Avengers 4 Ends The MCU As We Know It

Avengers 4 will end the MCU as you know it - and in more ways than you expect. Thanos' dramatic finger-snap wiped out half of all life in the Universe in this summer's Avengers: Infinity War, including several fan-favorite heroes. Attention has quickly turned to 2019's imminent sequel, the currently-untitled Avengers 4 to see if - or more specifically, how - the remaining Avengers can save the day and bring back the dust piles formerly known as Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Star-Lord et al.

What is certain is that the current Phase 3 is coming to an end in 2019, with prequel Captain Marvel and culmination Avengers 4 will reshuffle the deck and change the Marvel Cinematic Universe (hopefully) for good and (definitely) for always. Thanos has been a Big Bad building behind the scenes ever since the first Avengers movie in 2012, and Avengers 4 - seven years later - will finally see his defeat and/or demise.

Actors who have been around the MCU since its inception - like the "trinity" of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth - are nearing the end of their contracts, and it's clear the Infinity War arc will resolve many plot threads. Whatever comes next is going to be a clean slate story-wise, and in some cases, character-wise. The story that's been unfolding since the start of Phase 1 with Iron Man back in 2008 will come to a close, and audiences can rest assured that Avengers 4 will end the MCU as they know it. The real question is, what is that going to look like?

This Page: How Avengers 4 Actually Ends An MCU Era
Page 2: How Phase 4 Will Change The MCU

MCU Phases 1-3 Were Defined By The Infinity Stones

Once Marvel producer-extraordinaire Kevin Feige and the rest of the Marvel Studios production team realized they had a plot device that could beget an entire series of MacGuffins with the Tesseract, the plan was set for the first three Phases of the MCU. The Tesseract, an all-powerful object capable of opening wormholes (first appearing in Captain America: The First Avenger), could be the first of six Infinity Stones (the Tesseract being the Space Stone), based on the Infinity Gems from the comic books.

As per the source material, Thanos the Mad Titan was revealed as the cosmic being in search of these all-powerful stones, desiring to collect them all and release their power to decimate half of all life in the Universe. The next to appear was the Reality Stone, in the form of the blood-like Aether from Thor: The Dark World. The remaining four were all finally revealed in the sequence of films leading to - and including - Avengers: Infinity War.

With Infinity War having culminated in Thanos' successful retrieval and use of the Infinity Stones, and Avengers 4 likely to reverse Thanos' victory with his presumed defeat, the aftermath - and all MCU films that would follow afterward - will surely be without the pre-creation ingots, drawing a new line.

There's definitely a slew of potential new, all-powerful MacGuffin going forward. While some classic objects like the Mandarin's rings have been tossed aside, the future induction of the Fantastic Four and the X-Men to the MCU also earmark the Ultimate Nullifier and the M'Kraan Crystal for potential future inclusion too, as Galactus-destroying weaponry and "nexus of all realities" gems respectively. Of course, Marvel could decide to play against type and excise MacGuffins from their future plans altogether.

Regardless, Phase 4 will bring an entirely new modus operandi to the heroes of the MCU, unbound by a strict adherence to a line-wide focus on the Infinity Stones.

Several Big Avengers Are Unlikely to Return

After almost eleven years and 20 movies (Captain Marvel and Avengers 4 will make 22) into the MCU, many veteran actors of the franchise will see their contracts up for expiry. Robert Downey Jr.'s contract has been on operating on a rolling basis since Captain America: Civil War, Chris Hemsworth has spoken about Avengers 4 being his last contracted film, and Chris Evans is the same. Although Evans has stated his willingness to extend his Marvel contract, Hemsworth is apparently done with Thor unless "another great script comes along". That is by no means any guarantee of either to return, so the state of the MCU post-Avengers 4 looks like it might be without some of its mainstays.

This does leave the door open for existing supporting actors (who all have time left on their contracts) to take on various Marvel mantles, using the source material as inspiration; Rhodey could step into the red and gold armor of Iron Man, Bucky or Falcon could become Captain America, and even Natalie Portman's Jane Foster could return to become Thor (although Valkyrie could be a suitable alternative given Portman seems done with the series).

