It has been three years since Avengers: Endgame, and some fans have been wondering where the saga has been heading...
From the final scenes of 2008's Iron Man, with the introduction of Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury, it was clear that Marvel had a plan with its cinematic universe.
That initially culminated with 2012's The Avengers, which itself featured the first appearance of Thanos, which itself then reached a climax in 2019's Avengers: Endgame.
But ever since then, it has felt a little like the MCU has been heading in multiple directions, with no real sense as to where the current phase of movies and shows are aiming.
Loki, Spider-Man: No Way Home, What If...? and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness where all venturing into the multiverse, Eternals and Moon Knight was dealing with giant, ancient deities, while Shang-Chi and Ms. Marvel are centred around inexplicably powered pieces of jewellery.
It is tough to see how all of this is going to crossover, but apparently, there is very much a plan in place.
In a recent interview, Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige told Total Film the following:
"As we're nearing the end of Phase Four, I think people will start to see where this next saga is going. I think there have been many clues already, that are at least apparent to me, of where this whole saga is going.
"But we’ll be a little more direct about that in the coming months, to set a plan, so audiences who want to see the bigger picture can see a tiny, tiny, tiny bit more of the roadmap."
Phase Four movies will include the new Thor, Black Panther, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel and Ant-Man sequels, as well as the reintroduction of the Fantastic Four, and the recent revelation of Marvel's new top-secret movie, Thunderbolts.
The phase will also include the Disney+ shows Secret Invasion, Armor Wars, Ironheart and She-Hulk: Attorney At Law.
As for what direction to expect Phase Four to be taking us in, the time biggest rumours at present are the formation of The Young Avengers, something that was set-up way back in an early episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
The alternative - something which directly involves the arrival of the Fantastic Four - is the huge Secret Wars storyline, in which we discover that some long-standing members of the Avengers have actually been a shapeshifting alien race this whole time. It was something that was hinted at towards the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, and would see an all out war break out amongst superheroes and supervillains alike.
We'll likely get our first big clue as to the direction when Thor: Love and Thunder arrives in Irish cinemas on Friday, 8 July.
Clip via Marvel Entertainment
