With Ms. Marvel coming to an end, Thor: Love and Thunder smashing through the box office, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law on the horizon, the MCU's Phase 4 is well underway and has been thus far extremely successful. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and the other MCU creatives have done an incredible job mixing up the usual formula.
Each project increasingly becomes something very unique and perfectly molded for the characters it portrays.
Even though there are still many more Phase 4 projects yet to be released, Marvel fans are eager to hear more about what potential projects are in store. Theories abound about how Kang the Conqueror will shake up the Multiverse, how the Fantastic Four and X-Men will be introduced, and most of all: what grand threat will call the Avengers back together again?
Fans aren't the only ones who have been speculating, though. MCU actors and directors alike have shared their thoughts on what should come next and how the MCU is coming along. Joe and Anthony Russo, the brothers who helmed epics like Infinity War and Endgame, recently shared what they wanted to see from Phase 5.
Russo Brothers' Phase 5 Dreams
In a clip recently uploaded to Twitter by Variety, directors Joe and Anthony Russo were asked what they want to see in Phase 5 movies and shows within the MCU. Their answer? "More of what they're doing" with "more adventurousness, exploration, experimentation:"
Joe: "Oh wow."
Anthony: "Just more of what they're doing. Just more adventurousness, exploration, experimentation. Just taking us to surprising places."
Joe: "Risks, diversity, everything that they're doing, yeah."
What to Expect In MCU's Phase 5
There has been some debate as of late about whether the MCU is "going woke" and whether that direction is hurting the franchise. The box office and Disney+ numbers would disagree with that assessment, and it seems the Russos do too. Exploring new styles of story-telling and an emphasis on expanding the MCU's diversity are hallmarks of Phase 4, and both were explicitly cited by Joe Russo as more of what he wants to see going forward.
Joe's mention of "risks" goes along with the "experimentation" referenced by Anthony. Perhaps the greatest aspect of Phase 4 (and a large contributor to its continued success) has been its willingness to mix up the traditional formula. While the Infinity Saga had films that stood out from the rest—most notably the two Guardians of the Galaxy films—there was nothing close to the level of stylistic experimentation Phase 4 has cooked up.
Emmy-nominated shows like Moon Knight and Loki prove that Marvel Studios is capable of producing extraordinary television. Compare those shows (or a more down-to-earth one like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) with the recently concluded Ms. Marvel and the diversity in both casting and style is extremely evident. Nothing before Phase 4 offered the psychological drama of Moon Knight or the way Ms. Marvel at many times felt more like a teen comedy-drama like Awkward than a superhero show.
This remains true on the big screen as well, as both Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder were clearly films shaped heavily by their directors' unique styles.
Sam Raimi's Multiverse dripped with the over-the-top occult action of Evil Dead. Taika Waititi brought to Thor 4 an even greater example of his bombastic-yet-emotional directing than he did in the much beloved Ragnarok. Both films benefited from the choice of directors, and those choices were clearly made with the intention of best representing the characters in them.
All this is to say that the Russos clearly recognize that this shift in direction has made MCU projects more approachable and, in many ways, more authentic to their source material. Many hope to see the Russos direct another Avengers film (perhaps none more than the brothers themselves), and it's clear that should they do so, they'll be embracing much of the Phase 4 style.
