Kevin Feige explains the decision to announce MCU Phase 6 plans now. Marvel Studios returned to San Diego Comic-Con Hall H for the first time since laying out their Phase 4 plans in 2019. As usual, the MCU architect spearheaded the panel, which included countless announcements, as well as appearances from some of the franchise's bigger stars.
The MCU's Hall H panels are always one of the most anticipated parts of San Diego Comic-Con, simply because the franchise goes all out with its presentations. For this year, Feige confirmed that Phase 4 will end with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, while Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will kick off MCU's Phase 5 movie and TV slate. Several projects were also announced, including the 18-episode Daredevil: Born Again show on Disney+ and a Thunderbolts movie. Interestingly, Feige even went beyond Phase 5 and talked about Phase 6, which will begin with a Fantastic Four reboot and be capped off by Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Admittedly, Feige could have stopped at Phase 5, but in an interview with ET Online, he says Marvel Studios decided to talk beyond that to give the audience some kind of "guide point." Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars serve this function, as most of MCU's projects in Phases 4 & 5 will build towards those culminating movies. Read Feige's full answer below:
Well, you know, we’re in a slightly different rhythm now. Phases 1, 2 and 3 were less projects over more years. Now, we’re doing more projects, with all the amazing series we were able to do on Disney+, over less years. And it felt like we needed to let people know -- people used to have that guide point of when an Avengers would come to cap the Phase -- it felt like announcing today that the Multiverse Saga and two Avengers films would cap that was something that we needed to share.
Unlike its Phase 5 plan, which was all laid out during San Diego Comic-Con, Feige didn't unveil the full MCU Phase 6 schedule. Instead, he only confirmed Fantastic Four's release date and that the Multiverse Saga will be capped off by back-t0-back Avengers films. When asked why Phase 5 doesn't have an Avengers movie, he explained that post-Infinity Saga, they decided they function best as saga-cappers. Since it's still a few years to go before Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, it'll be interesting to see if part of Marvel Studios' decision to talk about them stems from some of the issues plaguing Phase 4. Aside from specific problems, there have also been criticisms about it being disjointed and seemingly lacking direction. Now that the Multiverse Saga's culminating films are confirmed, fans have something to look forward to from here on out.
With the MCU's Multiverse Saga already having a confirmed "guide point," it's interesting if the public will have the same issues in Phase 5. Granted that not all projects are going to lead directly to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars in MCU Phase 6, the fact that they are confirmed can be viewed as a reassurance that Marvel Studios know what it's doing, and is not just improvising its storytelling after the Infinity Saga. Fans just have to be patient and wait for the payoff of all its world-building efforts.
Source: ET Online
