Ever since the sinister purple smile of Thanos flashed across movie screens in 2012, Marvel fans have had a pretty good idea of what the next 7 years of the MCU would look like. In 2014 Marvel even held a press event that told us the title of every single Marvel movie that would be released through 2019.

But after that…we know nothing Jon Snow.

Marvel Studios has been tight-lipped about their post-Infinity War plans because of how much Avengers 3 and 4 are going to change the MCU. Revealing too much could result in some major spoilers for those movies and what’s to come.

What is clear is that Avengers 4 will mark the end of the first saga of MCU films that began almost 10 years ago with Iron Man. According to Kevin Feige, Avengers 4 will “bring things you’ve never seen in superhero films: a finale.”

“There will be two distinct periods. Everything before Avengers 4 and everything after. I know it will not be in ways people are expecting.”

Aaaaaah, what does that mean?!

Without knowing too much about how Infinity War and Avengers 4 will conclude and shake up the MCU, it’s tough to really predict the direction they’ll take. But let’s try anyway.

Here’s what we know for sure:

Confirmed Sequels

Guardians of the Galaxy 3 (May 1, 2020?)

At the start of the Guardians of the Galaxy 2 press tour, James Gunn announced that he would be back to write and direct Vol. 3 of the franchise. He later said:

“I think that the third movie is going to continue this trilogy, the story of this iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s going to do it in a big way, and we’re going to come to an epic conclusion of who the Guardians are and why they were brought together, and I can’t wait to tell that story to the people … It will be the final, in this iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy.”

Not only will this conclude the story of the existing Guardians team, it will also help launch the new phase of the Cosmic side of the MCU. According to Kevin Feige:

“The early discussions we’ve had with James [Gunn] about Vol. 3 and beyond with what we’ll call the “Cosmic Universe” and the Guardian characters is very exciting.”

We could talk about Guardians of the Galaxy for an entire blog – and there are many articles like that. Right now, it’s the Phase 4 movie we know the most about since Guardians 2 just released. It’s important to cover fully in this article because Feige has stated that James Gunn and the Guardians will have such a major effect on the future of Marvel’s “Cosmic Universe.” More on that later.

Spider-man: Homecoming 2 (2019)

As part of the Sony/Marvel deal to get Spider-man into the MCU, a sequel to the upcoming Spider-man: Homecoming has been confirmed for some time now. Following the one year of high school per movie model, this sequel will put Peter Parker in his Junior year.

Tom Holland has also confirmed that there will be a Spider-man Homecoming 3, but it’s still unclear whether this will take place in the MCU. Marvel and Sony’s deal only includes two Spider-man movies right now. Will Marvel and Sony come to a new agreement to extend their partnership to future Spider-man and Avengers films? Will Sony allow Marvel to use any supporting characters or villains like Norman Osborn? Or will Sony use Homecoming 3 to strengthen the universe they’re currently building with Venom and other Spidey-spinoffs. Producers Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal have given very contradictory statements on the matter.

The other interesting part about this movie is that it is really the exact opposite of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. While Guardians will launch the new phase of the Cosmic Universe, Spider-man will be their most grounded and street-level movie (didn’t think neighborhoody was a word). So, while Phase 4 will most likely extend Marvel’s cosmic properties, there will still be plenty of earth adventures.

And that’s it. That’s all we know for sure as far as movie announcements go. Now let’s get to speculating.

Rebooting the Big 3

The stakes are going to be high in Infinity War and Avengers 4. The team faces a threat bigger than anything they’ve ever faced (we’ve been told) and they may not all make it out alive. More accurately, all of their contracts may not continue past Avengers 4.

