Avengers: Infinity War and next year’s Avengers 4 are being promoted as the final chapters of the first ten years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but there’s no chance they’ll be the last movies in the franchise overall. The MCU‘s health is ruder than ever and Kevin Feige has even teased that the release schedule is already worked out until at least 2025.
Speaking of which, in a recent interview with the AP, the Marvel Studios President hinted at where some of the most prominent icons of the franchise could go next, reminding us that there’s so much left from the comics to mine.
“There are still things that are key elements to a lot of our characters in their comic incarnations that we haven’t even done yet for characters who have had three or four movies,” Feige said. “It is an amazing wealth of creative material to pull from.”
He doesn’t name names, but Feige is presumably talking about Captain America, Iron Man and Thor here, as these heroes have been around the MCU the longest. Still, the producer is right to say that they’ve only grazed the surface of these three characters’ extensive comic book histories.
Another way you could take this statement is to infer that Feige’s hinting at whole other incarnations of these familiar heroes. After all, as we’ve heard many times now, Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans and Hemsworth all have their contracts set to end after Avengers 4. And it would be comic book accurate for them all to pass their mantles onto other heroes.
For instance, Rhodey has served as Iron Man now and then, while Riri Williams AKA Iron Heart recently took over for Tony while he was in a coma. Steve Rogers, meanwhile, has handed his shield over to both Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson, and Thor has even had his powers transferred to others before, too. In fact, in modern comics, Jane Foster has been the one to wield Mjolnir.
Of course, it’s too early to say whether this is on the cards for the MCU or not, but introducing legacy heroes would be a smart way of keeping successful brands alive even after the original stars have moved on.
