Marvel Studios is apparently taking a bit of a breather this summer, pressing pause
on its production schedule after wrapping up phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The slowdown seems set to start after the launches of Avengers: Endgame in April and
Spider-Man: Far From Home in July.
Taking to Twitter in late February, Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld offered an intriguing
observation about where he thinks the MCU is heading beyond 2019.
As the writer and artist pointed out, after Endgame and Far From Home, it looks as though
it will be about a year before another Marvel film is rolled out into theaters.
As Liefeld wrote in a Twitter post,
After Far From Home makes its debut, the next scheduled release date for a Marvel Studios
film is May 1, 2020, and as of the start of March 2019, it's not publicly known what that
movie is going to be.
Whatever it is, that leaves roughly 10 months between the Spider-Man sequel and Marvel's
mystery project.
Prolific comic book writer Mark Millar, the writer behind influential properties like
Wanted, Kick-Ass, and Kingsman: The Secret Service, joined in on the conversation on
Twitter, replying to Liefeld's original tweet with his own thoughts.
The writer noted that this might be the first time in over ten years that there's been this
wide of a gap between MCU releases.
He also argues that it's a good thing, calling the apparent cooldown, quote, "a wise move."
He explained his take further by writing,
While Millar has never been too closely involved with Marvel on the movie making side, he's
no stranger to working with the company's characters, having written for such series
as Ultimate Fantastic Four, Ultimate X-Men, and Marvel Knights Spider-Man, among others.
So while he does possess some insider insight, he seems to be as in the dark about Marvel
Studios' specific plans as any other fan.
In 2014, Marvel Studios released a massive roadmap for the next few years of MCU content,
culminating in the two-part Infinity War and the since-scrapped Inhumans movie.
Now that we're reaching the end of that sequence, the future of the series feels more unknown
than ever.
The secrecy makes sense: it's been pointed out that revealing the MCU's future plans
before Endgame's release could potentially spoil the events of Endgame, especially if
that climactic movie kills off an Avenger or two for good.
With that in mind, the studio playing things close to the vest is understandable, and there
are probably some benefits to a short hiatus too.
While superhero fatigue hasn't kicked in with audiences yet, it remains a real possibility,
and Marvel could be wise to take a moment after Endgame to enjoy a victory lap before
getting audiences excited for its next few dozen movies.
For over a decade now, the studio has been cranking out films at a blistering pace, kicking
off the MCU's first phase with six movies in the span of four years.
For phase two and beyond, the company picked up the pace, seemingly pushing its luck by
bringing out as many as three movies in one year.
That's what happened in 2018, when fans were treated to Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity
War, and Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Whether the series has taken us to space, other dimensions, unknown countries, or the
microscopic Quantum Realm, it's all been accelerating toward Endgame, which has been described as
a conclusion of sorts to the MCU's staggering story arc about the all-powerful Infinity
Stones.
"Thanos has been inside my head for six years."
That story ending should provide a natural reason to put things on pause, maybe just
to take a second and count all the money the series has made.
Considering the two billion dollar box office performance of Avengers: Infinity War, which
you may recall ended in a devastating cliffhanger, it's all but guaranteed that the fourth Avengers
will be among the biggest releases of all time, capping off a decade-plus of unprecedented,
runaway success.
The Spider-Man sequel, taking the webslinger out of America for the first time for a European
tour with Mysterio, also seems poised to do big numbers.
So 2020 looks like the perfect time for Marvel to scale things back for a little bit, allowing
both creators and fans time to catch their breath and get excited again for new stories
to come.
While the specifics are still unknown to the public, Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige
has offered a few general teasers for the upcoming fourth phase of the MCU.
Speaking to Collider during a Captain Marvel press junket, Feige teased the all-new, all-different
future of the series, telling viewers to definitely expect more obscure comic characters to get
pulled off the company's deep bench for the feature film treatment.
As the producer put it,
He continued, sharing that the film about the Eternals is in the pipeline for the post-Endgame
MCU.
That movie, he says, will introduce a whole new group of legendary heroes to the MCU at
once.
Feige said,
He also left open the possibility for a movie with epic scope, taking audiences far back
into the past of the MCU, saying,
While Marvel may be taking a short pause from theatrical releases, we can still expect new
content.
In an intriguing move, the studio is developing several television series set in the MCU to
launch on Disney's upcoming streaming platform Disney+.
Unlike the Netflix or ABC series, which are produced by Marvel Television, these shows
will be full-fledged Marvel Studios productions, featuring movie characters and sporting big
budgets.
"Reality can be whatever I want."
The series lineup includes a show about Tom Hiddleston's trickster god Loki, which is
expected to premiere later in 2019.
Also reportedly in the works are a team-up series with Falcon and the Winter Soldier,
and another project centering on Vision and Scarlet Witch.
Rumor has it that there may even be a project in the pipeline centering on Clint Barton's
Hawkeye training Kate Bishop, his eagle-eyed successor.
So rest easy, true believers, we're getting more Marvel content than we know what to do
with.
All it's going to take is just a little bit of patience.
There are some movies we know the company is working on, including Eternals, Black Widow,
and sequels to Black Panther, Doctor Strange, and the Guardians of the Galaxy, but when
these movies will officially appear is still up in the air.
But Feige has assured fans that the company has a slate of movies ready to go all the
way up through 2025.
Who could we be seeing in the future?
Ms. Marvel?
The Thunderbolts?
Or could we soon start seeing Marvel Studios' takes on X-Men and the Fantastic Four?
The possibilities feel limitless, but before we can get to all of that, we've got business
to take care of with Thanos.
It may be the end of an era, but it's also the start of something new.
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