0
2019 brought about the end of the Infinity Saga in an epic event that saw the remaining Avengers face Thanos one more time in an attempt to restore the Universe in Avengers: Endgame. With that all settled, we look ahead to the future and try to predict the next major Marvel event.
In 2019, Marvel Studios announced the full slate of movies for Phase 4, plus a selection of TV shows on Disney+ and a Blade reboot, which are set to be released after 2021. Strangely, there is no new Avengers movie due out in the next phase, which led many to assume there will be no more Avengers.
But if rumours and sources are to be believed, Avengers 5 could happen sometime during Phase 5, and bring new heroes together with old ones, such as the Eternals, Shang-Chi and She-Hulk, all of whom are set to make their live-action debuts.
But the question remains: what story could be used to reassemble the Avengers? Here are our predictions.
Avengers: Secret Invasion
The Secret Invasion storyline saw the shapeshifting alien species known as the Skrulls infiltrate and begin to replace Earth’s Mightiest Heroes over many years. This has already been hinted at in the post credits scene in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), which revealed both Nick Fury and Maria Hill were being impersonated by the Skrulls.
Based on her already existing connection to the Skrulls, it is likely this story might be alluded to or setup in the upcoming Captain Marvel 2, or even tell the entire story in a similar vein as Captain America: Civil War (2016), with Carol Danvers being the focus of the story, while the other events play out around her. This story would have a big impact on the MCU and would be felt for many years afterwards we may even get an appearance from a classic Fantastic Four villain, Super Skrull.
However, the problem with this story is that within the MCU, the Skrulls have been depicted as refugees in need of help and trying to protect their own. The potential for this story does still exist and was subtly hinted at in Captain Marvel (2019), and if done well, it could be a fantastic movie.
Avengers: The Devourer of Worlds
Although this idea might be unlikely, the recent acquisition of 20th Century Fox by Disney has opened the door for the appearance of the Fantastic Four within the MCU, with a new cast and backstory. This deal also includes the devourer of worlds, Galactus and his herald, the Silver Surfer, both of whom have been rumoured to make their MCU debuts soon.
This story was already adapted in 2007 with Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, but featured a swirling cloud instead of the big purple Galactus. Even though there is a silhouette of the classic character during the Surfer’s final confrontation, it doesn’t do the character justice, especially with the story shifting focus between the Surfer and the return of Doctor Doom.
Galactus’s initial appearance was just with the Fantastic Four, but with a character with the power to devour an entire planet, there is no way a movie could be made without the presence of the Avengers, which was done to great effect in the animated TV show, Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
Avengers: Secret Wars
The Russo Brothers, whose work with both Captain America as well as the Avengers have made them fan favourites, have both expressed an interest in developing a Secret Wars movie. A limited series of comics that saw a select group of Marvel’s finest being transported to a planet called battleworld by the cosmic entity known as the Beyonder, where they had to fight for their lives against a vast array of Marvel villains.
This series saw a number of changes, including the introduction of the Symbiote suit worn by everyone’s favourite webslinger. There was even a small reference in Endgame, where the Hulk is forced to hold up a large structure during the final battle, enabling his teammates to escape.
This movie would be the icing on the cake, featuring potentially the entire roster of Avengers, Guardians, Eternals and many more, going up against multiple villains, both old and new. It will be a shame not seeing Iron Man and Steve Rogers, and possibly even Spider-Man, joining in the fight, but there’s no denying this would be an incredible spectacle.
Dark Avengers
Marvel’s head honcho, Kevin Feige has expressed an interest in developing a Dark Avengers movie, and that seems likely to happen, with rumours of eventually seeing Norman Osbourne aka the Green Goblin making his MCU debut.
The story revolves around the arrival of a new team of Avengers, but what the public do not know, is that the team is mostly made up of supervillains in disguise, such as Norman Osbourne as the Iron Patriot, Bullseye as Hawkeye, Daken as Wolverine, the Scorpion as Venom and the Void as Sentry.
This does sound like an interesting direction to take, and with no clue whether or not the Avengers still exist after Endgame, there is a window for this to happen. But with the possibility of Spider-Man leaving the MCU after the next big team-up, it seems highly unlikely.
Avengers vs. X-Men (AvsX)
Similar to the Fantastic Four, the acquisition of 20th Century Fox now allows Mutants to finally make their presence known in the MCU, with a brand new roster of X-Men. There has even been talk of Wolverine making an appearance very soon.
The story was a mixture of limited series and numerous tie-in books, but the main event saw the return of the Phoenix Force and followed the subsequent war between both the Avengers and X-men.
There may be certain elements that don’t make it into the movie, such as the Phoenix Force, which has already been given a lot of focus in two movies, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019), but with this being a very different story, it will be great to see the Phoenix Force being utilised properly.
But the question remains on how mutants will come into existence within the MCU, with their history dating back centuries. It would be strange if SHIELD weren’t aware of them. But the answer is in plain sight: the Scarlet Witch.
The Scarlet Witch is set to appear alongside the Vision in the upcoming Disney+ series, WandaVision (2020). This series is set to introduce her reality warping abilities, which will reportedly have a significant impact on both the Loki series and the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2021).
Scarlet Witch is known for having several mental breakdowns, going so far as to kill members of the Avengers and even erasing mutants from existence, which was done in the miniseries House of M, so it is likely this could be used as the basis to bring mutants into the MCU.
There have also been rumours of seeing a character known as Kang the Conqueror making his live-action debut in Loki, a time travelling genius from the 40th Century. With time travel being the focus of Endgame, this is a possibility.
There are plenty of other ideas and stories to be adapted in the future, and whether or not they will be as successful remains to be seen, but one thing’s for certain, it will be fun finding out.