With its extensive slate confirmed at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel has finally revealed the way forward for the MCU. However, even as films like Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars show what the individual projects are all building towards, there are still some endeavors that remain more self-contained.
This focus on more singular projects is not new to the MCU. Recent series, like Hawkeye and Moon Knight, prioritized character over the franchise, managing to create more grounded, personal journeys in doing so.
While the end posts that are the newly announced Avengers sequels and the exciting new branding of the Multiverse Saga indicate that Marvel is moving back into long-term storytelling mode, recent comments from an executive at the company show that these individual-focused projects aren't on the way out.
Feige Talks the Variety of Stories in Phase 5
Speaking with Brandon Davis at Phase Zero, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige talked briefly about what to expect from the upcoming projects that comprise Marvel's recently announced Phases 5 and 6.
After being asked to what degree upcoming post-credit scenes would help to sow the seeds of the larger Multiverse Saga, Feige stressed the variety of teases to expect, explaining that "some of the tags will connect, some of them won’t."
"Well, I think the truth is... all of the tags are never just about the future. There are tags that are eating shwarma, Captain America saying ‘You’ve gotta learn patience, sometimes you wait for something that’s not worth it.' So they are all always fun for us. We don’t want everything to feel the same. So some of the tags will connect, some of them won’t. "
Feige continued by applying this same line of thinking to future movies and shows themselves, noting that it's "important that we can have standalone introductory stories like Ms. Marvel."
"Some of the films and shows will connect, some of them won’t. I think it’s just as important that we can have standalone introductory stories like Ms. Marvel, like Moon Knight, in addition to things that interconnect and build towards the larger story. A lot of what we’ve been doing has been building to the larger story, obviously, with the Kang Dynasty and the Multiverse Saga. And now, I think people will, I hope, come along for the ride. Both where it’s on an express train to the finale and also when it’s a fun, as many of our Phase 1, 2, and 3 films were."
How Interconnected Will Phases 5 and 6 Be?
According to Feige, the future lineup of movies and television shows from Marvel will still leave room for more standalone stories. Even as this upcoming slate of projects falls within the newly coined Multiverse Saga, it seems that some projects will diverge from that overarching plot.
Looking at the diverse lineup of movies and TV coming down the pipeline, Feige's comments make a lot of sense. While names like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Loki season two seem to clearly pave the way for larger stories like Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, especially as they share a primary antagonist, others seem less clearly connected.
Echo and Daredevil: Born Again, for instance, while still likely great stories within the franchise, will almost certainly have less bearing on the Multiversal madness that seems destined to wreak havoc across the MCU. Even so, with so many storylines in play, from Skrulls and Thunderbolts to Multiversal hijinks, it still seems likely that these projects will still contribute in some way, at least more so than the notably disconnected Moon Knight.
With Feige's comments in mind, it seems clear that, for Marvel, quality storytelling is paramount, including teases for future projects only where appropriate. And, with the MCU's path forward clear, fans more concerned with the larger story chunks leading up to Avengers-level threats can hopefully relax, taking these more singular projects on their own terms.
