Marvel’s New Release Strategy Poses Challenges for the Future of the MCU’s Multiverse Saga

The mega cinematic franchise that is the MCU is constantly making headlines; most times for all the right reasons, but very seldom for wrong or rather, controversial choices.

As the franchise ushers in a new era or more aptly, a new saga. The question on everyone’s lips now is, “how will this new saga fair in comparison to the previous one?”. Especially now that the Studio (based on their projects) is finding it hard to convince fans and general audiences alike that its glory days are not behind it [just yet].

However things only get dire for the franchise, as this article explores how the new release strategy poses more of a problem.

Old vs. New

In the Infinity saga, the release strategy [back then] saw the Phases being crowned with Avengers movies. The strategy worked so well that even the CW’s Arrowverse adopted it for their small screen endeavours. Giving audiences crossover events to feast on every now and then, that saw various characters act as a unit/team. After time had been taken to develop the individual characters and their stories. The membership of the unit would also grow appreciably (whenever they reassembled), as newer characters would also be added in consequently after receiving individual exploration.

Also, like in any team, this made it easier to distinguish the rookies from the vets(veterans). However, since the advent of The Multiverse Saga, a new strategy has been adopted. One that will see the Avengers/Team Up movies appear at the tail-end of the Saga.

Worth getting excited about is the fact that both Avengers movies will release in near succession to each other. But [subjectively speaking], this strategy also raises concerns as to whether this is the right approach.

Revealing The Flaws

As earlier stated, the Avengers films were [more or less] the crown jewels of each Phase in the Infinity Saga. In essence, those Avengers films served as checkpoints. Offering definite climaxes to each Phase whilst also tying together all the other standalone projects — mostly in regards to character arcs. Fast forward to this present saga and ‘word on the street’ is that only two Avengers films will serve to crown the saga as a whole, and for a saga whose first Phase already supercedes the combined quantity of Phase 1 & 2.

It stands to reason that the upcoming Avengers films have their work cut out for them. Although, to be fair, Avengers films don’t just exist to be connectors or epilogues. Because they can also feature original elements as well.

For instance, Age of Ultron whose main story/villain was largely cut off from the MacGuffins attributed to the Infinity Saga. Perhaps, it could also be why that movie is generally considered to pale in comparison to its counterparts.

A hefty amount of criticisms for this saga is how out of focus most of stories seem/are, and this may very well be the reason why that is yet to be remedied. With no Avengers/Team-Up film(s) to tie-in most of the disparate plotlines [currently] running wild in the MCU, cinematic indigestion is affecting audiences.

Still, this is not a complete write-off concerning the new release strategy as how both upcoming Avengers films balance the stories set up since Phase 4 with their own originalities hinges on their execution. Which all will have to wait and see. Because in retrospect, the same could have been said for Infinity War and Endgame years before their release; but they managed to be cinematic successes. So no pressure, right?

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is currently set to release in Cinemas May 1, 2026

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Avengers: Secret Wars is currently set to release in Cinemas May 7, 2027.