Disney CEO Teases New Marvel Franchise Beyond Avengers

Though Infinity War and the so-far untitled Avengers 4 have been angled as a bona fide conclusion to Marvel’s Phase 3, Disney CEO Bob Iger is not opposed to launching another Avengers movie (and an entirely new franchise) beyond 2019.

Speaking at an earnings call today, the company’s head honcho addressed the current state of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has reached dizzying new heights thanks to the back-to-back success of Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, particularly now that the latter is already well on its way to a $1.8 billion box office cume.

So while next year’s Avengers sequel brings with it a degree of finality, Iger is naturally keen to future-proof the MCU well into the 2020s – regardless of whether that involves new Marvel team-up movies or a “new franchise beyond Avengers.” Like, say, a full-scale X-Men reboot? Or perhaps some new incarnation of the Fantastic Four? So. Many. Questions.

We meet on a regular basis with our Marvel team, and we’ve plotted out Marvel movies that will take us well into the next decade. I’m guessing we will try our hand at what I’ll call a new franchise beyond Avengers, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t see more Avengers down the road. We just haven’t made any announcements about that.

And while Infinity War represents the culmination of a 10-year vision, the Disney boss believes it would be foolish to rule out another film involving Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Given the popularity of the characters and given the popularity of the franchise, I don’t think people should conclude there will never be another Avengers movie.

There is one potential hitch, though; as Disney CFO Christine McCarthy so rightly points out, getting the band back together for another movie may prove to be a logistical nightmare.

I think the outstanding performance is nothing short of stellar. There is one difference in this movie … that’s the size of the cast. Because of the size of the cast involved and the cost of the movie, the scale, the magnitude, while this film is going to be very profitable, it may not be on the same return level as some of the other films, because of the sheer scale of it.

But after $1.2 billion in box office receipts (potentially topping out at $1.8 billion when all is said and done), we imagine Disney’s top brass will reconsider their strategy now that Avengers: Infinity War is dominating theaters left, right and center. More on this story as it develops.