's not the most unique looking film.
But after that they have clearly heard the criticism and made changes, So you see Thor 2 and Winter Solider coming out, followed up by the tonally different Guardians which also looks and feels very different, then Age of Ultron, then Ant Man. Phase 3 is the same, people say "superhero fatigue" but look at the differences in plots, stories, motivations, characters, visuals, sound, villain, heroes and tone between films like Guardians 2, Dr. Strange, Thor Ragnarok and Black Panther.
So we've had a few big cosmic films the last couple of years- Thor Ragnarok, Infinity War, Captain marvel, and Endgame. We are getting (assumably!) a palate cleanser in Spiderman Far from home. But lets look at what's been announced so far-
Confirmed-
2020- May and November
2021- February, May and November
2022- February, May and July.
They've also said at one point they have 20 films in the works in some sense but remember films can be changed (Civil War with Spidey, Avengers 3 becoming 2 films), cancelled (Inhumans) or pushed around (Guardians). Another point is things like say, Thor- After Ragnarok much was said about potentially doing more Thor films, whereas before you kind of assumed 3 was it for now. Now who knows? Another Thor flick? "Asgardians' of the galaxy? You get the idea that Marvel will follow a thread if it is working out better than expected.
Those release dates I'm not sure if they include Spiderman films though as well as technically they are done by Sony.
So 2020 May is basically confirmed as the Black Widow film as that is starting shooting in a bit over a month. 2020 November is looking like it's going to be the Eternals as it's due to start shooting in August. Of course the 'missing' third movie is Guardians 3 thanks to the Gunn controversy.
2021 films are heavily rumoured to be Dr. Strange 2, Black Panther 2, and Shang-Chi. All have deals done and directors signed, with Shang-Chi yet to be cast.
2022 is just light rumours at this point but since Gunn is filming Suicide Squad Reboot he should be done in time to do a Guardians 3. Taiki Waititi has talked about continuing with Marvel also. Surely Captain Marvel 2 at some point.
But does this mean it's potentially another 3 years, maybe more? Until another Avengers film? I can't see them doing it sooner to be honest, and what would the roster look like at this point?
So what is next? What films are coming up? People are very focused on the Fox property characters coming back but Feige has said that the plan for the next 5 years doesn't include them. Can we trust him? I think the next couple of years it'd be naive to expect them but I'd be surprised if say, Dr. Strange 2 passed us (Or Eternals!) without at least a post credits teaser, even if it's just of silver surfer, galactus, dr. doom, or something like that depending on what's being planned. But how will they introduce the X-Men? Gamma Burst from the stones being used so many times on Earth and the 5 year period having mutants in there? Fantastic Four banding together post snap to try to explore space? Dr. Doom ruling a country near Sokovia and turning evil due to the things happening?
And what non fox things will they do? Will they make the jump and generate a new superhero for the roster, not from the comics? Side characters / characters 'taking up the mantle'? Miles Morales? Kamala Khan?
And that's saying nothing of the Disney+ Shows announced in Wandavision, Hawkeye, Loki and Falcon & Winter Soldier. Can these type of shows going forward fill the gaps in that weren't being filled so far? The best example I can see is WandaVision- you have only seen these characters in 3 films, and they go from being introduced, meeting and then dying for eachother in the same of perhaps 20 minutes of actual relationship screentime. A show in between would have sold it a lot better, and they might have that in planning in the future.
So what's next? Who will the next avengers team be? What films will be announced? What fox properties make it in first? What is the next big avengers film and who is the big bad? What cool ideas could the series introduce or flesh out?
Also at the time of posting numbers are still coming in but it's looking like Endgame is going to be a financial monster, grossing hugely in its opening weekend and busting down records. It's a given that it will be breaking the 2 billion mark at this point. Some posts have pointed out how difficult it would be to replicate that level of success again. Others have pointed out how 'unprecedented' most of the MCU has been in terms of critical and commercial success.
