The entire world is in a state of shock and chaos. After the Coronavirus Pandemic spread from China to the rest of the world, every industry has been under turmoil and facing massive disruption. The entertainment industry is also going through a similarly difficult phase. Marvel Studios, which owns and operates the world’s most profitable movie franchise – the Marvel Cinematic Universe, also could not escape the wrath of Mother Nature. The next phase of MCU – Marvel Phase 4, will be released but the slate will be unlike any sequence or tradition Marvel Studios has followed to date.
What began with Iron Man in 2008 started off the first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Then a slew of movies came to set up Phase 1 and start the process for phase 2. The end to the third phase of the MCU came with Avengers: Infinity War and its follow up continuation – Avengers: Endgame. Spiderman: Far From Home was the final ode to Phase 3 of the MCU. The Shared Superhero Universe has even explored TV Network entertainment as well as streaming services via OTT players. Marvel Phase 4 will follow none of the patterns that were previously being taken into consideration.
Marvel always follows a pattern. Up until phase 3, it followed a fixed path – set up the origin story for a hero, pair up the hero with other superheroes, set up sequels for the said superhero to enforce its position in the MCU, and then release a team-up movie right after sufficient heroes have been established via the former procedure. Marvel Phase 4 would have been the same. Tons of superheroes need to have their stories told and positions reinforced in the superhero universe. Several sequels, as well as one prequel, are already within the Phase 4 MCU Slate. But the COVID-19 outbreak has stopped them from following one mandatory rule – this year will not see multiple big movies releases something Marvel had been doing for half a decade or more.
Most of the big projects have been pushed past 2020. Apart from a single project – Black Widow, Marvel will not have any other movie releasing this year. Eternals have been pushed to a later date in the year 2021. Shang-Chi, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Doctor Strange 2 are all going to be releasing at a date way past mid-2021. This changes things for the worse for Marvel. The only reason they have to keep working is to cater to the Disney+ platform, which will not bring as much bang for the buck as invested in production. But we have not even mentioned the biggest change yet – Phase 4 will have no team-up movies. So do not expect any “Avengers Assemble” war cries till 2022 or beyond.
Now THAT must hurt. That must hurt real bad!!
The Last Solo Marvel movie to be released under the Disney banner is Spider-Man: Far From Home. The movie was released on the 2nd of November, 2018. The official film synopsis for the movie reads:
Peter Parker’s relaxing European vacation takes an unexpected turn when Nick Fury shows up in his hotel room to recruit him for a mission. The world is in danger as four massive elemental creatures — each representing Earth, air, water and fire — emerge from a hole torn in the universe. Parker soon finds himself donning the Spider-Man suit to help Fury and fellow superhero Mysterio stop the evil entities from wreaking havoc across the continent.
Avengers: Endgame released on the 26th of April, 2019. The official film synopsis of the movie has been released and it states:
“After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War, the universe is in ruins due to the efforts of the Mad Titan, Thanos. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers must assemble once more in order to undo Thanos’ actions and restore order to the universe once and for all, no matter what consequences may be in store.”
