From the beginning, there has always been a duality to the movies released as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Each one is obviously meant to stand on its own and tell a unique, exciting story, but the franchise is also always looking ahead and molding plans for macro, big picture ideas. To keep track of all the spinning wheels, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has spoken in the past about using a board to map everything out – and it’s very much coming in handy this week as Feige and Marvel are in the process of figuring out what the next 10 years looks like for the MCU.
Feige took the stage this afternoon at CinemaCon – appearing during the Marvel section of the Walt Disney presentation held in The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas – and during his remarks he offered an exciting tidbit about behind-the-scenes developments at his studio. Apparently, there are big happenings going on right now with the creatives behind the biggest franchise in the world, and they are in the process of looking a full decade into the future for their movies and TV shows. Said Feige,
I just left this morning and I'm going back as soon as I get off stage to our first creative retreat in person with the Marvel Studios creative team in three years, and we have a giant board there that takes us through the next decade of MCU movies. And they are different, and they're unique, and they are special, and they are meant for your theaters.
When it comes to projects being developed for the big screen, as of right now we know what Marvel Studios’ schedule looks like only up until the middle of next year – with Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania scheduled to hit theaters in July 2024. That means that there is nine years-worth of slate that is being kept from us at the moment, and that’s a fact that will surely get any Marvel fan excited.
So what upcoming Marvel movies can we expect to see in 2024 and beyond? We can’t say for sure, but there are definitely a lot of features in the works right now that don’t have official release dates. This includes Blade starring Mahershala Ali; the next Deadpool film (which just hired Shawn Levy to direct); Jon Watts’ highly anticipated Fantastic Four; Captain America 4 starring Anthony Mackie, and the sequels to both Spider-Man: No Way Home and Shang-Chi And The Legends of the Ten Rings (which has director Destin Daniel Cretton attached to return). There is no question that all of those projects are now on Marvel’s “giant board.”
At this point we have a whole lot of questions about the future of the MCU, but it may not be too long before some big answers are delivered. After all, we are now not only just a few months away from San Diego Comic-Con 2022 (which Marvel Studios has frequently used as a venue to announce major projects), but the D23 Expo will be back this year and held in September.
Also predicted to set up some major things in the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the arrival of Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness. After a bit of a wait (you may remember that the movie was announced back in July 2019), the film is now just a little over a week away from hitting theaters. Look for it at your local multiplex on May 6, and stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for the deluge of coverage that will be coming.
