What Movie Franchises Are Marvel’s New Priorities?

With five years passed since Endgame and no sign of Avengers 5 production beginning, Disney and Marvel Studios will undoubtedly be eager to reassemble Earth’s Mightiest Heroes sooner rather than later.

Marvel’s New Priorities have shifted.

In the Infinity Saga, fans were only kept waiting three to four years for a new Avengers sequel, and all four grossed well over $1 billion. That kind of revenue is something the MCU needs after its latest struggles; the buzz that surrounds an imminent Avengers movie should help reignite excitement for the future.

In terms of its solo superhero franchises, Marvel Studios will likely shift more attention to franchises that have proven reliable at the box office. As such, Black Panther 3, Doctor Strange 3, and Thor 5 could be fast-tracked, and sequels to less successful movies such as Eternals 2 could take a back seat.

As the Fantastic Four are one of Marvel’s most popular teams, it’s unsurprising to see their 2025 movie become such a priority for the MCU. Perhaps the long-awaited X-Men reboot could become a reality sooner than once expected if the studio is looking to capitalize further on its more iconic heroes.

Marvel Studios’ current slate of movies for 2024 and beyond aligns well with this focus on its “stronger franchises.” Between Deadpool & Wolverine, Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts, The Fantastic Four, Blade, and the next Avengers movies, plenty of famous faces are returning to screens.

A change in direction to prioritize “sequels and franchises” may be exactly what the MCU needs. After all, across the Multiverse Saga, a major complaint has come due to the introduction of many new characters with future storylines teased but no indication of when they will be revisited.

For example, two and a half years have now passed since Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi debuted, and his return doesn’t appear imminent. Looking at the Infinity Saga, Marvel Studios never had more than a two-year gap between appearances from its biggest characters including Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and Black Widow.

One has to wonder how the shift of focus to “stronger franchises” on the big screen could translate to Disney+. The studio may find itself green-lighting less risky projects like Agatha: Darkhold Diaries and Echo in favor of its more star-studded shows such as Daredevil: Born Again and Loki.