With Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on the horizon, What If? promising to explore different timelines, and Spider-Man 3 shaping up to be seriously weird, it's clear now that the events of Avengers: Endgame are going to have much bigger ramifications than anyone first expected.
That introduced the concept of a Multiverse, and Marvel Studios now seems to be running with it.
With time-traveller Kang the Conqueror cast for Ant-Man 3 and Loki set to tangle with the Time Variance Authority in his Disney+ series, things are about to get nuts. With that in mind, we're taking a look at some of the ramifications the Multiverse could now have on this shared world moving forward.
There are some expected directions stories now look set to be taken in, so to check out what some of them are, all you guys need to do is hit that "Next" button down below!
6. Get Ready To Explore Some Desolate Futures
Desolate futures have become a staple of the Marvel Universe, whether it's in stories like Age of Apocalypse, Spider-Man: Reign, or Age of Ultron. Now, Marvel Studios has the chance to explore those in a big way, with the X-Men franchise particularly well-suited to heading down that route.
It was made clear in Avengers: Endgame that any sort of changes to the timeline could have disastrous consequences, and that's something which can be further explored in future tales.
Everything these heroes do from this point on could change, well, everything, and characters like the X-Men learning what awaits them in the future and spending years trying to undo that opens the door to plenty of fresh storytelling opportunities (Marvel Studios could easily take inspiration from the House of X and Powers of X storylines, for example).
5. Into The (Live-Action) Spider-Verse
The casting of Jamie Foxx as Electro in Spider-Man 3 has raised a lot of big questions, with fans convinced that the movie is going to pit Tom Holland's web-slinger against threats from multiple Earths.
It's an intriguing prospect, and if that is the case, then it's a storyline Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will almost certainly set the stage for. With Sam Raimi at the helm of that, there are plenty of theories about him bringing back Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, and the Doctor Strange sequel could very easily be the Marvel Studios movie Holland cameos in.
All of this could be leading to some sort of epic live-action "Spider-Verse" project with the Holland, Maguire, and Andrew Garfield versions of Spidey teaming up to battle an interdimensional Sinister Six!
4. Some Familiar Faces From The X-Men Franchise
Fox made a lot of major blunders with the X-Men franchise, but the studio redeemed themselves - to some extent - by casting plenty of top tier actors to play these iconic heroes and villains.
Whether we're talking about Michael Fassbender as Magneto, Anya Taylor-Joy as Magik, Tye Sheridan as Cyclops, or Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, it's definitely a shame to think that we won't see those interpretations of the characters again. Well, a Multiverse can go some way in changing that.
Even if it's as simple as actors being able to reprise past roles as new versions of the same characters, it would be great to see Marvel Studios hand-pick some fan-favourites for an MCU return. Alternatively, the Multiverse can also be used to bring mutants to this year from a completely different one.
3. Enter The Fantastic Four
Where have the Fantastic Four been all this time? No one wants another teenage version of the team, so introducing them that way would be a disappointment, leaving Marvel Studios with few alternatives.
It's been widely speculated that the Quantum Realm and Negative Zone are one and the same, so what if Marvel's First Family have been trapped there exploring the Multiverse for what's been decades for us, but only a few short years for them? That would make fans hoping the Fantastic Four's origin story will be rooted in the 1960s happy anyway, and is a unique idea.
It's also feasible that the Fantastic Four could arrive in the MCU from another Earth, though what would lead them to change planets is hard to say. In terms of past cast members, we wouldn't be against Chris Evans or Michael B. Jordan coming back as Johnny Storm/the Human Torch.
2. Secret Wars (Not That One)
The hope is that Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo will return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to take the helm of a Secret Wars movie featuring Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the X-Men, and Fantastic Four. That could definitely happen, but what about the other Secret Wars story?
That featured an Earth created by Doctor Doom which brought all those different parts of the Multiverse together to create a new, crazy world with multiple versions of the same characters.
It was a weird, wonderful mashup, and a story it would be amazing to see play out in the MCU. It has all the makings of an event movie, and if anyone can pull off bringing back actors from different franchises and throwing them all into the same adventure, it's Kevin Feige and the team at Marvel Studios.
1. Heroes Reborn
Right now, it's looking like Phase 4 will be all about passing the mantle. The Falcon is going to become Captain America, Jane Foster is set to wield Mjolnir as Thor, and Kate Bishop will take over as Hawkeye (and those are just a few examples). However, what about a little further down the line?
While we're certainly not suggesting an adaptation of the mostly awful Heroes Reborn stories, Marvel Studios can bring back classic characters like Iron Man and Black Widow (and Deadpool, of course), by plucking different versions from other worlds, with new actors taking over these roles.
Handled the right way, it wouldn't necessarily be confusing for fans, and instead gives Marvel Studios an effective way to reboot franchises while keeping them in the main MCU.