‘Spider-Man Homecoming’ Sequel Will Kick Off The MCU’s Phase 4
The last nine years and 16 films have been building up to the climactic face-off between the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Big Bad, Thanos. And it will all happen in the upcomingAvengers: Infinity Warand the mysteriousAvengers 4— two movies that are set to change the MCU as we know it. But what happens after that?
The movie dealing with the repercussions of the third and fourthAvengersfilm won’t be a sweepingThorepic or anotherCaptain America, but the sequel toSpider-Man: Homecoming, according to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. And as the only movie with a set release date afterAvengers 4, theSpider-Man: Homecomingsequel has the huge job of kicking off Phase 4 of the MCU. All in Peter Parker’s junior year.
In an interview withio9, Feige revealed that theSpider-Mansequel was “purposefully” set up to be released merely two months afterAvengers 4, officially kickstarting Phase 4.
“So much happens in [the 3rd and 4thAvengersmovies], as you can imagine, and so much is affected by it that we felt what better person to hold your hand and lead you into the next incarnation of the MCU, in a grounded, realistic manner, than Peter Parker? So, coming out two months afterUntitled Avengers, [that’s what] much of what the nextSpider-Manfilm will be about.
It was purposefully done like this. Like how the events ofCaptain America: Civil Warimpacted Peter as he was dropped off by Tony and expected to go back to continue his sophomore year, how the hell are the events ofInfinity WarandUntitled [Avengers]going to affect him as he, yes, goes back to his junior year?”
Even with the universe-changing events of the third and fourthAvengersmovies taking place betweenSpider-Man: Homecomingand its sequel, Feige confirmed that they will stick with the model of having each of Peter Parker’s solo films take place during one school year.
That suggests that the events ofInfinity WarandAvengers 4will take place over the course of roughly three months. So Peter, who will appear in both films, will meet the Guardians of the Galaxy, battle Thanos, and presumably travel to space all during the summer vacation between his sophomore and junior year. That’s…a lot for a 16-year-old kid.
Feige says while they have the timeline of the four movies sketched out in relation to Peter’s life, they still have to fill out the details.
“Much like, as we went intoHomecoming,we knew all the general pillars, you then need the magic of the writers and directors to bring it all to life,” Feige said. “So we’re in that same position and we’ll actually start putting pen to paper on the nextSpider-Manfilm in the coming weeks once this film is finally released. But we do know the specifics and the time line.”
And what of the rest of the Phase 4 films? We know that Gunn’sGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3will supposedly launch a Cosmic Marvel Universe, but other films are still up in the air. Feige himself doesn’t think there will be any new announcements until afterAvengers 4:
“I hope [the news comes] after that. I think there will be certain elements that start to come about, not the least of which is the already announced release date of the nextSpider-Manfilm. But other than that we’re going to keep it very close to the vest because this is really about focusing on the unprecedented conclusion to a 22-movie overarching narrative.”
Spider-Man: Homecomingswings into theatersJuly 7. TheSpider-Man: Homecomingsequel will be hitting theaters onJuly 5, 2019.