A recap-
Phase 1-
Iron Man
The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man 2
Thor
Captain America
Avengers
Phase 2-
Iron Man 3
Thor - The Dark World
Captain America - The Winter Soldier
Guardians of the Galaxy
Avengers - Age of Ultron
Ant Man
Phase 3-
Captain America- Civil War
Doctor Strange
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Spider-Man Homecoming
Thor- Ragnarok
Black Panther
Avengers- Infinity War
Ant Man and the Wasp
Captain Marvel
Avengers- Endgame
Spider-Man Far From Home
So there has been muted talk that the 'phase' concept is not what they are doing going forward, and that they are collectively calling Phase's 1-3 as "the Infinity Saga". Also the concept of phases is kinda marketing BS but whatever. What I think is more interesting is how they are all structured- Obviously Phase 1 has your origin movies, then a big world ending drama with Avengers. After Avengers, you have Iron Man 3 but a relatively muted instalment in that series that is much more personal and intimate, and less world ending and cosmic or crazy. From there you have seen Marvel actually make sure that it's not too many films where everything is too samey coming out together. A definite criticism of Phase 1 is everything looks a bit samey, and it's kind of true- I actually think Iron Man has a nice feel and look to it but Captain America and Thor aren't exactly huge lookers of films and Avengers directed by Whedon... love or hate the film but I think we can agree it's not the most unique looking film.
But after that they have clearly heard the criticism and made changes, So you see Thor 2 and Winter Solider coming out, followed up by the tonally different Guardians which also looks and feels very different, then Age of Ultron, then Ant Man. Phase 3 is the same, people say "superhero fatigue" but look at the differences in plots, stories, motivations, characters, visuals, sound, villain, heroes and tone between films like Guardians 2, Dr. Strange, Thor Ragnarok and Black Panther.
So we've had a few big cosmic films the last couple of years- Thor Ragnarok, Infinity War, Captain marvel, and Endgame. We are getting (assumably!) a palate cleanser in Spiderman Far from home. But lets look at what's been announced so far-
Confirmed-
2020- May and November
2021- February, May and November
2022- February, May and July.
They've also said at one point they have 20 films in the works in some sense but remember films can be changed (Civil War with Spidey, Avengers 3 becoming 2 films), cancelled (Inhumans) or pushed around (Guardians). Another point is things like say, Thor- After Ragnarok much was said about potentially doing more Thor films, whereas before you kind of assumed 3 was it for now. Now who knows? Another Thor flick? "Asgardians' of the galaxy? You get the idea that Marvel will follow a thread if it is working out better than expected.
Those release dates I'm not sure if they include Spiderman films though as well as technically they are done by Sony.
So 2020 May is basically confirmed as the Black Widow film as that is starting shooting in a bit over a month. 2020 November is looking like it's going to be the Eternals as it's due to start shooting in August. Of course the 'missing' third movie is Guardians 3 thanks to the Gunn controversy.
2021 films are heavily rumoured to be Dr. Strange 2, Black Panther 2, and Shang-Chi. All have deals done and directors signed, with Shang-Chi yet to be cast.
2022 is just light rumours at this point but since Gunn is filming Suicide Squad Reboot he should be done in time to do a Guardians 3. Taiki Waititi has talked about continuing with Marvel also. Surely Captain Marvel 2 at some point.
But does this mean it's potentially another 3 years, maybe more? Until another Avengers film? I can't see them doing it sooner to be honest, and what would the roster look like at this point?
So what is next? What films are coming up? People are very focused on the Fox property characters coming back but Feige has said that the plan for the next 5 years doesn't include them. Can we trust him? I think the next couple of years it'd be naive to expect them but I'd be surprised if say, Dr. Strange 2 passed us (Or Eternals!) without at least a post credits teaser, even if it's just of silver surfer, galactus, dr. doom, or something like that depending on what's being planned. But how will they introduce the X-Men? Gamma Burst from the stones being used so many times on Earth and the 5 year period having mutants in there? Fantastic Four banding together post snap to try to explore space? Dr. Doom ruling a country near Sokovia and turning evil due to the things happening?
And what non fox things will they do? Will they make the jump and generate a new superhero for the roster, not from the comics? Side characters / characters 'taking up the mantle'? Miles Morales? Kamala Khan?
And that's saying nothing of the Disney+ Shows announced in Wandavision, Hawkeye, Loki and Falcon & Winter Soldier. Can these type of shows going forward fill the gaps in that weren't being filled so far? The best example I can see is WandaVision- you have only seen these characters in 3 films, and they go from being introduced, meeting and then dying for eachother in the same of perhaps 20 minutes of actual relationship screentime. A show in between would have sold it a lot better, and they might have that in planning in the future.
So what's next? Who will the next avengers team be? What films will be announced? What fox properties make it in first? What is the next big avengers film and who is the big bad? What cool ideas could the series introduce or flesh out?
