Superhero Movies Aren't Going Anywhere

It may not seem like it, but it's been 10 years since the world was first invited into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Last week, a story 10 years in the making started to unfold in "Avengers: Infinity War," a gargantuan movie gathering no fewer than 76 comic book characters. If the Infinity Stone saga will truly see its ending wrap up in "Avengers 4," scheduled to hit theaters in April 2019, there is no doubt Marvel Studios will not stop making superhero movies anytime soon, no matter how many characters remain after Thanos (the most villain of all the villains) is defeated. Why? Because "Avengers: Infinity War" grossed $258.2 million at the box-office in North America for its opening weekend. Add to that the $382.7 million it gathered overseas, and you get a global total of $640.9 million. That's the biggest domestic and worldwide debut of all time and the movie hasn't even been released in China yet. Those numbers are incredible. To put things in perspective, the last Marvel movie to come out was "Black Panther," and it has generated $688.4 million at the U.S. box-office over 11 weeks. The new "Avengers" movie will certainly top that number in no time, and that means more Marvel movies for us in the future. The question is, will the MCU continue on with the same set of characters and storylines or will we enter a new era?

Divided into phases, the MCU will reach the end of Phase Three next year with "Avengers 4," and in the meantime we will see the release of another two standalone movies with "Ant-Man" and the "Wasp" this summer and "Captain Marvel" next March. But "phase 4" might not even be that. According to Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, it may be an entirely new thing. All we know for sure is that it will be led by "Spider-Man 2" and will feature "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3." This new era could then very well see the rise of a new generation of superheroes as we bid adieu to some of the founding members of the MCU in "Avengers 4."

Moreover, not only did Feige say that the next phase in the MCU plan might be different from what we've gotten used to for the past 10 years, but he revealed that Marvel Studios has another 20 movies planned to keep us entertained for the next 20 something years, and based on the performance of "Infinity War," there is no doubt that audiences are not tired of watching stories unfold in that universe. Even if Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), and Mark Ruffalo (Hulk) leave after "Avengers 4" due to the end of their contracts with Marvel, the MCU will continue to thrive with new generations of superheroes, including Black Panther, the Guardians, and your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.