12 Marvel Movies To Make Phase 4 "Distinctly Different"

Logically speaking, Phase 4 still has to deal with the Infinity Stones as much as Phase 3 does. Even if Thanos gets to click his fingers and wipe out a significant portion of life during the arc-ending films, he will presumably be defeated by the end of the phase and his artefacts will require disposing of.

There are a couple of options here: Marvel could opt to have the Stones go to the Collector, but he hasn't exactly proved himself entirely trustworthy so far, or they could have them taken care of by a council of appointed superpowers like the Infinity Watch or - more intriguingly - The Illuminati.

That council of secretive heroes - Tony Stark, Namor, Mr Fantastic, Black Panther, Black Bolt and Doctor Strange - were responsible for exiling Hulk in the run up to Planet Hulk, and they would establish a different dynamic to what we've seen so far.

The Challenges

Would there be an appetite for a superhero management movie? An Illuminati film would essentially a non-action superhero movie on paper, and you have to wonder whether a more politically loaded ensemble movie would be as well received as watching them smashing hell out of each other and various villains.