While there are a lot of question marks up in the air as far as contracts are concerned, we know for certain that the “Big 3” (Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor) will all finish their contracts after Avengers 4 and will have all completed their own solo trilogies. As three of their most valuable properties, Marvel will probably look for ways to keep these franchises alive. Here’s how they could do it:

The Death of Captain America with Bucky and Sam Wilson

Following the events of Infinity War, I’m betting the MCU will be looking for a new Captain America. Continuing the idea of a fresh start for the MCU after Avengers 4, this seems like the perfect opportunity to kill off Steve Rogers. Evans has stated that he only extended his contract to include Avengers 4 because it would be the conclusion of this two-part Infinity War story. So, they’ll want to pass the mantle to someone else who could carry a new trilogy of movies.

The dynamic established between Bucky and Sam in Civil War lends itself perfectly to a good buddy cop movie. One of the threads of the movie could also be a “who will wield the shield” type conflict between Bucky and Sam. In the end though, it seems clear that Sebastian Stan is destined to suit up next as Captain America. After signing a 9-picture deal he will still have 4 movies left after appearing in Avengers 3 and 4 which could allow him his own trilogy and an Avengers appearance. Anthony Mackie has stated that he has more films on his contract but it’s unknown how many.

Thor/Valkyrie

Chris Hemsworth seems the most likely to renegotiate a deal. His time in the MCU is definitely coming to a close, but they may want to sign him on to one more film to help pass the baton over to a newcomer and keep the Thor franchise alive.

The most likely person to fill his shoes is Tessa Thompson, who was a huge standout as Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok. While the female Thor in the comics is Jane Foster, Natalie Portman does not seem like the right fit to portray the God of Thunder and it seems like her time in the MCU is over. Valkyrie is a new character that could provide stories about Asgard from a new perspective. If they went this route, Chris Hemsworth could provide more of a supporting role to help pass the baton. With Azgard potentially heading to Earth, there are plenty of stories to tell here. Valkyrie adjusting to life on Earth could even be one of the plotlines of a female-led Marvel film.

Iron Man/Iron Heart

Robert Downey Jr. has re-upped his contract several times during his nearly 10-year stint as Iron Man. However, it seems unlikely they’ll spend the money to bring him on again. Feige has stated that this is the conclusion to the story that started back in 2008 with Iron Man, and this seems like a good time for RDJ to conclude his time as shellhead.

The question is, will the Iron Man franchise continue? Thor provides a link to all the Asgard-related stories and the 9-realms in general. Captain America has always done the best job of exploring the aftermath of the Avengers movies and how they are affecting the world as a whole. While Iron Man was pivotal in launching the MCU, his solo franchise may not have as large a role to play in Phase 4 and beyond.

Whether Iron Man gets a new series of solo movies or if the character is saved for team ups, Marvel could still be looking for someone to don the red and gold. It’s unknown how many movies Don Cheadle has left on his contract. It seems more likely that they’ll look to the comics for inspiration and cast Riri Williams. In the comics, Riri Williams is a 15-year old African-American girl who takes over as Iron Man with the support of an AI version of Tony Stark. Although her run in the comics is relatively new and has been met with a mixed response, so it may be a long time before they attempt any adaptation of her story. I could see her coming on board in a future Avengers or other team movie rather than try to keep the Iron Man franchise alive.

The Marvel Cosmic Universe

One thing that seems clear based on the movies released so far and comments from Marvel is that the MCU will head even deeper into the cosmos after Avengers 4. According to Feige:

“I think James [Gunn] in particular has an amazing connection with these characters and with this cosmic world. So he, I think, could easily oversee additional stories beyond Vol. 3. And I think has them and just continues to come up with them, which is cool. All of our core writers and filmmakers know what we are doing in other places and help give input on the various projects.”

This move makes sense for a few different reasons. The Marvel Universe in the comics has always had large cosmic threats to face, which opens up a variety of new stories they could tell. Moving further into space will also help to combat the “superhero fatigue” that will begin to set in as more studios are creating more and more comic book movies. We’ve already seen New York attacked enough times. Looking to the stars for large scale intergalactic struggles is a way to take advantage of the less saturated science fiction demographic while still telling great comic book stories.

