QUICK HEADS UP - this post is complete speculation on my part!
So, before there are any official announcements I thought it
would be quite interesting to discuss where the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) could go after Phase 3. More specifically what Marvel movies will feature in Phase 4.
If you’re a complete newbie and aren’t sure what I’m talking
about here’s a quick introduction…
What is the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe)?
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the overarching name given
to all the Marvel Studio produced movies released since Iron Man in 2008. It is
basically one big franchise with each movie acting as the next chapter in an
ongoing narrative. Although not every film is directly connected and there are
solo movies, all the movies are taking place in the same universe. The MCU does also technically include some of the Marvel TV productions, however the movies
rarely reference or acknowledge the TV shows so for the purpose of this I’m
just including the films.
What Are The MCU Phases?
The Marvel Studio movies have been split into phases so far,
with each phase building to or starting with a big event. Phase 1 finished with
the release of The Avengers in 2012. Phase 2 officially ended with Ant-Man
however arguably the big climax was Avengers: Age of Ultron. Phase 3 on the
other hand kicked-off with the huge Captain America: Civil War and is due to
finish with the even bigger Avengers 4 in 2019.
For clarity of the above points I’ve listed all the films in
the MCU and their respective phases below…
PHASE 1
- Iron Man
- The Incredible Hulk
- Iron Man 2
- Thor
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- The 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 4 (currently untitled)
Also, a little bit about how previous phases have been
announced….
In 2014 as we were nearing the end of Phase 2, Marvel
Studios held a press event where they announced the full slate of movies being
released as part of Phase 3. This was great for setting the road map, but it
had a few problems. For one it did spoil and remove some of the tension from
upcoming movies, i.e. if you know there’s a Captain America: Civil War movie
coming, you knew that Iron Man and Captain America were getting through Age of
Ultron all fine.
We have yet to have a similar conference for Phase 4, but to
be honest I’m not sure we will get one for a while (if at all). Kevin Feige (the
mastermind behind the MCU) has said the reason they’re not announcing the title
for Avenger 4 is because it’s a spoiler, so if you’re not announcing a title
you’re definitely not going to release a full slate of movies. We know that the
stakes are raised with Avengers: Infinity War, and with a lot of the main cast’s
contracts coming to an end there is a very real chance this will be the end for some characters. So, to my
previous point, that tension is somewhat removed if you know there’s a sequel
featuring a certain character in a few years.
So now that’s explained, let’s get in to the meat of the post…
What movies are likely to be in Phase 4 of the Marvel
Cinematic Universe?
At this moment in time the only confirmed movie in Phase 4
is the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming to be released in Summer 2019. However,
what makes this particularly interesting, is that as it stands, the Marvel
Studios / Sony deal to feature Spider-Man in the MCU ends with Homecoming 2.
However, Kevin Feige has stated that the sequel will start literally minutes
after the fourth Avengers film, which in theory heavily links it to the MCU. If
you know you’re not going to have Spider-Man feature in the MCU again after this
movie, then wouldn’t it be safer to do more of a standalone story? I wouldn’t
be surprised if they renegotiate the deal for more films or whether Homecoming
3 is already part of the plan.
To further support this theory, here are some more reasons… Historically,
each phase of the MCU has only featured one solo hero movie per phase. I think
that might change with a third Spider-Man movie. Why? Firstly, they are joint
ventures between Marvel Studios and Sony and therefore Sony is going to want to get as
much frequent business from Spider-Man as possible. Therefore they aren’t going
to want to wait for a whole phase (that usually span 4 years) to get another
Spider-Man movie released. Secondly, with Iron Man likely stepping down as the flagship super-hero for the MCU (more on that in a bit), Spider-Man is the
obvious replacement character, so it also benefits Marvel Studios.
If I was a betting man (and I was getting exactly what I wanted),
I’d suggest that the third Spider-Man movie will be a Sinister Six focused
story coming summer 2021.
