Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige wants everyone to know that the Marvel Cinematic Universe will still have standalone stories while it builds up to the larger "Multiverse Saga."
Feige shared some information in an official Marvel Entertainment interview at the premiere of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the first entry in the MCU's Phase 5. The film introduces a major new villain in Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), who is destined to appear in future movies, most notably one that bears his name in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. However, Feige confirms there will still be movies like Phase 4's Eternals or Shang-Chi with no immediately apparent connection to the larger MCU. "Phase 4, as I've said, was all about experimentation, introduction and reintroduction," he said. "And we took our time to have fun and play in genres we hadn't played in before... Kicking off Phase 5, we'll continue that. And like the Infinity Saga, there'll be standalone films within the next two phases."
Marvel's Phase Five and Beyond
That being said, Feige affirms that, even with the standalone films, the meat of the MCU for the foreseeable future will be its larger multiverse-centric story. Marvel Studios officially dubbed Phases 4-6 as its Multiverse Saga, while Phases 1-3 (every MCU movie from Iron Man to Spider-Man: Far From Home) was its Infinity Saga because of their focus on the Infinity Stones. "But [the MCU] really, as you will certainly see in Quantumania, is heading toward the really, really big picture," Feige said, "and that big picture is the Multiverse Saga."
After Quantumania, the MCU's Phase 5 will include five more movies coming out over the next couple of years. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Marvels are set to arrive later this year, while Captain America: New World Order, Thunderbolts and the new Blade reboot are scheduled for 2024. After this is Phase 6, which Marvel Studios is obviously still keeping a few entries under wraps. What has been confirmed is that Phase 6 will include Deadpool 3, Fantastic Four, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. Additionally, Marvel is working on an Armor Wars movie starring War Machine (Don Cheadle) and a Shang-Chi sequel, but these aren't attached to any phase yet.
Despite having Ant-Man and the Wasp in its title, Quantumania is definitely not a standalone movie, as the villain Kang the Conqueror is set to make a big splash in the MCU. Kang is an evil variant of a character introduced in the Disney+ series Loki, the mysterious time-traveling He Who Remains (also played by Majors). The actor will continue to play Kang throughout the aptly named Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, making the events of Quantumania a significant plot point in the larger Multiverse Saga.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania comes out in theaters on Feb. 17.
Source: Marvel Entertainment via YouTube