The MCU Phase 5 and Phase 6 plans expose a big problem for the upcoming MCU Phase 7. The Marvel Cinematic Universe kicked off in 2008 with Jon Favreau's Iron Man, a character that first appeared in Marvel Comics in 1963, not long before founding the Avengers that same year. Throughout MCU Phase 1, Iron Man is joined by the Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, and Black Widow to create the MCU's first Avengers team.
While the first few phases of the MCU followed characters and storylines that had appeared decades earlier in comics, the more recent phases have followed newer characters and plots. Captain America: Civil War was based on the 2006-2007 Marvel Comics "Civil War" storyline. The powerful America Chavez from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness originally debuted in the comics in 2011. Kamala Khan, a.k.a. Ms. Marvel, was first introduced in the comics in 2013, less than ten years before she appeared on-screen in the MCU.
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Phases 5 and 6 will continue to rely on these newer, younger characters and Marvel Comics material, but this presents a problem for Phase 7: the MCU is in danger of running out of material. Of course, there are still decades of untouched Marvel Comics that could be adapted, but not everything can fit into the current continuity of the movies, or be adapted well to the screen. Instead, the MCU will have to start introducing more original stories.
How The MCU Can Avoid Its Phase 7 Problem
The MCU has already had success with several original characters, including Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), intern-turned-astrophysicist Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings), and Shang-Chi's friend Katy Chen (Awkwafina). Coulson even got his own spin-off show, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which features a core cast of several original characters. While Darcy is more of a sidekick in Thor and Thor: The Dark World, she becomes a standalone character in WandaVision. Katy is a natural next step for original characters set to grow into a larger role beyond their first appearance, playing an integral role in the life and story of her friend Shang-Chi while also following her own story arc. As for storylines, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. incorporated several original stories while also pulling from the comics, proving both are possible for the MCU. The critically-acclaimed Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness are each based on several comics instead of focusing on a single adaptation.
That said, the MCU hasn't quite taken the plunge with an entirely original story with all original characters and is currently focusing on the MCU multiverse saga. The MCU Phase 4 will finish with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, while Phase 5 will wrap up with Thunderbolts in 2024. The timeline of Phase 6 is not set in stone, but Phase 7 will likely begin around 2026, just four years away. Maybe then there will be a team-up between Darcy and Katy, fighting a monster that comics fans have never seen before. While the MCU may not be ready for fully original stories yet, Disney and Marvel will need to be thinking about how they can branch out from the comics in the near future.