As the turning point of an incredible journey, Avengers: Endgame leaves the door open for familiar and fresh faces to carry the torch.
Read on to find out what's happening in MCU Phase 4 and beyond!
Spider-Man: Far From Home will be the first movie in Phase 4, set to be released on 4 July 2019. Set after Avengers: Endgame, Peter Parker goes on a school trip to Europe with his friends. While abroad, he is recruited by Nick Fury to team up with Mysterio to battle the Elementals.
Tom Holland has expressed his desire to play Spider-Man "for a very long time" and is contracted for a trilogy. However, there's a chance Spider-Man 3 might not happen as Sony still has the rights to our friendly neighbourhood superhero. Some have speculated that the studio might decide to end their partnership with Disney so they can bring him into its new shared universe with Venom, adjunct to the MCU.
Excluding Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth, all of whom had their own MCU trilogies, Scarlett Johansson has appeared in more movies than any other actor, which is even more impressive considering that she has yet to headline a solo movie.
This is expected to change next year - indie director Cate Shortland (Berlin Syndrome) has been hired to direct Black Widow. Filming will begin in June to make its expected 30 April 2020 release date. Plot details remain unknown for now, though it has been pegged as a semi-origin story taking place before 2012's The Avengers.
Set millions of years ago, The Eternals is bandied about as Marvel's next big cosmic franchise after Guardians of the Galaxy. Chinese-born Chloe Zhao (The Rider) will helm the project, with filming begining in August to make its expected 5 November 2020 release date.
The story follows the Celestials, a group of cosmic beings, as they experimented with life on different planets. Their experiments yielded the super-powered and near-immortal beings know as Eternals (Thanos, for instance, is an Eternal of his home planet), as well as a more monstrous off-shoot known as the Deviants. The two groups went on to battle each other throughout history to see which would eventually become the ultimate race.
One rumoured aspect of the movie is a love story between the Eternals Ikaris, known for his ability to fly, and Sersi, a master manipulator of objects who relishes to live among humans.
Late last year, Marvel announced that both star Benedict Cumberbatch and director Scott Derrickson would return for a sequel scheduled for release in 2021.
Robert C. Cargill, writer of the first movie, revealed that he has laid the groundwork for the demon Nightmare to be the main villain in Doctor Strange 2. Nightmare is the ruler of the dream dimension and has the power to harness energy from the subconscious minds of sleeping humans.
The sequel will also likely focus on Baron Mordo's (Chiwetel Ejiofor) arc as he transitions into villainy, which began in the post-credit scene of Doctor Strange.
Also late last year, Ryan Coogler secured a deal to return to write and direct Black Panther 2, while Chadwick Boseman's five-picture deal will see him reprising his role as King T'Challa.
Erik Killmonger's death in Black Panther means that a new villain will be introduced. The popular Secret Invasion comics storyline has been mooted as an interesting option, which follows the Skrulls (shape-shifting aliens soon to be introduced in this year's Captain Marvel) as they attempt to take over Wakanda as part of their plans to conquer Earth.
In light of Black Panther's massive success, diversity, especially ethnic diversity, looks set to be a key theme of the MCU moving forward.
With an eye for inclusion, Marvel announced that they are "fast-tracking" Shang-Chi to be its first superhero movie franchise with an Asian protagonist, and are looking at a number of Asian and Asian-American directors.
Inspired by Bruce Lee, Shang-Chi is a martial arts master, oftentimes referred to as the greatest empty-handed fighter alive. He is also an expert in various hand weapons such as swords, nunchaku and rods. Following exposure to cosmic radiation, he developed the ability to create duplicates of himself.
Initially planned for release next year, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 has been put on hold till 2021 since August 2018 following James Gunn's dismissal. Despite severing ties with Gunn, Marvel will reportedly still use his script. Possible replacement directors include Travis Knight (Bumblebee), Brad Bird (Incredibles 2) and prolific TV director Michelle MacLaren.
Word around Chris Hemsworth's departure from the MCU is still teetering, though the actor has came out to say that his contract ends with Avengers: Endgame.
That being said, Hemsworth has also suggested that he would consider making more movies only if Thor: Ragnarok's Taika Waititi returns to direct, even going as far as saying they were already "throwing ideas around."
Mark Ruffalo, who is currently on film four of his six-picture deal, has confirmed last year that Thor: Ragnarok is the beginning of a three-movie story arc for Bruce Banner. Unfortunately, a Hulk solo movie will never happen as Universal still has the rights to the character.
Given how successful Ant-Man and Ant-Man and The Wasp were, it would be surprising if Marvel has no plans for a third film, especially if the reports are true that Paul Rudd (Scott Lang) is contracted for one more movie after Avengers: Endgame. According to Michael Douglas (Hank Pym), there has been nothing formal as yet.
Kevin Feige first noted in 2018 that a Nova movie has "immediate potential" for Marvel due to his connections with the Guardians of the Galaxy, and that idea has since continued to gain traction thanks to a revelation from The Big Short director Adam McKay, who said in a recent interview that they are currently "kicking around" it.
In the comics, Richard Rider became Nova after the last surviving member of the Nova Corps, Rhomann Dey, crash landed on Earth and bestowed his powers upon him. As fans might recall, Rhomann Dey was played by John C. Reilly in Guardians of the Galaxy. With Xandar's destruction mentioned fleetingly in Infinity War, this is the most obvious way to weave him into the MCU.
Marvel by proxy has been slowly reacquiring licenses to the characters it lost during the 1990s, and one of them is Blade, who has had a trilogy of films under the Warner Bros. banner from 1998 to 2004.
During an interview last year, original star Wesley Snipes expressed an interest in returning to the role, while also revealing that he's had conversations about new projects that "fit perfectly" into the MCU.
If you don't already know, Disney is on the verge of acquiring Fox and its massive movie library, which includes the rights to the X-Men, Fantastic Four and Deadpool. Disney CEO Bob Iger has confirmed that they will be definitely expanding the Marvel cinematic universe to include these iconic franchises for a new generation of fans.
However quicky or slowly this may be though, remains to be seen.
Photocredit @ Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Avengers: Endgame opens in cinemas on 25 April 2019.
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