What Next For The MCU After Avengers: Endgame?

10. Looking Forward, Not Back

By the time the end credits started rolling on Avengers: Endgame, Marvel Studios had more than kept their word that the movie would be the culmination of twenty-two movies' worth of storytelling that brought a definitive end to the Infinity Saga. It may not have been the all-encompassing total reset of the franchise that many people were expecting, but there's no denying that the events of Endgame reshuffled the deck in a huge way.

Bidding farewell to some major characters that anchored the shared universe for over a decade was definitely something that the MCU needed to freshen things up, but now Kevin Feige and company need to make sure that the focus goes squarely on the superheroes that are still around, instead of constantly making reference to the founding members of The Avengers in future movies.

Over-relying on nostalgia or callbacks and references to previous movies in a franchise is a very modern problem that has blighted many blockbusters in recent years, and is a trap the MCU can't afford to let itself fall into, regardless of the fact that its position as the biggest brand in Hollywood has become virtually unassailable.

Iron Man and Captain America were without a doubt the heart and soul of the first ten years of the MCU, but their time is over and there are plenty of other popular and marketable characters to carry the franchise into the future.