The Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to begin the biggest slate of movies and tv shows in its history. After 23 movies coming in the span of nearly a dozen years with the Infinity Saga, Phase 4 of the MCU consists of at least a combined 25 projects releasing in theaters and on Disney+.
While this new expansion of the MCU will bring sequels for characters from the Infinity Saga and introduce dozens of new heroes, one notable omission in this group is a full-fledged Avengers movie . Considering how jam-packed the next three years are with Marvel projects, it seems to make sense that it will be awhile until Earth's Mightiest Heroes team up for another massive blockbuster adventure.
That doesn't mean the team behind the MCU isn't planning more Avengers stories if the man behind it all is to be believed.
NEWS
In a recent interview with IGN , Marvel CCO Kevin Feige took some time during the WandaVision press junket to look ahead to a potential fifth Avengers movie. While no plans are confirmed for Avengers 5 yet, Feige confirmed that it will happen by saying "I would have to think so. I would have to say yes, at some point."
Feige reiterated that while Phase 4 doesn't have an Avengers movie included yet, the new slate is focused on "beginnings" for new heroes before they join forces against the next big bad:
“We had a movie this year called Avengers: Endgame, and it is very much an ending, as you saw, to so many of those characters. So Phase 4 is about beginnings, and Phase 4 is about learning new things about characters you already think you know, like Black Widow; meeting incredible new characters like The Eternals and Shang-Chi."
WHAT THIS MEANS
Phase 4 will have ten new releases in 2021, followed up by twelve in 2022. While the only movies confirmed for 2023 or later are James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 and Jon Watts' Fantastic Four , it's a guarantee that the slate for that year will be close to as full as the two before it.
Nearly half of the projects confirmed for Phase 4 will be centered around heroes never seen before in the MCU, which will potentially give the Avengers a fresh look after their four previous blockbuster movies. After Avengers: Endgame brought together nearly every character utilized in the Infinity Saga , the franchise needs some time to recharge and introduce new faces before another team-up mission.
With that being said, the Avengers series is the crown jewel of Marvel Studios after the four films to this point earned more than $7.7 billion combined at the box office. With new heroes like Simu Liu's Shang-Chi and Mahershala Ali's Blade in the movies, plus Disney+ stars like Dominique Thorne's Ironheart and Iman Vellani's Kamala Khan, Earth's Mightiest Heroes will be in good hands no matter when Marvel Studios plans out Avengers 5 .
