What’s next for the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

by Nicholas Lemieux

When Iron Man was first released in May 2008, it was a big gamble for Marvel. Having lost the film rights to a majority of their A-list superheroes, including Spider-Man and the X-Men, they had to make do with heroes such as Thor, Ant-Man, Black Panther, Captain Marvel; characters practically unknown to the general public. And yet, against all odds, Iron Man was a runaway success, reviving Robert Downey Jr.’s career in the process and serving as the foundation for an entire cinematic universe of interwoven characters and stories. 11 years later, the MCU is still going strong, having become the highest-grossing movie franchise in history with not one but two movies under its belt having earned $2 billion. Their most recent release, Avengers: Endgame (you may have heard of it), broke countless records within the mere weekend it was released and served as the culmination for the first 22 films in the MCU. But although Endgame serves as the grand conclusion and ending for all the movies that have preceded it, it also marks the beginning of a new era for Marvel, who at this point is nowhere near finished with this universe...

Indeed, even though Endgame is still in theatres at the moment, and is in fact being re-released with new footage, Marvel’s next film, Spider-Man: Far From Home, is set to come out next month. It’s being marketed as an epilogue of sorts for Endgame with the trailers particularly playing focus on Peter Parker coming to the terms with the death of (late spoiler alert for Endgame) his mentor Tony Stark. It looks as though, with the death of Iron Man, that Spider-Man is being set up as the new face of the MCU for this next era, alongside the likes of Black Panther and Captain Marvel. Rumours also suggest that Far From Home may set up the next big storyline in the movies with the possible introduction of Norman Osborn, Spider-Man’s arch nemesis Green Goblin in the comics, who may follow in Thanos’ stead as the next big villain for the universe, particularly for the street-level heroes. The cosmic heroes on the other hand, such as the Guardians of the Galaxy, will probably face a different threat, probably someone recently acquired after Fox’s buying out.

After that, 2020 should feature two new franchises for Marvel, the first one being a film starring Black Widow, which recently started shooting. Given her death in Endgame, the film will likely be a prequel, fleshing out Natasha’s backstory and past as a Russian assassin and perhaps address how she first joined SHIELD. The other movie focuses on a slightly more obscure property called the Eternals which even I haven’t heard of, and this is coming from a guy who was at least partially aware of the Guardians of the Galaxy before their movie came out. From what I’ve gathered, the Eternals are a race of cosmic beings who were apparently the original defenders of Earth. At the moment, casting is underway, with Angelina Jolie and Richard Madden rumoured to be playing the main characters and the breathtaking Keanu Reeves in talks to be the villain.

Another new character Marvel is looking to make a film about is Shang-Chi, the “Master of Kung Fu”. The film is said to have a huge focus on martial arts and will notably be the first Marvel movie to have an Asian lead. As well as that, Marvel is also very keen to make sequels to some of their already established characters as well. Plans are definitely set in stone to produces sequels to Doctor Strange, Black Panther and Captain Marvel, and, after some delay with the firing and rehiring of James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is also set to be released at some point in the future. After what happened in Endgame, Thor will likely show up in it as well, and according to Gunn, Vol. 3 will be the final film to focus on the original roster of the Guardians.  As well as that, a Thor 4 is also in the mix, with Taika Waititi expected to return, and  there are also apparently plans in the work to do a film about the Thunderbolts, a team of supervillains turned government agents in the comics (basically think Suicide Squad, but this time probably more competent). From the past movies, it seems as though they’ve been planting the seeds for this movie by leaving some villains alive, such as Zemo, Ghost and Abomination. Well, we’ll see...

Marvel is also looking to expand its cinematic universe through shows exclusively streamed on Disney’s new ambitious streaming service Disney+. Unlike the MCU’s previous streaming shows on Netflix, such as Daredevil, Jessica Jones and The Punisher, which featured tenuous connections to the films, these new streaming shows will have actors from the movies actually reprise their roles; the shows will prominently revolve around characters from the films, in particular those that, while popular, are unlikely to get their own solo movies. As of now, development is ensuing on shows featuring characters such as Loki, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Falcon, Winter Soldier and Hawkeye. There’s even an animated show titled What If...? revisiting scenarios from the films and proposing what would have happened if certain events had played out differently, such as if Captain America was never given the Super Soldier Serum.

Of course, alongside all these unique projects, the MCU’s future will also be greatly impacted by Disney’s acquisition of 20^th Century Fox and all their creative properties, including the Fantastic Four and the X-Men. It’s all come full circle for Marvel, who at the start had to make by without them, solely relying on the B-lister Avengers. Now however, Marvel has practically all their major superhero characters under one roof and can properly integrate them into the universe. Indeed, the recently released Dark Phoenix, the final X-Men film, is shaping up to be a bomb, both critically and financially, and the less said about Fant4stic, the better. Given how well Spider-Man was incorporated into the MCU after his own film series at Sony suffered, it seems increasingly likely the Fantastic Four and the X-Men will be given similar treatment, and in the cases of the Four, the chances of them actually receiving a good movie look high. There are even plans to introduced Deadpool into the MCU, with the R-rating of his movies being confirmed to remain unchanged, despite the MCU’s more family-friendly tone.

With this vast array of comic-book characters and superheroes, it looks likely the MCU will still be going strong for at least another 11 years. It bears repeating how Marvel have put out 22 films all in a row with not a single one being a serious failure or bomb (even if I still have mixed thoughts on Thor 2). And with the early reactions for Far From Home being overwhelmingly positive, it looks like the score’s now 23-0.