The MCU Could Begin To Struggle After Avengers: Infinity War

Ten years into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and Kevin Feige has been calling Avengers: Infinity War the culmination of all their hard work. It isn't difficult to read between the lines here. What Feige means is, the MCU – in its current form – can't go on forever. Why, you may ask? It's simple. There's no way that the likes of Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, and Chris Evans want to do this for the rest of their acting careers. While we're sure they enjoy making these kinds of movies, they're actors at the end of the day and need challenging roles. Being part of an ongoing franchise creates numerous scheduling obstacles and they often have to pass on opportunities because of it. They're also passing on money, which no actor likes to do. What this means is there will be a new breed of heroes leading the MCU forward after this event ends. Feige has already mentioned that Spider-Man will play a big part in Phase 4's plans, and we'd expect Black Panther to be in the mix, too, especially after the resounding success of his solo film. But who else will be around? To be honest, we have a feeling that the MCU might actually struggle after Infinity War. It's unlikely to end any time soon, of course, but will the films still be hitting the billion-dollar mark as often as they have? Our discussion begins on the next page. The Cosmic Element At the 2017 Brazil Comic-Con, Feige told the audience, "If the Avengers survive, we will see more films with them in space. I love and would like to see more films in space." You can ignore the first part about "if the Avengers survive," because obviously most of them will. The MCU isn't run by George R.R. Martin, ladies and gentlemen, so this is just Feige keeping up the mystique and mystery of Infinity War. The real telling part is what Feige says about space. The future of the MCU will likely be more cosmic and deal with these types of tales. Heck, the Russos have already confirmed they'd be down with doing an adaptation of Secret Wars and James Gunn is doing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, so that should tell you what sorts of discussions are taking place. But is this really what we want as fans? Recently, many people have complained about the overabundance of CGI in superhero films. It seems to have taken over and in some cases damaged the movies. If the MCU is going cosmic, though, that means we're in for even more CGI-heavy films in the future. What ever happened to making more grounded superhero pics? Nonetheless, you best prepare yourself for a lot of computer-generated villains and giant beams in the sky. We're sure Silver Surfer fans must be happy about this development, though. Spider-Man And Black Panther If the MCU relies on Spider-Man and Black Panther going forward, it should be okay, right? After all, Spider-Man: Homecoming made over $880 million and Black Panther smashed past the $1.3 billion mark at the box office. That's nothing to scoff at, but will both characters continue to be as popular with fans in the future? First off, Spider-Man has had a tumultuous relationship with Hollywood. While Spidey films have always made money (ludicrous amounts, actually), the audience's attraction to the character seems to wane after a while. The kids love the Wall-Crawler, but the older members of the crowd lose interest after a movie or two. At this stage, no one wants to see another Spider-Man reboot for a long time, so are we sure that Tom Holland is ready to commit to (and lead) an entire Phase of movies? In terms of T'Challa, it's a little bit different here. There were many reasons for the Black Panther phenomenon, but the biggest one is that a lot of people wanted to see an African American superhero succeed on the big screen. Now that it's been achieved, will we see the same people come out in flocks for future films? It's likely, and Black Panther 2 should make a lot of money as well. The question is, how much story steam does T'Challa have in his tank? Also, will a solo film about Shuri or Okoye be equally as successful? Captain Marvel There's a lot riding on the success of 2019's Captain Marvel. After the empowerment and triumph of Wonder Woman, many side eyes were shot in the MCU's direction. Even though Johansson's Black Widow character has been a major part of the universe, her proposed solo film was only announced after the Patty Jenkins-directed superhero pic did what it did. So, why has Marvel taken so long to give its female actresses and characters their own starring vehicles? The hype around Captain Marvel also hasn't been overly positive. When the set pics were leaked, there were quite a few eye rolls around Carol Danvers' attire. Sure, no one should judge a film by its set photos, but this is the internet age where everyone freaks out about the smallest of things. The superhero community does have the tendency to overreact and make mountains out of molehills, and this could harm the film negatively. The other question is, is Captain Marvel as resonating as Wonder Woman? The average moviegoer certainly knows who Princess Diana is, but do they know anything about Danvers? The MCU has shown its ability to milk its lesser-known properties, and it'll definitely have to do so in order to make Captain Marvel as culturally relevant as Wonder Woman. The X-Men And Fantastic Four One of the most exciting developments is Disney's purchase of Fox, which allows it access to licensed characters such as the X-Men and Fantastic Four. Already, fans are celebrating that the mutants and Marvel's First Family are coming back home to where they belong. In the case of the Fantastic Four, there's nowhere to go but up. The films have failed to live up to the hype and we're sure that everyone is hoping that the MCU manages to find a use for these legendary characters. The biggest stumbling block, though, could be the damage done by the previous efforts. All three FF films are often cited as the worst superhero movies ever made, and the general audience doesn't tend to forget these things. Apart from comic book fans, there might not be anticipation for the Fantastic Four's arrival. The X-Men's problem is the opposite. In general, Fox did a great job with the characters and the movies. The question is, will the actors still reprise their roles in the MCU? With the studio only rebooting the franchise a few years ago, it's unwise to attempt another one so soon and this might cause a few headaches. Also, what about Wolverine? As we all know, Hugh Jackman retired the role with 2017's Logan, but there's still a lot of fanfare and pleas for him to return to the part. If the MCU convinces him to come back, it might just blow up the internet and send everyone into raptures. If the role is recast (because it's Wolverine and you simply don't forget him), it might not go down well with Jackman's loyalists. Whichever way, it won't be as easy as people think it is to introduce these two groups into the MCU. There's a lot of baggage associated with them, and it'll have to be carefully managed and navigated to ensure maximum impact.