Ok, what’s else…
It’s not officially scheduled, but we also know that Guardians
of the Galaxy Vol 3 is due with writer / director James Gunn confirming as much
during promotion of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol2. Although we didn’t get a date, I think it’s
safe to assume it will be one of the earlier movies in the Phase 4 schedule,
with a similar 3 year gap between direct sequels I’d guess you can expect this
May 2020.
However before that, I think there’s a good chance we see
Doctor Strange 2 in late 2019. Film sequels generally release every 2 – 3 years,
and we know there isn’t a 2018 film planned so 2019 makes perfect sense.
Likewise, even though we haven’t got their first instalments
yet, we are due Black Panther and Captain Marvel movies as part of phase 3 and
if successful no doubt both of these will get sequels in Phase 4 (a few years
after the original).
Ant-Man and the Wasp is due next summer, and Marvel
tend to like to do 3 movie for their solo characters so I’d suggest a
third Ant-Man movie sits happily in there too.
What about the big three? Iron-Man, Captain America and
Thor? This is tricky, but here are my thoughts…
Although all of the lead actors contracts for these movies end after Avengers 4, as far as I’m aware Chris Evans is the only one
publically stating it’s his last movie. Therefore, I don’t think they’ll be a
Captain America sequel in Phase 4, at least not a Steve Rogers Captain America
one. We could see Falcon or Winter Soldier take up the Captain America mantle as
per the comics, but whether they’d get their own solo film is debatable.
Robert Downey Jr isn’t getting any younger, but part of me
feels he may stick around for Phase 4, however I see this very much being in
cameo capacity, therefore I wouldn't expect to see Iron Man 4 per se.
Thor on the other hand I could see getting a fourth instalment,
the hype around Ragnarok definitely feels like there is a reinvigorated interest
in the character. The change of tone also makes this feel like a new franchise,
so if successful I could definitely see them building off of that with another
movie is a similar vein.
What will the Marvel Cinematic Universe build to in Phase 4?
Well, all the previous phases have essentially led to an
Avengers crossover and I believe that will continue in Phase 4. The team line
up will likely be drastically different to the one we got originally, but the Avengers
brand is strong so you’re definitely getting an Avengers named movie in Phase 4. The Thanos
and Infinity Stone saga will be over, but that doesn’t mean the Marvel
Cinematic Universe is slowing down anytime soon.
So with that in mind, this is what I see Phase 4 of the Marvel
Cinematic Universe looking like with respective release years (allowing for the
usual 2/3 year gap between direct sequels)…
Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 4 Releases*
- Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 (Summer 2019)
- Dr Strange 2 (Late 2019)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 (Summer 2020)
- Thor 4 (Summer 2020)
- Black Panther 2 (Late 2020)
- Spider-Man: The Sinister Six (Summer 2021)
- Ant-Man 3 (Summer 2021)
- Captain Marvel 2 (Late 2021)
- The NEW Avengers (Summer 2022)
I believe this is a fairly realistic selection of movies that
will make up Phase 4 of the MCU, I’m conscious all of these are sequels but
unless any of the original films not released yet completely bomb, you know
they’re getting follow-ups! I could see Thor 4 and / or Ant-Man 3 being replaced
with new solo character movie(s), but I think all the others are safe bets.
What do you think? Any other suggestions?
*My best guess, be interested to review this when we get some confirmations!
You could also throw in a spanner to the works regarding the dubious topic of certain rights returning to Marvel? With Sony riding high on Marvel's collaboration then why wouldnt Fox look at a similar deal? Definitely shouldnt be counted out. Then there is the possibility of a Blade reboot/Guardians spin off being touted and finally with the success of more obscure Marvel characters such as Ant Man and Dr Strange dont be surprised if a few more pop up like Moon Knight, Nova, She-Hulk, Ms Marvel et al to add to Marvel's already bulging stable.
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