Whether you regard Marvel films to be "real" cinema or not, a twenty-three film story arc is no small feat. With the release of AVENGERS: ENDGAME and SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME, Marvel's "Infinity Saga" finally came to a satisfying end. Not one to rest on their laurels, the folks at Disney quickly revealed their plans for Marvel's Phase IV, which includes next year's THE ETERNALS and BLACK WIDOW. There's little doubt that the upcoming slate of Marvel films will eventually culminate in a grand, sweeping epic film that may or may not include the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and Galactus. However, if you were expecting to see said film any time soon you may have to wait awhile…as in a decade or better.
Speaking to Cinemablend, Marvel producer Trinh Tran gave some insight on the upcoming Phase IV films and television shows and commented on when audiences may see a new ENDGAME-esque feature:
“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.”
It's good to know that the people of Marvel are focusing on one project at a time. The ultimate goal should always be to produce the best movies and television shows possible. If you're too focused on setting up something years in the future you may sacrifice quality in the moment. On the flip side, it's nice to know that there is some kind of long term plan in place even if it's more of an idea right now rather than something concrete.
In the meantime Marvel fans have plenty to look forward to with television shows based on Hawkeye, Wanda and Vision, and Bucky and Falcon all on the horizon. We're also in store for more favorites like GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 and a BLACK PANTHER sequel.
BLACK WIDOW starring Scarlett Johansson and David Harbour kicks its way into theaters May 1, 2020 while THE ETERNALS starring Angelina Jolie and Kit Harington lands November 6, 2020.