Buckle Up, The MCU Will Keep Releasing Three To Four Movies A Year

Okoye, Black Panther and Shuri in avengers: endgame
(Image credit: (Marvel))

There's no question that Marvel Studios has delivered a lot of popular movies in recent years. Yes, Avengers: Endgame just became the biggest movie of all time, but Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far From Home also found spots in the top five grossers of 2019. Although we've now reached a 23-film culmination for the MCU, don’t expect the studio to slow down anytime soon! Disney will still be pumping out a hefty amount of Marvel projects each year. Just take a look at what Alan Horn, the Chief Creative Officer and Co-Chairman of Walt Disney Studios, recently said:

[Marvel Studios head] Kevin Feige is working away. He will be making three or four a year.

Wow! Get ready to anticipate a lot more from your favorite Marvel superheroes. Disney started regularly releasing two movies a year following the success of The Avengers in 2012, and moved up the production to consistently deliver three a year starting in 2017. Per Alan Horn’s words to THR, Disney is sticking at this volume and perhaps even more!

We are already aware of Marvel’s Phase Four plans in 2020 and 2021. Next year will supposedly have a slower year, with Black Widow and The Eternals before the studio goes into high gear in 2021 with the outlined release of Shang-Chi, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, Spider-Man 3 and Thor: Love and Thunder. Yep, that’s four a year! Past that, we know three dates for 2022 with Black Panther 2 taking up the May spot and untitled Marvel movies coming in February and July.

There are a ton of announced projects happening over at Marvel that have yet to get release dates too! Examples include Blade with Mahershala Ali, James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, a sequel for Captain Marvel and Ant-Man 3. And what about the teased films coming out of Disney’s recent Fox acquisition, such as Fantastic Four, X-Men and Deadpool.

And let's not forget what’s in store for Marvel with the new Disney+ platform! Over the next few years, the studio will roll out the television shows Falcon & Winter Soldier, Loki, Hawkeye, Wandavision, Moon Knight, She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel, all of which will connect with the established universe. It’s an overwhelming amount of content! Could Marvel fatigue hit? Here’s what Alan Horn thinks:

If the film has a compelling storyline, if it has heart and humor, two things that I insist on, and it's terrifically well executed, I think there is an audience. But who knows?

While Marvel may not deliver something to the scale of Endgame in another 10 years, the studio is certainly not backing down. Alan Horn pointed out there are 7000 characters in the Marvel universe and are plenty left to be introduced. Disney also has a mastermind in Kevin Feige, who has been additionally named Chief Creative Officer to Marvel, and that's while continuing his leadership duties at Marvel Studios, where he has created a beautiful tapestry of connected characters and events.

The DCEU has started to amp up its lineup of comic book adaptations as well! Get ready for more of these comic book movies! Could it be only the beginning or will fans fizzle out on their interest one day? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.