Marvel Insider Says Next MCU Phase Will Run Nine Films With Only One Avengers Event

A new update from an industry insider claims Marvel Studios has already mapped out the entire shape of the next MCU phase, the chunk of the next saga that follows Avengers: Secret Wars. According to this insider, that phase will consist of nine movies total, broken down into one Avengers event, five solo films, and four team-up films.

The Insider's Nine-Film Breakdown and Why the Math Points to 2028 Through 2030

This insider put it directly: "I was told that the phase 7 slate of the MCU's next saga will currently consist of nine movies in total with one being an Avengers event, five solo films, and four teamup films." That is a specific, structured claim, and it is worth remembering that no scooper gets everything right every time. That said, this insider has built a solid track record over the last two years, so this is coming from someone whose information has generally held up.

The math lines up with what Marvel has already put on the calendar. 2028 already has three confirmed films in Ghost Rider, Black Panther 3, and X-Men. 2029 currently holds three untitled release dates, one of which was just added to the schedule. If that pattern holds, nine movies would move through in fairly short order across 2028, 2029, and 2030, which would make up the entirety of that phase.

Why the Next Avengers Movie Probably Isn't Coming Right After Secret Wars

Kevin Feige mentioned last year that Marvel's plan at the time stretched out through 2032, though that was described as a loose blueprint rather than a locked map. If an Avengers movie is one of these nine films and lands at the end of 2030, that would be a very short turnaround coming just three years after Secret Wars releases in December of 2027.

I will admit Marvel may have made a misstep letting so much time pass between Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Doomsday, but I don't think we will be getting another Avengers film right around the corner after Secret Wars. More likely, the next Avengers film comes at the very end of the saga, after an entire additional phase. If this phase runs three years and the next one runs only two, that still does not put the next Avengers movie before 2032, and given how often Marvel has pushed dates further out in the past, I would not be surprised if it slips past 2032 as well.

Why the Avengers Title Isn't Going Anywhere Even in a Mutant-Focused Saga

Some have asked why, if the next saga is truly about mutants, the big crossover films aren't just X-Men films. My take is that Marvel Studios has already made the Avengers brand the premier tentpole event, the surefire billion-dollar box office draw, regardless of who is actually in the movie. Even if a future Avengers film is mostly X-Men characters with, say, Apocalypse as the villain, it is still going to carry the Avengers title because that name is what sits in the mind of moviegoers as the big crossover event.

Could the X-Men title eventually supplant Avengers? Maybe. But that starts with the first X-Men film in 2028, and unless it comes close to two billion dollars, there is no real chance of that happening. Marvel would have to build the X-Men brand up to that level over time, and even then they would keep making Avengers films alongside it. The Avengers name is staying the crossover title.

Could This Signal Marvel Wants More Frequent Avengers Events?

I would be very surprised if we get an Avengers-level event within the first three years after Secret Wars. If that does happen, it marks a real shift in how Marvel wants to use the Avengers brand, offering it up more often. I don't think this is purely a bottom-line decision about which movie makes the most money. I think it is about letting Marvel move from Avengers movie to Avengers movie without too much time passing, which cuts down the risk of the audience losing the plot, something that clearly happened between Endgame in 2019 and Doomsday not arriving until 2026.

Marvel has been strategic about repositioning itself after publicly admitting that the middle of the multiverse saga was a real failure, with weaker box office, less interest, and a drop in quality. They have already corrected a lot of that, and the only way they avoid ending up in the same spot again is by not repeating those mistakes. They already chose to make Secret Wars a reboot film instead of saving the reboot for after the saga ends, unlike how Endgame closed out the Infinity Saga. They have already prioritized X-Men as the very first film out of the gate after Secret Wars. More frequent Avengers films, tying things together better than the multiverse saga did, could be another one of those lessons.

Filling In the Nine Films: Confirmed Titles, a Shaky Midnight Sons, and a Locked Deadpool 4

Ghost Rider, X-Men, and Black Panther 3 already account for two of the five solo films and one of the four team-up films. Midnight Sons has been heavily rumored to fill one of the remaining team-up slots, but Mahershala Ali's Blade leaving the MCU altogether leaves Ghost Rider in an odd spot with no clear team to join, and it calls into question whether Midnight Sons is still happening at all or has simply fallen off the plan.

Deadpool 4 is one team-up we can count on for sure, most likely as an X-Men movie. Ryan Reynolds has already talked openly about writing that script, and rumors point to a small team-up between Deadpool, Wolverine, and Cable, with Storm possibly included, though Storm now being placed in the X-Men reboot makes her involvement less likely. Worth remembering too that Captain Marvel 2 was originally shaping up as a solo film before becoming The Marvels, a team-up in its own right, so Marvel clearly likes to mix and match. I suspect there are one or two more team-up titles we haven't heard anything about yet.

The Solo Films: Thor 5 and Nova Look Locked, and a New Wolverine Could Be Coming

Thor 5 has been discussed at length for the last four or five years as the redemption story following the previous Thor film, and a Nova film is something Marvel is definitely making as well. Those two alone account for several of the solo slots, leaving room for maybe one more X-Men character to land their own solo movie.

The character I keep coming back to is a new Wolverine. If Hugh Jackman sticks around after Secret Wars for another Deadpool and Wolverine movie, Marvel probably would not cast a new Wolverine soon, but I don't think that is guaranteed. The Infinity Saga's closure gives Marvel a chance to wind down legacy actors from other cinematic universes. Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool sticking around, sure, but Hugh Jackman's Wolverine may not, which opens the door to a recast. "It's one of the movies I think they absolutely should make. Just my opinion," and I can't think of many other titles that would make a billion or two dollars as reliably as a new Wolverine solo film.

What films do you think should round out this first batch of the next saga?