Marvel Teases Phase 4 Plans, Promises New Characters You May Not Be Familiar With

Though it’s remained under lock and key ever since it was tentatively announced as Infinity War – Part II all those years ago, for Marvel Studios, Avengers 4 signals the end of one era and the beginning of the next.

And that’s not just some off-the-cuff guess. All one needs to do is look at the MCU slate to see that Joe and Anthony Russo’s conclusive blockbuster exists on the precipice between Phase 3 and the super-secret Phase 4, which is due to kick off with the release of Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel next summer.

Couple this with the devastating finale of Infinity War and it’s fair to say that the Russo Brothers definitely have their work cut out if they’re to lay the seeds for the next era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Speaking of which, head honcho Kevin Feige made an appearance at the Produced By 2018 conference earlier today and was on hand to tease those in attendance with what Marvel has coming down the pipeline.

In regards to Phase 4, the man with the plan revealed that we’ll see “continuing stories of characters” we’re already familiar with, “different incarnations of characters” we know, and “some completely new characters” who only comic book fans will recognize. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t divulge anything else, but all of this lines up with what we’ve already heard.

For instance, the first part obviously refers to films like Homecoming 2 and Guardians Vol. 3, while the second part is probably talking about how the MCU may soon get new versions of Captain America (Bucky, perhaps?) and/or Iron Man, not to mention Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye is about to undergo a pretty significant transformation, too. And as for the “new characters,” well, we already know that an Eternals film is in the works, but as things continue to get more cosmic from there, we can only speculate as to what else the studio has planned.

As for Avengers 4 – or whatever it ultimately ends up being called – that’ll arrive in theaters on May 3rd, 2019, which should give you a better picture of the timetable we’re on in regards to when we’ll learn more about Marvel‘s Phase 4.