With the admittedly disappointing Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania out of the way, and the imminent release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on the horizion to hopefully steer the ship back in the right direction, Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is well underway.
After Avengers: Endgame brought an end to the franchise’s Infinity Saga arc, Phase Four had the task of introducing a whole new cast of superheroes while the grizzled veterans of Avengers films past slowly but surely started to hang up their capes. While some newcomers may have missed the mark, others have managed to find themselves with adoring fandoms. Which, for u/Bowiescorvat2 over on the Marvel Studios subreddit, begs the question – why haven’t we seen a lot of these characters since their debuts?
The author of the thread does have something of the point, considering that in the past, new additions have at the very least been teased for cross-pollination with other characters in the post-credits scenes of later films. However, most responders to the thread were quick to remind the author of the fact that in the grand scheme of things, new additions to the MCU like Moon Knight and Shang Chi haven’t been around for overly long – and to exercise patience.
While it does seem odd that most of the new characters’ storylines have felt very standalone so far, knowing how the Big Mouse operates, they almost certainly aren’t going to be one-and-done additions to the franchise. Most likely, we’ll be seeing a lot of these folks come back once the big capstone teamup films return to the fore.
One commenter speculates that Captain America: New World Order may be that moment, whereas we’re of the more conservative mind that we’ll be seeing the MCU’s new faces again in 2025 when Avengers: The Kang Dynasty arrives. Although, in light of recent events, we’re not so sure that the film’s big bad is going to be back, at least in his current incarnation.
For the time being – as mentioned earlier, all Marvel fans’ eyes are turned to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, releasing in a little over a week’s time on May 5.