If some of the longtime anchors fail to return, it further creates an opportunity for entirely new characters to appear. We could even see Riri Williams make her on-screen debut as Ironheart. Whatever the case may be, the faces fans will see in the landscape of the MCU post-Avengers 4 are currently a mystery.

Page 2 of 2: How Phase 4 Will Change The MCU

The MCU's Focus Will Shift to Cosmic

The MCU has been flirting with the cosmic since Thor, but now it's becoming dominant. Captain Marvel is already setting the stage for a glimpse of the Kree-Skrull War, with the first looks at the Skrulls and the Starforce providing further illumination to the cosmic battleground. Early concept art for Avengers 4 shows the remaining Avengers fighting alongside Rocket, Nebula and Captain Marvel in space, apparently taking the fight to Thanos. And, of course, before the firing of James Gunn led to the film being put on hold, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was one of the few post-Avengers 4 films openly discussed.

All of these examples point to Marvel leaning into their cosmic catalog, with audience members now accustomed to seeing all manner of alien races fight their heroes (after the Guardians movies, Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War), the capacity to spin off into space-set adventures and really open up the limitless expanse of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is extremely real.

Secret Invasion is one of the most popular Phase 4 arcs (if it isn't used up by Captain Marvel, which debuts the shape-shifting Skrulls), and Guardians 3 was meant to launch the next decade of space-set adventures in the franchise. Even with that project on the backburner, the likes of The Eternals are still in the works.

The End of "Phases"

At the inception of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the nascent studio wisely decided to take their movies step by step; initially a desire to get from Iron Man in 2008 to The Avengers in 2012; this ultimately represented Phase 1 of their initiation of a multi-movie spanning shared universe. Phase 2 brought the inclusion of the Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man, and Phase 3 brought Spider-Man back home and presented the debut of Doctor Strange, before leading up to the what was in the offing the entire time: the Avengers and all of their new friends and allies versus Thanos.

With Captain Marvel and Avengers 4 preparing to close out Phase 3, all eyes are on Phase 4 - which so far includes Spider-Man: Far From Home, a delayed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, a Black Widow solo adventure, Eternals and sequels to both Black Panther and Doctor Strange. But only one of those is now dated and information on the others is a closely-held secret. That's in part to preserve Avengers 4's importance, but may also be a sign of things changing: could the very concept or a regimented Phase 4 be removed?

Getting rid of the Phases opens up the MCU to a myriad of possibilities. There'll be a less formulaic rotation to the movies year-on-year; the current structure introduces a few new characters in each Phase and provides updates on existing characters adventures before combining some or all of them for an Avengers group hug. Moving forward, there'll be more freedom to tell grander, more complex narratives within the MCU.

Avengers 4 May Be The Last "Avengers" Movie

Once Avengers 4 rolls credits in 2019, the next time audiences see The Avengers as a team will likely be a hugely different experience. Regardless of whether Downey, Evans and Hemsworth return for another appearance as their iconic characters, the likelihood of them coming back for Avengers 5 three or four years down the line is even more unlikely.

It's safer to expect different characters wearing familiar costumes, and new or more recent characters populating the team. There's even the capacity for a take on the New Avengers; a team launched out of the ashes of Avengers: Disassembled, which included Spider-Man, Wolverine and Luke Cage. Then there are other variants: the Ultimates, the Illuminati and, of course, the Eternals could all find themselves coming out of Avengers 4's ashes. However, there's a bigger group on the way.

Fox being absorbed into Disney sees the X-Men and the Fantastic Four both being returned to Marvel Studios, with the long-term plans being to work them into the MCU. While this wouldn't exactly be a result of Avengers 4, the deal being finalized in 2019 would mean that it's the last movie made before the merry mutants are at Feige's disposal, a further way the future will be very different.

At this point, it's anyone's guess - but what's safe to say is that the Avengers will be a hugely different team after Avengers 4 reshuffles the deck.