While Marvel Cinematic Universe projects have been more prevalent in recent years, it takes years for those seeds to germinate. Before a Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness or a Moon Knight premieres on Disney+, they must go through a lengthy production and marketing procedure. Prior to that, they will be given a title card and a release date during a “phase” announcement.
That is exactly what fans see.
Years of care and preparation have gone into the years building up to those slate unveiling. The Marvel Studios Parliament, a creative committee led by Marvel President Kevin Feige and several seasoned MCU producers, meets every couple of years to set out the roadmap for the whole franchise’s future.
Even after 14 years of storytelling, Feige says he is “as delighted today as [he] was on day one” because audience involvement has helped “keep the creative flames blazing brightly.”
By the end of the year, Marvel Studios will have released almost every project that they revealed during the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con and D23 Expo. The next slate is rapidly coming, and the Parliament is already planning for Phase 5 and beyond.
Marvel Studios’ Ten-Year Strategy
I wouldn’t have been startled if you told me 10 years ago that we weren’t alone, much alone to this level, but come on.
Tony Stark’s closing comments in Avengers: Endgame couldn’t be more timely. Marvel President Kevin Feige disclosed at CinemaCon (via @WGreatPowerBook and The Hollywood Reporter) that he and other studio executives had just returned from “the first in-person Marvel Creative Retreat in three years.”
This retreat included a massive board detailing the “next decade” of Marvel flicks.
“That [board] carries us into the next decade, and [those pictures] are one-of-a-kind and exceptional, and they are made for your cinemas.”
Feige went on to praise Black Panther: Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler for “working extremely hard” on the November sequel. The Marvel creator also said that Spider-Man: No Way Home, which was released in December, has restored his entire faith in the MCU’s box office prospects.
“Have we returned? Yes, I know we’ve returned.”
Beyond 2022, Feige noted, the “next ten years” would be dominated by three major issues.
“With old characters, new characters, and new narrative tools in the multiverse, anything is possible in the next ten years.”
Phase 5 and Beyond of the MCU
It’s easy to underestimate the scope of a “decade” of initiatives. During the first ten years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, audiences saw entire trilogies for Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, as well as three billion-dollar Avengers team-ups. In that decade, there was also a gap year in 2009, one-film years in 2010 and 2012, and no streaming series.
The MCU canceled nine projects in 2021 alone.
All of this means that Marvel Studios’ “next decade” may easily quadruple the population of its first ten years. When the Parliament acquires all of 20th Century Fox’s assets, it has enough new narrative ideas to maintain the 27-film series as inventive as ever.
The most important lesson from this “creative retreat” is that strands are starting to link. The majority of Phase 4’s stories have been reactive to the events of Avengers: Endgame, but seeds are being set for enormous crossover events in all branches of the MCU. This retreat is most likely when Feige and company start to put things together. It remains to be seen if this implies one massive Avengers 5 or smaller major ventures like Secret Invasion.
