The Marvel Cinematic Universe is undoubtedly that longest storytelling franchise. They made a lot of heroes who have been around for a long time, from the world, galaxy, and universe. There are still many more movies and shows to come. The first three phases of this movie universe came to an end in the Infinity Saga.
They had to fight Thanos and his army and save half of the population. The team spirit of these well-loved characters came together in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame to make this happen. But what comes next?
After Iron Man, Steve Rodgers, and the Infinity Saga, many people thought the MCU was in trouble. It’s hard for fans to stay excited about a movie when two of the main characters have said goodbye. Infinity Stones and Thanos seem to be a thing of the past now. How will the story process proceed further?
Marvel Studios and their people are much more ready than you might think. There are a lot of people who don’t notice how Marvel Studios is positioning its characters. They are building a foundation for what the next Endgame-level team-up project will be. It looks like Kevin Feige and his team are putting their huge collection of heroes into different parts of the MCU.
This is an attempt to break up the universe into smaller parts so that more specific storylines can be both focused and inclusive at the same time. With each new episode of a TV show and movie that is added to the MCU, these branches of the MCU are still being built.
But as far as we can tell, these are the seven branches of the MCU and the characters who are part of these stories.
The Cosmic Reach Of The MCU
The Cosmic branch of the MCU is often the easiest to branch out stories in the MCU. Due to the fact being off-world makes you eligible for very big changes. They start their stories on Earth, but then go into space to tell their stories to the stars.
Since Phase 1 of the MCU, Thor has been both a literal and a metaphorical bridge between Earth and the rest of the world. When Thor: Love and Thunder comes out in 2022, fans will get to see his love interest, Jane Foster wield the Mjolnir.
In the MCU, Thor initiated the move for a house of cosmic stories. The Guardians of the Galaxy were the first group of characters to go outside of the nine realms and show us a lot of new places to go and things to do. It looks like this will continue in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Some of the more traditional MCU cosmic characters, like Adam Warlock and the Great Beyonder, may join the group.
The Eternals was recently introduced. Most of their first story was told on Earth, but at the end of Eternals, Arishem picked up Sersi, Kingo and Phastos to answer for their crimes against the emergence. This is almost certain to be the project that allows us to learn more about one of the MCU’s most well-known villains, Thanos.
Finally, Nick Fury and Captain Marvel’s story began with her own solo. They are now in charge of protecting Earth from cosmic threats. Make no mistake about it, these characters do connect with the galaxy and the earth.
The Avengers Of The MCU
The Avengers are the main heroes of the MCU. They basically started the whole concept with their teamwork principles. The team evolved over time to be a unique version of themselves in Endgame.
Bruce Banner/Hulk had been with the Avengers since the very beginning. Endgame showed Professor Hulk in full form and also taking a big hit from the snap that brings everyone back. Many people were wondering what would happen to the founding Avengers. Then, after seeing him help bring Shang-Chi into the Avengers branch, it is safe to say that everyone’s favorite rage monster is building a team.
People like Wong and Captain Marvel are also on that journey, but they seem to be splitting their time between Avengers work and other things.
Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes have not formally said that they are still a part of the Avengers. Though they have gotten as close as possible to the group. When Sam wanted a fresh start, he worked for different government agencies as an Avengers freelancer. Bucky took some time to work on his own.
But now that Captain America is in the hands of Sam and Bucky is on his way to becoming a better person, these two are likely to play a big role in any future Avengers plans the MCU comes up with.
During the blip, James Rhodes as War Machine and Okoye were important parts of the Avengers team. All the signs point to that continuing, too. In Armor Wars and in the pre-production Wakanda series, both characters have roles to play in the future too.
The MCU’s Young Avengers
A team of Avengers isn’t enough to cover the MCU forever. It needs young blood too. For that, the MCU is setting up its own group of young heroes called the Young Avengers.
The Young Avengers haven’t been announced, and there is no official sign that this is going to happen in the MCU any time soon. However, only if you don’t pay attention to what’s going on on Disney+.
They have been shown in supporting roles on shows like WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. In the future, Ms. Marvel and Ironheart will have their own series. This team will still have a lot of people who love them, though.
It’s likely that Kamala Khan as Ms. Marvel, Riri Williams as Iron Heart, Eli Bradley, Tommy, and Billy Maximoff will be in the MCU’s Young Avengers, but there are still a lot of surprises about them.
