The untitled “Avengers 4” film, due out next year, is suppose to mark the definitive end to the “Avengers” franchise. That was until “Avengers: Infinity War” set out to break nearly every box office record imaginable in its first couple of weeks.
During Disney’s quarterly conference call with investors on Tuesday, CEO Bob Iger said that people shouldn’t rule out another “Avengers” movie after the scheduled May 2019 release “Avengers 4.”
The next “Avengers” film was initially planned to mark the end of the “Avengers” franchise that Marvel, a Disney subsidiary, set in motion in 2008.
“Given the popularity of the characters and the popularity of this film I don’t think people should conclude there will never be another ‘Avengers’ movie,” Iger said during the conference call.
“Avengers: Infinity War” became the fastest film to reach $1 billion worldwide at the box office last weekend, after pulling in a record-setting $250 million opening weekend.
Of course “Avengers: Infinity War” was helped by combining nearly all the heroes the 18 films before it had introduced. “Avengers: Infinity War” was the biggest of event movies.
Beyond “Avengers” and the current slate of Marvel films, Iger said that he sat down with the studio to plot out Marvel movies “well into the next decade.” He said he is confident the studio has more than enough material to draw from, and that there is also a plan for another franchise outside of “Avengers.”
“There are certainly a lot more stories to tell and many more characters to mine from,” Iger said.
The depth of that mine could get deeper too, pending the company’s proposed $52 billion bid to acquire the majority of Fox’s assets, including “The X-Men.”