It’s still too early for Marvel to reveal the Avengers 5 release date. We’ve only had about a year of story development after Endgame, and that’s after a full year that lacked any kind of new MCU content because of the pandemic. We might not have an Avengers 5 announcement, but at least Marvel acknowledges plans for the project. And the signs are already there, indirectly confirming that new Avengers stories are in the works. You just have to know where to look. But Avengers 5 might not be what you initially expected.
Big Endgame expectations
The “problem” with Endgame is that it gave fans a taste of what it feels like for all the Avengers to join the same massive fight. And the audience wanted more immediately after Endgame concluded. But Marvel needed more than a decade to get there, so now it’s time to rebuild the MCU.
That’s what Marvel is doing with these first TV shows and movies in Phase 4. We’re getting to know some Avengers better than ever, as we’re introduced to new potential team members and villains.
It’s the Endgame hype that partially “ruined” WandaVision for some people. They had bigger expectations, while Marvel continued to tell a simple story, it needed to develop the arcs of Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany).
Marvel’s Kevin Feige addressed Avengers 5 questions a few months ago, acknowledging that we might be in the early phases of another major Avengers story. “I think we want there to be a reasonable amount of time from the Endgame to start a new saga, which is already underway and already started,” Feige said in an interview. “And then you need time, as you did in Phase 1, to build that saga before you start bringing everyone together.”
Separately, Marvel wanted to tell the audience very early that the Avengers still exist as a group after Endgame. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was one place where we saw the world still acknowledged the Avengers’ presence and role. But it was really Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings that settled it. One of the post-credits scenes tells us that the Avengers are actively monitoring threats, and they’re recruiting. The band is back together for good after Endgame.
Avengers 5 doesn’t have to be another Endgame
Marvel can’t deliver another Avengers adventure of the magnitude of Endgame, not until all the pieces are available on the board. It still needs to introduce the Eternals, X-Men, and Fantastic Four. Not to mention that Marvel is also setting up additional teams of superheroes, including the Young Avengers, West Coast Avengers, Thunderbolts, and Illuminati, to name a few. When it comes to villains, Kang (Jonathan Majors) is just one of the many big threats the Avengers might have to deal with. We’re yet to see the others.
The point here is that Avengers 5 might not be another Endgame. And Marvel might not want it to be. ComicBook talked to Eternals producer Nate Moore while Marvel was shooting the movie. The Avengers 5 prospect came up, unsurprisingly. Moore was careful not to set any expectations at the time — in early 2020.
“I think you can, or you can not, you know what I mean?” Moore said. “And I think, Avengers 4 was called Endgame for a reason. We haven’t really talked in a real way about what an Avengers 5 would be even.”
Marvel plans to surprise the audience
“I think we can have it either way if we want,” Moore added. “We could build towards it, or we could just say, ‘Hey, here’s a standalone Avengers movie.’ And I think as long as the story was strong and interesting enough, people will come and see it. We’re kind of nerds, so we like to build towards things, and we like to spread bread crumbs and see where they come… But yeah, and I think audiences also kind of want to be surprised. So, to some degree, we don’t want to say, ‘You saw that trick, let’s do that trick again.’ What’s the new way to surprise people if, and when we did an Avengers movie, what would be the funnest version of that?”
While Moore wouldn’t have revealed anything significant, he suggested that anything is possible for Avengers 5.
“Do you go the opposite and make the stakes really personal and small because what’s bigger than Endgame? You know what I mean? How do we make the stakes bigger than that?” The universe is going to collapse? I don’t know. Or is it there another way where, ‘Oh, here’s a really clever Mission: Impossible-style Avengers movie that gets to be smaller. Again, all ideas we can play with, but I do feel like the door’s a bit open, and audiences will be kind of game to follow us.”
What seems clear is that each new MCU Phase 4 show or movie will deliver a combination of heroes. Combining at least a couple of Avengers in each story seems to be Marvel’s plan right now. We might have to wait a while for Avengers 5, but we will see various Avengers join forces before then.