Thor: Ragnarok’s willingness to take Thor on a more planet-hopping adventure is a great sign of things to come, but it’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 that will give us the best indication of where the Marvel Cosmic Universe is heading. Feige and Gunn have stated that it will serve as the stepping off point for this larger universe. Here are a few directions it could take:

Adam Warlock

One thing for certain: Adam Warlock will be introduced in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Feige has said:

“[Adam Warlock’s arrival] will not be until ‘Guardians 3.’ Adam is not a part of ‘Infinity War,’ which of course he is in the comics, but James [Gunn] did always really like Adam Warlock, and our version of ‘Infinity War’ is the culmination of all the stories we told up to this point. James has had ideas to introduce Adam — certainly there were ideas in ‘Vol. 2,’ maybe even in part one, but part two for sure — which were great, but the way the story was coming together, there just wasn’t time for that.”

Since James Gunn has been itching to bring Adam into the series for so long, it seems likely that he’ll have more stories to tell with him. Whether they hope he will join a new Guardians team, lead his own solo franchise or take part in another movie is still too early to tell. He does have origins with a number of other properties including Thor, Silver Surfer and Fantastic Four. But Marvel doesn’t have the rights to most of those…yet.

The Ravagers

While he didn’t have much screen time in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Sylvester Stallone’s Stakar left a big impact on the movie and on audiences. As a member of the original Guardians of the Galaxy team with Yondu, it was a great way to work the character in for the fans and provide more backstory and depth to Yondu.

Then the after-credits scene featured the entire original Guardians team (minus Yondu) with some big-name actors in the roles like Ving Rhames, Michael Rosenbaum, Michelle Yeoh and Miley Cyrus. It certainly seemed like they were setting the stage for a spin-off, but Gunn and Feige have not said that just yet. Gunn has stated:

“My plan is to see more of him. I’m not sure about him appearing in Vol 3, we’ll have to see about that, but it’s our plan to see more of Stallone. Kevin (Feige) and I are working on what is going to become the Marvel Cosmic Universe and where it’s going to go. We plan to see the rest of them in the future.

I think the first three movies tell a single story and that story is pretty simple. I think that there could be a Guardians Vol 4, but it would not be the same. It would not be the same group… basically the story of this group ends with Vol. 3.”

Whether this team will make up the new Guardians in Vol. 4, have their own spin-off about the Ravagers or just make an appearance in a future cosmic movie is unclear, but we can definitely count on seeing them again.

Nova

The Nova Corp has already been introduced in the Cosmic Universe in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1, although they were adapted into a less powerful police force on Xandar. In the comics, several Earth-based characters have gained the powers of the Nova Force to become superheroes. The most notable are Richard Rider and Sam Alexander.

If James Gunn is interested in introducing Nova to the Marvel Cosmic Universe, Sam Alexander seems like the best choice. He’s a younger hero at only 15 and the MCU is currently pretty short on characters they can see grow over 10+ years. His origin is also very closely tied to the Guardians, even being trained by Rocket and Gamora.

Gunn has said that Starlord may not be the only human in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. There are a few people he could be considering but Nova seems like a good fit for that story. That appearance could lead to his own series and eventually see him join a team like the Nova Corps or Champions.

Earth Based Heroes Looking to Space

At its core, the first three phases of the Marvel Universe are about earth discovering they are not alone in the universe. The first Avengers movie showed us that S.H.I.E.L.D. created a weapons program after learning that there were Asgardians and other aliens out there. In Age of Ultron, Tony creates the Ultron program as a shield to protect against cosmic threats.

With Avengers: Infinity War, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will have a whole new understanding of the cosmic universe and their place in it. Presumably, the Avengers will be involved in their first full-scale battle off-planet. They’ll meet cosmic heroes like the Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel. Their eyes will be completely opened.

Then what?

In the aftermath of their battle with Thanos, Earth will continue to bolster their defenses and look to interact with the cosmic side of the MCU even more.

