Say what! Spider-Man: Far From Home to end MCU Phase 3, not Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame is almost here! Its pending April 26 release has fans everywhere preparing for the epic conclusion of Marvel's Phase 3. Twenty movies in, it feels like the end of an era. The big question — is it really the end? Not according to Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige. 

Speaking to Bilibili at an event in Shanghai, Feige said that Marvel's Phase 3 will conclude with Spider-Man: Far From Home, not Avengers: Endgame, as many might think.

In reference to Far From Home, Feige says, “It’s the end of the third phase. You’re the first one I’ve told that to.”

So perhaps having Endgame in the title is a pump fake? Either way, we can see this making a lot of sense for a couple of reasons. First, Far From Home comes out on July 5 — having both movies released so close to each other has got to signal something, right? As noted by Newsweek, this follows a similar trajectory to how Marvel handled the end of Phase 2 with Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man.

If there's one thing we've learned from Feige, it's that seemingly self-contained movies like Black Panther or Captain Marvel are rarely isolated film events. Instead, these films tend to introduce us to characters taking on important roles in upcoming shared-universe films. It looks like then, given Feige's comments, Far From Home will set up what's next in the MCU.  

Feige's comments may have cleared up some confusion around when exactly Phase 3 will end, but now we're just left wondering about what this means for Phase 4 of the MCU. Speaking about the future MCU in an interview with Variety, Feige teased: "Some of these films will feature characters that you already know. Some supporting characters will assume leading roles, while some new characters will be introduced,"

Feige added, "The reward for all of these films working is that we get to try to do it again and do it differently and learn from our mistakes and try something we haven’t tried before."

We know Marvel is looking to take more risks and expand into more obscure territory, as seen with The Eternals and Shang-Chi. These films dive into lesser-known Marvel characters and likely provide Marvel with more room to play by introducing audiences to characters and storylines with which they are less familiar. These films are also important to help Feige keep his promise of diversifying the Marvel Universe, a promise he made after the release of Black Panther. 

What exactly the MCU will look like after Endgame remains a mystery, at least for the next week or so. Either way, we're betting we'll be left with even more questions.

Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26.