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A franchise is lucky enough if it delivers a complete trilogy, and every now and then there might be a film series manages to reach double digits. But the Marvel Cinematic Universe broke new ground with its Infinity Saga, a 23-movie epic stretching from 2008’s Iron Man to this year’s Spider-Man: Far From Home. The MCU isn’t going anywhere, but for those of you who’ve been wondering if another story of the Infinity Saga’s scale is immediately on the way, don’t hold your breath.
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Avengers: Endgame producer Trinh Tran, who’s contributed to the MCU in one way or another ever since the very beginning. When I inquired about if there are already plans in motion to deliver another expansive tale akin to the Infinity Saga, or if Marvel Studios is taking a more relaxed approach with the interconnectivity among its movies, she responded:
Our focus right now is to make sure that the titles that we’ve released in Phase 4… obviously those stories are going to be new, exciting, different and can connect with the audience like the other movies have been. Over 10 years ago, it’s always been our dream to get to Infinity War and Endgame level. We didn’t know obviously where that was going to go at the start of the studio, but it’s incredible to know that we were able to accomplish that. Now it’d be amazing if we could get to that level 10 years later, so I think it’s a dream to continue doing that and build upon the MCU and the connective tissue that we have. And now with obviously our Disney+ side and the shows and how our characters are venturing into that world and how that’s gonna lead to the future and more franchises and more stories and more properties and their connective tissue to the rest of the MCU, it would be amazing to do something like this 10 years later.
As long as the MCU is running, there will always be at least some connective threads between the movies, but if you were wondering if Phase 4 would lay the groundwork for an epic tale stretching over a decade like Phase 1 did, that doesn’t appear to be in the cards. There will be enough to keep fans occupied on the big screen, as well as over at Disney+, where the Marvel shows are said to be just as important as the movies.
But following the Infinity Saga’s big finale in Avengers: Endgame, with Spider-Man: Far From Home serving as an epilogue of sorts, you can’t blame Trinh Tran and the rest of the creative minds over at Marvel Studios for wanting to take a breather. The MCU not only gave the superhero movie genre a major boost and redefined how we view these kinds of cinematic stories, it changed the Hollywood landscape. The movies will keep coming in and the MCU mythos will still expand, but for now, pieces aren’t being put into place for another epic.
However, that’s not to say that we’ll never get another Infinity Saga-level story. While the cinematic side of the MCU is only plotted out to early 2022 right now (and the only movie officially slotted for that year so far is Black Panther 2), there are plenty of projects that have been announced or reported/rumored that’ll keep the franchise going several years after that, and there are probably other movies in the works that no one’s heard about yet. It’s not unreasonable to think the MCU will still be going in 2029.
So maybe then, once a new generation of heroes is established, including the X-Men and Fantastic Four, who are now at Marvel Studios thanks to the Fox acquisition, the MCU can start setting up another universal threat for these protagonist, whether it’s Galactus, Kang the Conqueror or some other well-known malevolent entity from the comics. In the meantime, there are plenty of movies and Disney+ shows on the way to keep fans entertained.
The next MCU movie on the schedule is Black Widow, which arrives on May 1, 2020. Find out what else is coming down the pipeline for Phase 4 and beyond in our handy guide. Don’t forget that you can also pick up Avengers: Endgame on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD.
