Summary
Marvel Studios' upcomingAvengers 5will feature the biggest cast of returningMCUcharacters the franchise has ever seen, but this creates a huge problem for the Phase 6 crossover movie.Avengers 5, originally titledThe Kang Dynasty, was expected to pit theMCU’s new team of Avengersagainst Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror and his villainous variants. While these plans may have changed after Marvel split ties with Majors following his conviction, newer information has shed light on what theupcoming MCU moviecould look like.
During a recent report byDeadlinesuggestingShawn Levy is in talks to directAvengers 5, it was also revealed that the upcoming Phase 6 movie would feature a cast of more than 60 returning MCU characters. While this isn’t officially confirmed, the prospect is undoubtedly an exciting concept for the upcoming movie following concerns about its current fate. Over60 characters returning inAvengers 5would make it the largest MCU movie to date, but this very scale also poses a significant challenge that Marvel Studios has little time to overcome.
There Have Been No Multiverse Saga Avengers Movies To Set Up Avengers 5’s 60 Returning Characters
When Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige confirmed the development ofAvengers 5andAvengers: Secret Warsin 2022, these crossover movies were billed to conclude the entire Multiverse Saga. Typically,Avengersmovies have been used to bring Phases of the MCU to a close, but the Multiverse Saga changed things, altering the way the franchise’s formula works.
Phase 4 ended withBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Phase 5 looks set to follow in its footsteps withThunderbolts*in May 2025. This adds further pressure toAvengers 5,as it looks to not only potentially end Phase 6 but also be the first movie of its kind in 7 years, after 2019’sAvengers: Endgame.
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This poses a huge issue when faced with the prospect of having 60 MCU characters return inAvengers 5, as the movie has had no predecessors to set up and develop the new Avengers team. There has been speculation that Sam Wilson’s Captain America could form the newAvengers team in 2025’sCaptain America: Brave New World, but this may be too little, too late.Avengers 5will have to do a significant amount of work to establish the new team, while also dealing with so many supporting characters, perhaps detracting from the Avengers' own storyline.
Infinity War & Endgame’s Huge Casts Were Properly Earned, But Avengers 5’s Hasn’t Been
So many returning characters in Avengers 5 could help to redeem the MCU, but Marvel Studios needs to properly earn this epic pay-off.
The current titleholders of the biggest casts in the MCU areAvengers: Infinity WarandEndgame, which brought the Infinity Saga to a close by featuring almost every major hero returning to battle Thanos. These movies worked so well, however, because they didn’t need to deliver a lot of exposition regarding the Avengers' history.Phases 1 and 2 ended with smaller, more personalAvengersmovies that helped to establish the superhero team as a consistent and well-known presencein the MCU.
This hasn’t been the case in the Multiverse Saga.Avengers 5may lose some of the intimacy thatInfinity WarandEndgamewere able to capture by developing the Avengers team well enough beforehand. This is especially true because of its colossal extended and supporting cast, which will surely have the consequence of nobody really getting the screen-time they deserve. So many returning characters inAvengers 5could help to redeem the MCU, but Marvel Studios needs to properly earn this epic pay-off in Phases 5 and 6’s upcoming projects.
