Kevin Feige says Marvel has films planned through 2042 — can the MCU keep going?
Kevin Feige says he’s mapped Marvel’s big-screen future further than you’d expect — and teased which corner will lead the charge — in a new interview.
However much the MCU has managed to print money since Iron Man first landed, let's be honest: the last few years haven’t exactly been a golden age. The box office wobble is real, and the run of recent Disney+ shows and films hasn’t thrilled everyone. But if you reckon Marvel is slinking off any time soon, well, Kevin Feige would like a word.
'In the Marvel Studios conference room, we have just mapped out movies all the way through 2042.'
2042? That’s Not a Typo
Feige has popped up in Chinese press this week, letting slip (by way of a translated interview) that the Marvel Studios whiteboard is covered with scribbles stretching all the way out to 2042. Yes, you read that right—nearly two decades' worth of film plans, mapped out for what is, at this point, a whole MCU generation away. He admits, though, that nobody really knows if they’ll make it that far, or if what’s scrawled on the timeline will actually get filmed. Still, he says that’s how they chew over their endless comic source material: plan big, adapt as they go, and hope people are still watching superhero blockbusters twelve World Cups from now.
Mutants Incoming
The next proper turning point, according to Feige, is that the X-Men aren’t just guest stars or throwaway cameos anymore. He’s explicit: the mutants will be a ‘major part’ of whatever comes after Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. He talks about the X-Men rights (which, remember, were tangled up for years), making it clear that Wolverine and Deadpool aren’t enough on their own—the X-Men universe is massive, and they’re aiming for something seriously ambitious, referring to it as a proper 'Mutant Saga'. Worth noting, he throws a bit of shade at the last ten X-Men films: some, he says, were excellent… others, well, not so much. The goal now is to give the X-Men something truly epic, a multi-phase arc to stand alongside all the Avengers stuff we’ve had so far.
Avengers: Secret Wars – The Reset Button?
The MCU’s gotten rather messy, what with multiverses and timelines all over the shop. Even Feige hints that it’s a bit much for viewers. The upcoming Avengers 5 and 6 (yes, double Avengers whammy) will take cues from the comics sagas 'Time Runs Out' and 'Secret Wars', both proper wild rides in Marvel lore. So what’s the setup? Secret Wars will apparently mark a new beginning, the plan being to tie up long-running storylines—including those original X-Men characters whose rights have now been wrangled—while also clearing the way for a sharper, easier-to-follow single universe. In Feige’s words, some stuff will ‘feel familiar’, but plenty will be brand new, likely to give even cranky old fans something fresh to squabble about.
- 2042: Planned MCU slate stretches 15+ years ahead
- X-Men set to be a 'major part' of the franchise future
- Avengers: Secret Wars will reset the MCU into one streamlined universe
- Some past X-Men films: 'very, very good', others, less so
If you’re after more about what Marvel’s cooking up next, keep an eye out for their big announcement at San Diego Comic-Con this year. The Marvel Studios panel is scheduled for 25 July, running from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Pacific. Expect at least a couple more years’ worth of plans to get blurted out then.