Now that Marvel has firmly established itself as a potent money-making machine, plenty of fans are wondering how other big time franchises are going to compete. Well, it looks like one beloved intergalactic series won’t even try, at least in the immediate future. During Marvel’s upcoming Phase 4, not even one Star Wars film is scheduled to hit theaters.
This is partially due to the brevity of the MCU’s upcoming juncture. The new chapter kicks off in May 2020 with Black Widow and ends with Thor: Love And Thunder in November 2021. Phase 4 will finish in well under two years, which makes it the shortest phase in history of the franchise thus far. It’s not like Star Wars isn’t releasing a film for the next ten years or anything.
The upcoming ninth installment in the main storyline is also the end of the Sequel Trilogy and rather than launch right into another batch of features, the series is taking a well-earned break while it focuses on other projects coming to the small screen.
Still, the absence of major cinematic projects has some people worried. Star Wars has steadily been cranking out movies on an annual basis since 2015. Whether it’s main episodes or Anthology installments, fans can typically count on a lightsaber flick every year.
It’s possible that the hiatus may be due to the recent and unexpected bump in the road that occurred just last year though. Following the disappointing box office numbers of Solo: A Star Wars Story, the franchise has iced many of its planned spinoffs and origin stories. Disney is now hoping to rebound with the upcoming Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, as there’s definitely some concern about fatigue from all of the content they’ve produced, which is why the series is playing it safe for now.
The good news is that there will still be content on the horizon for those who want it. The Mandalorian and several other television spinoffs are expected to come to Disney Plus sooner rather than later. And in the meantime, Marvel has plenty of upcoming movies in development while fans await the next major Star Wars installment.
