With their extensive slate confirmed at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel has finally revealed the way forward for the MCU. However, while films like Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars show what all the individual projects are building towards, there are still some efforts that remain more standalone.
This focus on more singular projects is not new to the MCU. Recent series like Hawkeye and Moon Knight prioritized character over franchise, managing to create more grounded personal journeys in doing so.
While the final releases that are the recently announced Avengers sequels and the exciting new brand of the Multiverse saga indicate that Marvel is returning to long-term storytelling mode, recent comments from a company executive show that these projects centered on the individual are “. ta the exit.
Feige talks about the variety of stories in Phase 5
Marvel
Speaking with Brandon Davis at Phase Zero, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige spoke briefly about what to expect from upcoming projects including the recently announced Marvel Phases 5 and 6.
After being asked how much the upcoming post-credits scenes would help plant the seeds for the larger Multiverse saga, Feige highlighted the variety of teases to expect, explaining that “some of the tags will connect, some won’t “.
“Well, I think the truth is… all tags are never just about the future. There are tags that eat shwarma, Captain America says, ‘You gotta learn to be patient, sometimes you expect something you don’t is it worth it”. .’ So they’re all always fun for us. We don’t want everything to feel the same. So some of the labels will connect, some won’t.”
Feige continued to apply this same line of thinking to future movies and shows, noting that it’s “important that we can have stand-alone introductory stories like Ms. Marvel.”
“Some of the movies and shows will connect, some won’t. I think it’s just as important that we can have stand-alone introductory stories like Ms. Marvel, like Moon Knight, as well as things that interconnect and build on into a bigger setting. A lot of what we’ve been doing has been building a bigger story, obviously, with the Kang Dynasty and the Multiverse Saga. And now, I think people will hopefully come along for the ride. Both where it is. on an express train to the end and also when it’s funny, as many of our films in Phase 1, 2 and 3 were.”
How will phases 5 and 6 be interconnected?
According to Feige, Marvel’s future lineup of movies and TV shows will still leave room for more standalone stories. While this upcoming slate of projects falls within the newly minted Multiverse saga, it looks like some projects will diverge from that general plot.
Considering the diverse lineup of movies and TV happening, Feige’s comments make a lot of sense. While names like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Loki season two seem to clearly pave the way for bigger stories like Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, especially since they share a main antagonist, others seem less connected.
Echo and Daredevil: Born Again, for example, while still big stories within the franchise, will almost certainly have less bearing on the Multiversal madness that seems destined to wreak havoc on the MCU. Still, with so many storylines at play, from Skrulls and Thunderbolts to multiversal traps, it seems likely that these projects will still contribute in some way, at least more than the noticeably disconnected Moon Knight.
Given Feige’s comments, it seems clear that for Marvel, quality storytelling is paramount, including teasing for future projects only when appropriate. And, with the MCU’s path forward clear, fans more concerned with larger story bits leading up to Avengers-level threats can relax, taking these more singular projects on their own terms.