Marvel’s Next ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Epic Might Not Happen for Another Decade
Zack Sharf
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is known for its massive “Avengers” team-up movies, but the next giant MCU ensemble crossover might not be happening for another decade. Following the box office-dominating success “Avengers: Endgame,” which became the highest-grossing film ever released worldwide earlier this year, Marvel Studios is going back to its roots somewhat by prioritizing a new wave of standalone superhero tentpoles over the next “Endgame”-style epic. Trinh Tran, an executive producer on “Avengers: Endgame” and other Marvel movies, tells CinemaBlend the focus for the MCU moving forwarded into Phase Four is on the individual films and not the next “Endgame” epic.
“Our focus right now is to make sure that the titles that we’ve released in Phase Four … obviously those stories are going to be new, exciting, different, and can connect with the audience like the other movies have been,” Tran said. “Over 10 years ago, it had always been our dream to get to ‘Infinity War’ and ‘Endgame’ level. We didn’t know obviously where that was going to go at the start of the studio, but it’s incredible to know that we were able to accomplish that. Now it’d be amazing if we could get to that level 10 years later, so I think it’s a dream to continue doing that and build upon the MCU and the connective tissue that we have.”
Tran said that “it would be amazing to do something like [‘Endgame’] 10 years later” now that Marvel is heading into both the film and television spaces with the launch of several original series on Disney+. MCU characters like Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and the Winter Soldier are all getting their own television series, which will continue to expand the narrative of the larger MCU.
With the MCU story being told across film and television in Phase Four, Tran said there will enough “connective tissue” to do another big crossover, just not in the immediate future. There was a three-year gap between “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Avengers: Infinity War,” and just a year in between “Infinity War” and “Endgame.”
During Marvel’s big Phase Four announcement at Comic-Con over the summer, studio president Kevin Feige did not mention any crossover movie planned for the next run of Marvel movies. The next MCU Phase includes sequels for the “Thor” and “Doctor Strange” franchises, plus first movies for the Eternals and Shang-Chi superhero characters. Marvel also has confirmed plans for “Black Panther 2,” “Captain Marvel 2,” and a “Blade” movie starring Mahershala Ali. All of these films make it clear Marvel will not be rushing into the next “Avengers” epic, but prioritizing years of groundwork first.
