With just ten measly days to go before Avengers: Endgame smashes into theaters, many are curious what the future holds for the MCU. After all, Endgame promises to tie up plotlines and story elements that have been being developed for the last decade, with the threat of Thanos and the fate of the Infinity Stones having played a part in most Marvel movies.
We know that Spider-Man: Far From Home is coming very soon after Endgame, but the future beyond that looks pretty hazy. Thankfully, then, in an interview with Variety, Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige has begun to tease what we’ll see in this new era, and here’s what he had to say:
“Some of these films will feature characters that you already know. Some supporting characters will assume leading roles, while some new characters will be introduced. The reward for all of these films working is that we get to try to do it again and do it differently and learn from our mistakes and try something we haven’t tried before.”
By “new characters,” I’m going to assume he means Shang-Chi and The Eternals, while Black Widow is presumably one of the ones we already know. It’s interesting to wonder which supporting characters are going to step up to the big leagues, though. With a common prediction for Endgame being one or more major heroes biting the dust, it’s possible that we’ll see an existing hero adopting the Captain America name, or perhaps someone becoming the new Iron Man if Tony Stark isn’t still around.
One element that might prove to be decisive are the Disney Plus MCU shows. Whereas the Netflix MCU series were essentially hived off into Hell’s Kitchen and never properly intersected with the events of the movies, it seems that the Disney Plus ones are intended to be unmissable if you want to follow the full story.
“These episodes will intersect with the movies in a very big way. It’s a totally new form of storytelling that we get to play with and explore,” said Feige.
My bet is that the TV shows will establish a new status quo for the movies. For example, we’ve heard that the Hawkeye series will see Clint training his protégée Kate Bishop. If that project can firmly establish her character and skills, then it’ll be a doddle for Marvel Studios to slot her into whatever movie projects they’ve got lined up after Avengers: Endgame.
