Let's look at what franchises Disney has going forward:
Black Panther: The new crown jewel of solos. African setting.
* Boseman is on a five-picture contract, so expect him to be limited to the "everybody scene" in Avengers 4 if such legally constitutes a cameo, so he can't twist their arm James Bond/Downey style for the threequel.
Ant-Man/Wasp: The original had the lowest gross of any of the Phase 2/3 franchises. American setting.
* Paul Rudd signed the six-picture contract and has four appearances accounted for.
Doctor Strange: Still waiting on a sequel despite outperforming Ant-Man. New York/magical universe setting.
* Because Joaquin Phoenix joaqed away from the role over the standard Marvel contract, Cumberbatch is probably available for three films after Avengers 4.
Captain Marvel/new Guardians of the Galaxy/Thor 4: If Captain Marvel makes at least GotG money, Disney will have a ton of cosmic franchise options.
Eternals: This is the strangest one, as it revolves around Godzilla-size cosmic beings landing on Earth. I'm not even going to guess how it'll affect the MCU films set after it.
The biggest gap in setting/style is going to be a Greater American Hero to replace Ant-Man, either because it fails to turn its box office around or it does but Paul Rudd wants too much to re-up. X-Men is the obvious choice for grounded New York superheroes, but if Disney can't get those rights they'll have to experiment with something else. Captain America II? Blade?
Black Panther: The new crown jewel of solos. African setting.
* Boseman is on a five-picture contract, so expect him to be limited to the "everybody scene" in Avengers 4 if such legally constitutes a cameo, so he can't twist their arm James Bond/Downey style for the threequel.
Ant-Man/Wasp: The original had the lowest gross of any of the Phase 2/3 franchises. American setting.
* Paul Rudd signed the six-picture contract and has four appearances accounted for.
Doctor Strange: Still waiting on a sequel despite outperforming Ant-Man. New York/magical universe setting.
* Because Joaquin Phoenix joaqed away from the role over the standard Marvel contract, Cumberbatch is probably available for three films after Avengers 4.
Captain Marvel/new Guardians of the Galaxy/Thor 4: If Captain Marvel makes at least GotG money, Disney will have a ton of cosmic franchise options.
Eternals: This is the strangest one, as it revolves around Godzilla-size cosmic beings landing on Earth. I'm not even going to guess how it'll affect the MCU films set after it.
The biggest gap in setting/style is going to be a Greater American Hero to replace Ant-Man, either because it fails to turn its box office around or it does but Paul Rudd wants too much to re-up. X-Men is the obvious choice for grounded New York superheroes, but if Disney can't get those rights they'll have to experiment with something else. Captain America II? Blade?
