At Comic-Con International in San Diego, Marvel Studios unveiled its massive Phase 4 slate for May 2020 through November 2021, which includes five feature films, plus five series on the Disney+ streaming service. And according to Victoria Alonso -- Marvel's executive vice president of physical production -- there's still "so much more to come" after the fact.
"There are so many stories to tell," Alonso said while delivering a keygraph at the SIGGRAPH conference. "The thing about Marvel is we have 6,000 characters in our library. There will be children forever telling these stories." She also quipped that at Marvel, "dying is just a state of mind."
Notably, it Marvel Studios is already visibly sowing the seeds for its future beyond 2021. In addition to the five Phase 4 films revealed at Comic-Con, a brand-new Blade movie starring Mahershala Ali was also announced, with studio president Kevin Feige later confirming the film would be a post-Phase 4 release.
In spite of the vast quantity of upcoming Marvel projects, Alonso was also sure to emphasize the studio's commitment to maintaining quality during her speech, saying, "If we don't make a good movie, that's on us. The pressure internally is far more than the media and the fans give us. We try to do things that are not the same. That are a little different. We take a risk... We can't do the same all the time."
Alonso also spoke to Marvel's ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion, explaining that the studio aims to "hire on potential." She continued, "When you take that risk, it is the most beautiful thing you can do. If a person doesn't have it on their résumé, it doesn't necessarily mean they can’t do it. It means they haven’t had the chance."
With all that in mind, it appears that Marvel is currently in the process of getting its cinematic universe ready for the long haul. To Alonso's point, the Marvel universe is a big one that just got bigger thanks Disney's recent acquisition of 20th Century Fox. And at Comic-Con, Feige teased plans to integrate the X-Men and Fantastic Four into the MCU, which can only help the brand's longevity.
In the meantime, up next for Marvel Studios is the Cate Shortland directed Black Widow starring Scarlett Johansson, David Harbour, Florence Pugh, O-T Fagbenle and Rachel Weisz. The film arrives in theaters May 1, 2020.
(via The Hollywood Reporter)
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