This probably won’t include interactions with the current Guardians of the Galaxy team, but with the Marvel Cosmic Universe expanding, the opportunities for interactions with Earth will become greater. Here are a few directions they could take:

Captain Marvel 2 (2022?)

Captain Marvel should be the primary bridge between the Earth-based heroes and the cosmic side as they head into Phase 4. Despite being born on Earth, Carol Danvers’s backstory is closely tied to the Kree and the Cosmic Universe. She has been a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the past and has many story-lines that send her off planet.

So why not include her in the Cosmic Universe section?

Captain Marvel is also very Earth-based. She has been a member of the Avengers, Ultimates and many other teams. Most importantly, even while set on Earth, many of her stories are about defending Earth from intergalactic threats. She has even led several government agencies specifically tasked with space defense. Speaking of which…

S.W.O.R.D. – S.H.I.E.L.D. Space Division

While it’s unclear how S.H.I.E.L.D.’s space division would fit into the MCU, it seems like the natural next step for the government agency. S.H.I.E.L.D. already has programs that address otherworldly threats, but creating a formal space-bound division will help Earth’s heroes engage with the greater cosmic world.

Where could S.W.O.R.D. show up?

In 2014, Jed Whedon was asked if Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would ever include S.W.O.R.D. and he said, “We would love this, but as of right now, it isn’t possible. Even though Joss created S.W.O.R.D. [during his run on “Astonishing X-Men”] and spent as much time working out the acronym as he did on the entire comic.”

Was it not possible for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to include S.W.O.R.D. because the rights belong with the X-Men and Fox or because the concept was being saved for future movies? Either way, the door could now be open to tell stories about S.H.I.E.L.D. in space.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. made a big leap this year heading into space and putting a major focus on the Kree. This could very well tie into Infinity War, which will come out towards the end of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5.

BUT, just because AOS is heading to space doesn’t mean the S.H.I.E.L.D. in the movies can’t also dive into the subject. Since we’re talking about 2020 and beyond, the odds are AOS will no longer be on the air. This could lead into a S.W.O.R.D. movie that stands on its own. This movie could bring in existing AOS characters or other MCU S.H.I.E.L.D. agents like Black Widow, Hawkeye, Maria Hill or Sharon Carter. Maria Hill seems the most likely to lead a new S.H.I.E.L.D. team as she has been set up as Nick Fury’s successor and still has 5 movies left on her contract.

If not a solo S.H.I.E.L.D. movie, which doesn’t seem likely, this idea could come up in a solo movie. There has been renewed buzz about a Black Widow solo movie. If it doesn’t end up being an origin story, this could be a direction that film takes. Captain Marvel has also led this organization in the past. Finally, Avengers 5 could take their newly formed team into space after some sort of S.H.I.E.L.D. intervention.

Illuminatis

Aside from S.H.I.E.L.D., there are other groups that will be looking towards the stars in the aftermath of Infinity War. It would be great to see the Illuminatis form to anticipate cosmic threats and act as a secret safeguard for Earth.

In the comics, Iron Man assembles a team of some of the most intelligent and influential superheroes in the hopes of creating a superhero governing body. None of his invitees agree with his idea, but he is able to convince Professor X, Black Bolt, Namor, Mr. Fantastic, and Doctor Strange to meet regularly to share information and influence events. The team ended up becoming the New Avengers and was even involved in safeguarding the Infinity Stones.

An MCU Illuminati would be a slightly different team than the one we know from the comics. Robert Downey Jr. will most likely exit the MCU after Phase 3 and with Black Bolt appearing on TV (unsuccessfully), it’s unlikely he’ll cross over to the films. However, with the Fox deal the MCU now has access to Professor X and Mr. Fantastic which could be added to their current characters of Doctor Strange and Namor. This would still be a ways off though if they did in fact want to incorporate the Fox characters.

 

Smaller Scale Crossovers

For most of the MCU’s run to this point, there have been solo films and big tent-pole Avengers films that bring everyone together. Then Civil War changed that. It was a solo film that had the same scope and cast as one of their Avengers films but without the Avengers name. Now Spiderman: Homecoming included Iron Man, Thor: Ragnarok included Hulk and Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel is bringing back Nick Fury and other crossovers are bound to occur.

