Having witnessed the culmination of his decade-long effort – Avengers: Infinity War – conquer the seemingly insurmountable $2 billion plateau, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has shifted his focus onto guiding the highest grossing film franchise of all time through undoubtedly the most onerous challenge that the producing vet of twenty years has ever confronted: Phase Four.
As a result of Thanos’ Snap of Doom and all the heroes who turned to ash because of it, the MCU head honcho certainly has his work cut out for him. According to Feige, though, the conclusion of Infinity War isn’t necessarily an indication of what’s to come and we’d be foolish to make assumptions about the franchise’s future.
Post-Phase Three, there are only two confirmed installments at the moment: Spider-Man: Far From Home and the aforementioned Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. While Feige had no issue revealing, just the other day, that the first trailer for Captain Marvel, the second last chapter of Phase Three, is “still a few months” away, don’t expect details anytime soon regarding Phase Four.
In an exclusive interview with Cinema Blend, Feige was asked if “Marvel is treating the productions of the confirmed Phase 4 films differently given what happened to many of those characters at the end of Infinity War.” Here’s what he had to say:
“We’re holding off on specifics on all of it for all the same reasons we hold off on everything. For the most part, it keeps the surprises going. The one thing I’ll say is… the mere fact that those films exist, people shouldn’t take any indication that they can now guess what will happen. Let’s put it that way.”
Apparently, Feige’s acutely aware that most of us are assuming that the majority of the fallen heroes will undoubtedly be making a return in the hotly anticipated Avengers 4. Yet, ironically, we’re neglecting the very unpredictability which led Infinity War to box office preeminence in the first place.
Nevertheless, the producer’s comments, if nothing else, should serve as a precautionary measure to those expecting to have all the deaths reversed, seeing as there’s a good chance that might not be the case. Everything considered, though, the MCU fandom can at least take solace in the fact Phase Four will be equally as enjoyable as what’s come before, because at this point, Marvel’s proven that they’ve got this whole shared universe thing down pat.
