Kevin Feige’s original vision for the Marvel Cinematic Universe is no longer its roadmap for after the Infinity Saga. The first 11 years of the franchise went down as well as possible. While the Infinity Saga wasn’t perfect, as it had some misses, they were very rare. Marvel Studios did a great job bouncing back after a lackluster project, allowing them to maintain the public’s interest for more than a decade. Much has been said about the secret sauce to the MCU’s success, with other studios attempting to replicate both its business and creative models, but nothing came close to its popularity.
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Admittedly, there were so many elements that contributed to the franchise’s acclaim, but Feige being the captain of the entire operation has often been cited as a big, if not the biggest, factor in it. He became so synonymous with the MCU that when Warner Bros. was working on getting its DC counterpart up and running, they tried poaching him from Disney.
Obviously, they failed in that endeavor. Ultimately, Feige’s original vision for the Marvel franchise was simple — build an interconnected universe on the screen that is inspired by how the likes of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby did on print. 2012’s The Avengers was the original payoff for this, but it also marked the beginning of a much bigger story that ended in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
The MCU Failed To Establish A Cohesive Overarching Narrative In The Multiverse Saga
Fast-forward to 2026 and seven years removed from the end of the Infinity Saga, it’s undeniable that Marvel Studios has moved away from that approach, albeit not intentionally. The Multiverse Saga was supposed to be formatted like its predecessor, but because of several unexpected issues, it has had to pivot a few times, resulting in a less cohesive era. Solidifying the idea is Avengers: Doomsday not leaning on anything in terms of storytelling. Director Joe and Anthony Russo have even dubbed this time as the MCU’s Phase Zero, which suggests a beginning of some sort.
This fits with previous teases that the next Avengers movies will be a reset for the MCU. As Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, the new Fantastic Four, and Fox’s legacy X-Men all come together to fight Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom, the film and its sequel, Avengers: Secret Wars, will likely establish a new status quo for the universe. This is different from how Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame functioned as the culmination of the Infinity Saga, with the 2018 and 2019 blockbusters wrapped up years of storytelling setup, both in terms of collective and individual arcs.
Arguably, however, had the Multiverse Saga panned out more favorably, it’s likely that the next two Avengers films wouldn’t be positioned like this. Feige and Marvel Studios like mapping things out way ahead of time, so they already knew what they wanted to do post-Infinity Saga well before it ended with Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Unfortunately, internal and external turmoil forced it to abandon certain projects. While the concept of alternate realities and branching timelines, which were heavily focused on at the start of Phase 4, remain at the center of its storytelling, its themes aren’t well-defined enough to be the foundation of its next two big crossover events.
The MCU Needs Better Connectivity After Avengers: Secret Wars
It isn’t an exagerration to say that the long-term future of the MCU hinges on how well Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars do. Marvel Studios is pulling all the stops for the film, even bringing back Chris Evans and Downey Jr. for notable roles in the films. Assuming that they are able to bring back up the level of hype that people have on the MCU, it’s important that they go back to Feige’s original blueprint, which relied on an interconnected universe.
A big appeal of the MCU has been its storytelling. Fans have poured over hours tracking Easter eggs and analyzing scenes, in the hopes of deducing what’s next for the universe or finding a connection to a previous project. It motivated the public to pay attention and stay invested, which was why it was able to grow its audience beyond its built-in base of comic book readers. As Marvel Studios rebuild its following after some have lost interest amid the chaos of the Multiverse Saga, going back to basics will be its best bet in doing that efficiently.
Avengers: Doomsday hits cinemas on December 18, 2026.
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