If you're like me, then you've thoroughly enjoyed the last decade+ of Marvel dominance at the box office. As a kid who grew up reading comic books, it's been my pleasure to watch as these movies built one of them ost inventive and enviable worlds of our time. Outside of Harry Potter, there's never been an adaptation like this, and it's hard not to be jealous that today's kids just get to watch these movies while the rest of us had to make them up in our heads in the backyard.
We've averaged almost two Marvel movies a year for a while, but I noticed something while looking at their calendar...
There's nothing scheduled past Spider-Man: Far From Home. We're in a weird space where Marvel has said they will release a movie on May 1st, 2020, but right now no one knows what that title is and there has been no official announcement that any Marvel title is shooting.
The folks at Looper also caught onto this trend and made an engaging video essay about what's happening in the Marvel world.
I think we're at a Marvel crossroads. They have three titles coming out this year, and that could be part of the overexposure. We also know that Disney has several Marvel TV shows planned for its new streaming network. I think there is probably an internal push to make audiences wait and salivate. Marvel releases are special, and you don't want things to get like Star Wars, where capitalization created an inundated market and negatively affected the box office actuals.
I'd wager that without the James Gunn controversy, we'd have Guardians of The Galaxy 3 on the schedule. But right now that title is in flux.
I also think there's a big shift ahead. We're about to see a changing of the guard. We've had the same group together since roughly 2008, and their contracts are running out. I think there's going to be a shift in who leads Earth's Mightiest Heroes - and probably for the better. One thing Marvel has done consistently well is to shake things up.
They've gone to space, killed off half the characters, jumped time periods, and done movies completely focused on high school and localized heists.
This malleability has given the creators they work with enough leash to have a personal style but given the public the knowledge that a team of producers is behind the scenes pulling the strings. Kevin Feige has always had a plan. His phases built monumental success.
So for now, I think all we can do is speculate and trust the process. And watch the Avengers: Endgame trailer for the 100,000th time and hope that your faves come back and start shooting soon!
What's your favorite Marvel movie? Got any predictions of which title they'll release in 2020? Or about the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Let us know in the comments!