The Multiverse Expands In The MCU
The Multiverse is now the hot take for the future of the MCU. Since Loki premiered, we have been dealing into much depth about the multiverse. The Multiverse in the MCU was first shown in Doctor Strange, then teased in the last movie in the Infinity Saga, and has been the main focus of the movie ever since.
Such a move is very risky and yet Marvel wants to pull it off. The fact being about the connection with their other properties. It can’t be denied that there are a lot of powerful beings in the Multiverse branch. Strange brings Wong and America Chavez with him when he goes through the Multiverse. That’s where we will also see Wanda again as she looks for Tommy and Billy. We still have Agatha Harkness around Westview, so even though all of that power seems like too much, we still have her around.
These are the people who are directly involved in learning about the Multiverse and why it could be fruitful yet dangerous. Even though Loki and Sylvie may have been at the top of this story, its Kang that the MCU may have to fear from now on.
Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne delve into the multiverse in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, where they battle Kang.
There are a lot of branches in the MCU, but this one is very crucial to the stability of the MCU. It will set rules that will lead to these different parts of the universe meeting at some point.
Paranormal Power In The MCU
In the MCU, this branch is the newest one, and it has the fewest seeds in it. But, there is a whole show called Moon Knight that focuses on this part of the MCU.
The star of this team, which has been shown a little in Eternals, is the much-anticipated Blade. When Dane Whitman joins Blade on a journey into the supernatural, it looks like this Midnight Suns-like team could be setting up in the meantime.
Blade, Moon Knight, and Dane Whitman are three of the classic monsters of the spooky. The Werewolf by Night is the fourth and final member of this supernatural team.
One man who can lead the way is Blade. He has his own solo coming up in the MCU. Such an entity like Blade could be the way to eliminate evil forces.
Street life MCU
In addition to MCU Supernatural, there is a small group with big-name players. In front of our eyes, street wars in the MCU are beginning to emerge. Clint and Kate, who are both archery experts, are leading the way. A look at Marvel’s corner-to-corner actions was shown by events in Hawkeye. It also showed fans how people like Echo and John Walker could become players in the lower ranks of crime all over the world.
Some other names, like Yelena Belova and Matt Murdock, have been rumored to join this low-key branch as the MCU’s are being developed here. It’s not about saving the world, but saving oneself.
While Kang is the leader of the Multiverse branch, people like Wilson Fisk will be doing the same thing on the streets of the MCU.
Peter Parker Who?
Spider-Man: No Way Home was a big change in how comic book movies were told. It made the MCU look like it was starting over with one of its biggest stars. Still, Spider-Man is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will always be a big part of it.
He will always be the face of the movie series. But the decision to erase Peter Parker’s existence as the ultimate sacrifice and leave Spider-Man alone to tell a new story after the Homecoming trilogy makes Spider-Man his own branch to lead by.
There is no way to know who Peter is going to run into and what stories will be told. For one thing, the idea that fans were able to see a three-movie origin story and are only now getting to see what’s next is exciting.
It isn’t clear how this will work, but there are a lot of different ways it could work.
The Unknown Parts Of The MCU
There are a few characters in the MCU that could be dropped into various points. All we know about how She-Hulk will connect to the rest of space is that Professor Hulk will be there. That makes She-Hulk more like the Avengers in the MCU.
But She-Hulk’s tone makes it more likely that she’ll be a part of the street-level MCU.
Another group of characters hasn’t been introduced yet, but they’re likely to play a big part in the future. The Fantastic Four represents a group of heroes whose powers are much cosmic, too. Like Spider-Man, Marvel’s first family has a lot of power because of their name. They can start their own branch of science and exploration in the same way. This is because they have a lot to choose from: the Multiverse Branch, the Cosmic Branch, and even a lot of Avengers-level situations.
Finally, Shuri is one of the characters who is set to return in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In the future, it’s not clear how big a role she will play. If promotional art and her family lineage say anything, she is the chosen one to take over the Black Panther name. Because of this, she will be an important member of any branch that she joins.
Each branch of the MCU has heroes that fans care about in a different way than the rest. There might be a lot that is happening but yet feels interconnected. With each new project that comes out, each of these branches will be tweaked and made better. There are going to be a lot of interesting things to see when the next Endgame-level event comes around.