According to Kevin Feige:

“I think it’s possible to have more intimate movies after [Avengers 4], or to have more interesting, unexpected combinations of characters after that, absolutely. It never is intentionally about ‘being even bigger.’ Arguably, one of the biggest scenes we’ve ever had in a movie was the airport battle in Civil War, and there weren’t world-ending stakes in that scene, there wasn’t an asteroid smashing into a city in that scene, but there was a conflict between the characters that made you feel something. To us, it’s less about continuing to go bigger with spectacle — although in some cases, we will — and more about continuing to go deeper with those character interactions.”

While not officially confirmed, there are a few movies on Marvel’s future slate that seem ripe for team-ups:

Doctor Strange 2 (2020?)

Doctor Strange was a huge success for Marvel introducing another new character to the MCU and it has been all but confirmed that Benedict Cumberbatch and director Scott Derrickson will return for the sequel. After appearing in Doctor Strange, Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers 3+4, this movie will end Cumberbatch’s current contract so it’s unclear whether the Doctor Strange franchise would continue from there or whether he would be involved in any future Avengers movies.

The first Doctor Strange left a lot of storylines they could continue in the sequel, with Mordo and Dormammu still factors. Baron Mordo seems like a lock to return but may not been the main villain just yet. Now that Doctor Strange will have experience with Asgardians in Thor: Ragnarok and Infinity War they could create another crossover with villains like Amora the Enchantress or Morgan le Fay. Morgan le Fay would also be an opportunity to add Scarlet Witch to the film as she has also faced off against the sorceress. Since the Quantum Realm was introduced in Ant-Man, the door is also open for Scott Lang to appear in this film in some way.

Black Panther 2 (2021?)

As expected, Black Panther is a massive success for Marvel, making a sequel a near certainty. Chadwick Boseman is expected to return for Avengers 3 and 4 and will then have one movie left on his contract.

Black Panther 2 could tie-in to the other earth-bound franchises like Captain America, Ant-Man and any S.H.I.E.L.D. related storylines. By this point most of the original members of the Avengers will have moved on and T’Challa could be set up for a larger role. He is already the benefactor of Team Cap at the end of Civil War, which could put him in the Tony Stark role for whatever Avengers team survives Infinity War. In the comics, he is also a member of the Ultimates, which includes Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, America Chavez, and Blue Marvel. This team guards the earth against more cosmic threats, which seems to be the direction the MCU is heading. A team-up with Captain Marvel could lead into some version of the Ultimates team appearing.

Non-Avengers Teams

If the MCU isn’t saving their big team ups for Avengers movies, they are free to make these movies a little smaller. They could do something like Avengers: The Initiative where SHIELD-sponsored Avengers teams are given military style training. There are plenty of teams from the comics that could make the leap to the big screen including the Ultimates, Champions and New Warriors.

This would allow them to create an entire new team of lesser-known heroes with maybe a couple of established characters to provide some recognition and bolster the team. The Avengers Academy comic used this strategy to introduce new comic characters that were instructed by established characters like Ant-man, Tigra and Speedball which made for some great story-lines and a cool dynamic.

Essentially, instead of a mash-up of the different solo characters, this would allow future team-up movies to stand on their own just like the Guardians did.

This approach would also allow them to test out new characters without committing to giving them their own series. Riri Williams/Ironheart, Nova, and Ms. Marvel are all characters that could benefit from starting out on a team.

Limited Series Outside the MCU

Marvel Studios revolutionized cinema with their concept of a shared universe. So obviously their next step will be to…abandon that universe? Well, not exactly.

While the interconnectivity of the MCU should and probably will continue, there are definitely opportunities to create movies outside of that continuity. This is something Warner Bros has mentioned doing with their DC properties, but we have yet to see any concrete plans there.

