Phase 5 Of The Marvel Cinematic Universe Is Already Planned, Next 'Avengers' Team Will Be "Very Different"

The Marvel Studios panel at San Diego Comic-Con revealed Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, unlike the previous phases, this one didn't culminate with a big event movie like The Avengers. Kevin Feige explained why that's the case not long after the panel concluded, and part of the reason might be to allow for a bigger lead-up to what's coming in Phase 5.

Following the panel, Kevin Feige confirmed that Phase 5 is already planned as part of Marvel Studios' previously teased five-year plan. And it sounds like that will end up leading to a very different iteration of The Avengers than we've seen before.

Speaking briefly with MTV's Josh Horowitz after the Marvel Studios panel, Kevin Feige said they actually considered announcing even more than the 11 projects that will make up Phase 4:

"We debated what we should announce today. Should we announce 4 and 5? We've planned them out, we've got five years down the road and I was like, I think eleven projects in two years is plenty, having not mentioned anything for two or three years."

That lines up with Feige's claim that Marvel Studios has a five-year plan for the future of the MCU following this year's Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Initially it was thought that Phase Four would be spread out over five years, but it makes sense that Phase Four is only spread across two years since the first 11 years of the MCU had three phases within that timeframe. Plus, the good news is that we already know at least half of the movies that could be in Phase 5.

At the end of the Marvel Studios panel, Kevin Feige quickly mentioned that the sequels Black Panther 2, Captain Marvel 2, and Guardians of the Galaxy 3 were all on the way. But fans were most excited by the prospect of X-Men and Fantastic Four being name-dropped, not to mention the surprise announcement of a Blade movie with Mahershala Ali in the lead role. But which of these characters will become part of the new iteration of The Avengers?

Even though there isn't an Avengers title on the calendar, Kevin Feige confirmed there would be another one down the road by saying that the next Avengers team will be a "very different team than we've seen before," which will include characters we haven't met. That means Shang-Chi, Fantastic Four and some X-Men team members could be part of the mix if the next Avengers movie doesn't arrive until the end of Phase 5 (assuming the latter two teams make a debut in the MCU by then). But let's not forget that we have a new Captain America in Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and a new Thor played by Natalie Portman on the way. Those would all make great additions to a new team of Avengers.

For now, we'll just have to patiently wait and see how Phase 4 unfolds over the next two years. Black Widow will be the first new Marvel Studios movie on the scene starting on May 1, 2020, and you can see what will follow right here.