Marvel Studios' 10th Anniversary Teased

Big things are in store for the Marvel Studios’ 10th Anniversary of releasing films in 2018

It’s hard to believe that it has been almost a decade since Robert Downey Jr. made his debut in Jon Favreau‘s Iron Man, ushering in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a new kind of big-screen filmmaking that, ever since, has been expanding in every direction, paving the way for 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. All this week, we’ve been chatting with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige about the rampant success of the MCU and where it’s all headed next. In this, the final part in our behind-the-scenes look, we’re taking a look at time itself, exploring both how it functions within the MCU and what it means leading to Marvel Studios’ 10th Anniversary of releasing films next year.

Time can be something that’s tricky to understand in comic book realities. After all, Peter Parker is still in his late 20s despite having had consistent adventures for more than half a century. There are varying degrees of explanation within the comics themselves for why this is, but we were curious to know if the MCU treats its timeline differently. It has been suggested that nearly ten years have actually passed since the events of Iron Man.

“We worry about it in terms of making sure we’re keeping track and making sure we’re not contradicting anything, which we’re doing,” Feige smiles. “It doesn’t concern us much beyond that until I get more than one question at a junket about it.”

That winds up making an interesting situation for the gap between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Avengers: Infinity War. Because Vol. 2 takes place so shortly after Vol. 1, several years will presumably have passed by the time we catch up with the team again.

“What I’d say in this case, is that we wanted to tell a story and James wanted to tell a story where the Guardians were still relatively fresh to becoming the Guardians of the Galaxy as opposed to leaping ahead a few years,” Feige explains. “When we meet them in ‘Infinity War,’ they will have gone through offscreen experiences. It all tracks.”

Infinity War will also represent the central focus of Marvel Studios’ 10th Anniversary celebration in 2018.

“It sort of blows my mind when I think about that,” says Feige. “We’ll have 20 films in ten years. We’re now working on how we mark that occasion. How we celebrate it. I have a very fun memory of the tenth anniversary of ‘Star Wars’ when I as in junior high school. Now ‘Star Wars’ is 40 and I wonder what Marvel Studios will be in another 30 years. I have no idea. But I know we’re very proud of the last ten years and we want to celebrate that somehow. ‘Infinity War’ will, frankly, be that celebration.”

Is Infinity War the end result of something that has been thoroughly planned since Iron Man or has the path changed during the decade long path?

“It is, I think, a very good combination of both,” Feige explains. “It’s a result of having a goal and having an endgame. It’s about heading towards that and still being willing to make adjustments along the way where it serves whatever film we’re working on. We never want to be so rigid in a structure that we don’t allow ourselves to do fun, new, unexpected things that can happen along the way. I’d say it’s a pretty healthy combination of both… We started out being very excited that we were finally able to be the people creatively responsible for a Marvel film ourselves and do them in the way that our instincts sort of called for us to do them. That has remained unchanged.”

The Marvel Studios slate will next see Tom Holland‘s webcrawler returns in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Then, Marvel Studios’ 2017 closes out with November 3rd’s Thor: Ragnarok. In 2018, Black Panther hits first on February 16, followed by Avengers: Infinity War on May 4, and Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6. In 2019, we’re getting Captain Marvel on March 8, the fourth Avengers film on May 3, and the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel on July 5. The future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is looking brighter than ever so, as always, check back for updates on upcoming projects as they become available!