Credit: Inside the MagicThe Avengers may never be the same again.
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Following the departures of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Chris Evans’ Captain America, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has entered a new phase known as the Multiverse Saga.
Despite concerns about “superhero fatigue” and the departure of Jonathan Majors, who previously portrayed Kang the Conqueror, Marvel Studios is poised to redefine the Marvel movie landscape once again.
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With Majors no longer with the studio and Marvel President Kevin Feige considering a shift from the Multiverse Saga to a new Mutant Saga featuring X-Men characters, Avengers 5 (formerly titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty) is currently in development, though on a smaller scale than previous installments.
Following this will be Avengers 6, officially titled Avengers: Secret Wars, which is expected to conclude the MCU’s Multiverse Saga. Before that, however, the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), formerly called Deadpool 3, starring Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson, will integrate the Fox X-Men universe into the MCU.
Recently, Marvel President Kevin Feige spoke to io9 about the future of the fifth Avengers film.
Unfortunately for Avengers fans, it appears that not everyone will come back for Avengers 5, formerly Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Stressing the importance of telling a tight story, Feige shared:
I rarely speak in absolutes like that, right? The notion of never ever seeing somebody again, we’ve got Tim Blake Nelson in a movie coming up next year, right? So I never talk in absolutes like that. But the truth is, you know, we’re going to tell a story in these Avengers movies, and there won’t be room for 100,000 characters in it. So choices will have to be made, that’s for sure. But that doesn’t mean you won’t ever see anybody ever again.
Allegedly, if Deadpool & Wolverine is an “eight in terms of importance” to the MCU (if Avengers: Endgame is 10). What this sounds like is that shifts are happening within Marvel Studios and the Avengers movie has to be streamlined.
The Marvel universe is set to solidify its new narrative arc with Deadpool & Wolverine, also known as Deadpool 3, hitting theaters this summer July 26, alongside Daredevil: Born Again streaming on Disney+ (Disney Plus).
With Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) writer Jeff Loveness out of the writer’s room and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) director Destin Daniel Cretton no longer attached to direct, the future of Avengers 5 remains uncertain –especially as inside sources are reporting that Loki (2021) writer Michael Waldron has also departed the fifth Avengers movie and that The Kang Dynasty storyline has been scrapped in favor of pitting the Avengers against the X-Men.
With everything seemingly in flux at the moment, it is up to time — and perhaps Marvel Studios’ San Diego Comic Con panel — to tell whether Marvel’s pivot will pay off.
What do you think about the changes to Avengers 5? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!