Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige revealed one aspect of the MCU's Phase 6 that made the slate of movies and TV shows stand out and be better than all previous phases. After the success of the Infinity Saga, which culminated with the game-changing nature of Avengers: Endgame, the MCU has had its fair share of ups and downs since then, mostly due to the overwhelming number of projects that the studio released in Phase 4 and Phase 5.
Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo even voiced out the issues with the MCU's Phase 4, noting that Disney's "reinforced conservative approach" led to the increase of Marvel's output after Endgame, and this might be the biggest reason why the MCU has seen a dip in quality.
Disney CEO Bob Iger even acknowledged Marvel's problem, noting that the growing streaming content of the franchise resulted in fans' "diluted focus and attention:"
“Marvel’s a great example of that… They had not been in the TV business at any significant level. Not only did they increase their movie output, but they ended up making a number of television series, and frankly, it diluted focus and attention. That is, I think, more the cause than anything else.”
Phase 6 will look to fix those issues, and one interview from Marvel boss Kevin Feige may have revealed how the franchise will resolve and advance ahead of the next two Avengers movies.
Speaking with Gamesradar, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige shared how Phase 6 will be better than previous phases, pointing out that it is the "most focused phase:"
['The Fantastic Four: First Steps'] is kicking off Phase 6, for people who keep track of such things, which comes to a close in 'Secret Wars' and it very much is the most focused phase. I mean, we have it all already and it’s all in the works."
Feige continued by saying that the culmination of the MCU's Phase 6, which is Avengers: Secret Wars, will serve as the grand event in "bringing certain storylines to a close" while launching new ones:
"Not that you asked this question – but unlike Endgame, which really was an ending, we’d go, 'Where do we go from here? What do we do with this level of success and this level of finality?' Well, we used it to experiment. We used it to evolve and then we used it to expand – too much. Secret Wars, as in the comics, is as much about bringing certain storylines to a close as it is about launching a new one, and that’s what’s very exciting. We’re already well into development of the next saga."
Unlike Phase 4's slate of 18 projects and Phase 5's 15 movies and TV shows, Marvel Studios scaled back its content lineup to 11 projects—four confirmed movies and seven shows on Disney+. This move embraces the notion of quality rather than quantity, which already serves as a massive improvement.
The MCU's Phase 6 began with The Fantastic Four: First Steps on the big screen, and the movie lineup already includes Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Avengers: Doomsday, and Avengers: Secret Wars. The small-screen lineup has Eyes of Wakanda, Wonder Man, Marvel Zombies, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 2, The Punisher Special Presentation, Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, and Vision Quest.
Here's How Phase 6 Improves the MCU for the Better
While scaling back content is the first and necessary step to improve, the MCU's Phase 6 has a tall order to regain fans' interest, and it all boils down to the quality of projects in the current slate.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige's comments about having a more focused slate means that these projects, whether set on the same Earth or not, are building towards a singular story and bits and pieces of the grand storyline are sprinkled throughout (smaller projects like Eyes of Wakanda and Marvel Zombies even embraced the Multiversal element).
While The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a fresh project with new characters, Phase 6 already has a massive shift toward sequels anchored by familiar characters due to the launch of Spider-Man: Brand New Day and the expected star-studded lineup of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
The return of proven and established directors like the Russo Brothers and Destin Daniel Cretton is also an advantage for Phase 6, considering their respective success in the Marvel arena.
All in all, these Phase 6 projects would definitely help in helping fans to embrace the MCU again, and hopefully will carry over into their next planned saga.