As Feige says, “the answers are always in the books.” While Marvel has had great success with their 55 year continuity, they also publish one-off stories and limited series. Marvel 1602 and Old Man Logan are two of their most popular alternate realities. Old Man Logan was already partially adapted by Fox and proved the fact that a stand-alone story outside of the X-Men continuity could be very successful.

If the MCU is going to explore different worlds and time periods in their next 20 films, a one-off movie adapted from Marvel 1602, Noir, 2099, Age of Ultron, Age of Apocalypse or any other could be a great way to experiment with drastically different settings and tones. They could even use different actors for these one-offs to allow alternate versions of their existing characters to appear without confusing them with the MCU counterparts.

A Threat Bigger Than Thanos

After Thanos collects all the Infinity Stones and becomes the biggest, baddest villain in the MCU, how are they going to top him? What one powerful being will we see pulling the strings behind the scenes for the next ten years?

Hopefully nobody.

Instead of trying to one-up Thanos with another main bad guy, Marvel could take a few different routes that would be even more satisfying. They also have a chance to fix some of the mistakes they’ve made with Thanos. One of the biggest criticisms against the Mad Titan is we haven’t seen him do anything yet. He’s only had an indirect effect on our heroes and hasn’t developed as a character in the 6 years since he was introduced.

Instead of making the same mistake, Marvel may look to choose a storyline that allows the villain to get more involved early on. Here are a few routes they could take:

Skrulls

We already know the Skrulls are coming to the MCU in Captain Marvel. Given her origins and the 90s setting, that movie seems like the perfect setup for the Kree-Skrull War. This war could even serve as a backdrop for future cosmic movies, Captain Marvel sequels or even full Avengers movies. This could also allow for more focus on the cosmic side and allow crossovers between future franchises in the Marvel Cosmic Universe.

Another benefit of establishing that the Skrulls have been around since the 90s is that this storyline could develop naturally into Secret Invasion, which sees the Skrulls secretly wage war against Earth by replacing many Earth heroes with Skrull shapeshifters. This conflict could be developed over several movies as different Avengers are replaced by Skrulls before finally concluding with all-out war.  

Masters of Evil/Dark Avengers

Rather than focusing on a single threat, whether that is a person or an entire alien race, why not bring in a team to fight the Avengers? The greatest benefit of this strategy is it would give Marvel time to really develop the different villains in their solo movies before combining them.

Arguably the two best villains of the MCU have been Loki in The Avengers and the Winter Solider in Captain America: Winter Soldier. The reason was that was the second movie for each of them. They each had an origin story that allowed them to develop.

Adapting Dark Reign to bring in the Dark Avengers or choosing a Masters of Evil storyline would allow Marvel to choose their individual Phase 4 villains carefully with the goal of bringing them all together as a team. Ideally, we could see the formation of a Masters of Evil team on Earth in Avengers 5 and then see the return of some of those villains in Avengers 6 as a more cosmic threat emerges. Such as…

The Beyonder

The Beyonder would offer a natural evolution of the Infinity Stones storyline and give Marvel a few interesting story elements to play with. He is a cosmic entity that is actual a sentient version of a cosmic cube – the devices used to house infinity stones. If Marvel continues to use Infinity Stones, they could delve into the idea of them becoming cosmic entities. They could even turn the Beyonder into a celestial like they did with Ego in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

If they do include the Beyonder, the Secret Wars storyline would be very easy to adapt. In it, he transports various heroes and villains to Battleworld to get them to fight to the death. Whether the Masters of Evil have formed before this event takes place or not, this would give another opportunity to leverage some of Marvel’s popular villains. They could even use the battle against the villains as a climax and save the Beyonder rematch for when he returns to Earth in a future movie like he does in Secret Wars II.

So, there you have it. Slightly educated theories on where the MCU could lead us in a post-Infinity world (and a few complete shots in the dark thrown in for good measure).

What do you think Marvel Phase 4 has in store for us? Talk it out in the comments!