Never in the history of film has anything so ambitious as the Marvel Cinematic Universe been attempted. We’ve seen epic film trilogies, we’ve seen spinoffs and countless sequels. But we’ve never seen a film series work in quite this way, where each individual film works by itself (for the most part), but are all cogs in a much larger machine. And Avengers: Endgame marks the finale for all they’ve been building over the last 11 years and 22 films. However, it does leave us with a relevant question: how can the MCU go on after this monumental ending?

Where Can It Go From Here?

From the very beginning, we knew this universe was building towards something. From the moment we saw Nick Fury pop up at the end of Iron Man, to getting a glimpse of Thanos after The Avengers, it was clear that this story was going somewhere. As each new film was released, we were being entertained by a wide variety of characters and stories, but we always knew it was setting up a larger climax. At times, this setup seemed to work very subtly, such as dividing Cap and Iron Man in Civil War so they would be apart for Infinity War. And other times, the franchise suffered for it, like in Age of Ultron where we were treated to Thor’s magic hot tub, despite it having nothing to do with the rest of the plot. But either way, we felt Thanos there pulling the strings, and it helped us anticipate the conflict to come.

And now that this ending is upon us, how can we help but wonder, will there be any stakes in the later films? Surely they’ll still be entertaining, but any time they attempt to have some sort of world or universe at risk stakes, how can we take it seriously after seeing Infinity War and Endgame? And if they attempt to build up to something again, how can they ever make it as climactic as Thanos wiping out half the universe? It would be the equivalent of when a TV series has a brilliant ending, but randomly decides to do a spinoff or more episodes later, out of mere fan service.

Starting Over Anew

Perhaps the only way to give these new films the justice they deserve, would be to reboot the universe entirely. It wouldn’t attempt to remake the same films or characters as before, but rather introduce new ones we haven’t met in a brand new continuity. A sort of MCU II, for lack of a better term. It would give Disney the perfect opportunity to introduce the X-Men to the MCU, but still be able to set their stories during WWII and other parts of the 20th Century. Doing that now would directly contradict the continuity of the current MCU.

But of course, we know that this will never happen. Not with Doctor Strange 2, Spiderman: Far From Home (which is more Sony’s doing), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 already on the roster. Not to mention the multipicture deal that Brie Larson has signed on for reprise the role of Captain Marvel, and most likely take a leading role in the later stories. And while Endgame will most likely provide a conclusion to the original lineup (Cap, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Hawkeye, and Black Widow), it does seem rather odd that this universe will continue without them. But at the same time, perhaps that’s the best way to honor those characters.

But imagine, for just a moment, if Endgame truly was the end. It would preserve this cinematic universe as a self-contained continuity whose brilliance was entirely unmatched in the film industry. Only time will tell if the post-Endgame stories feel like there’s something missing. It’s a future that only Marvel themselves can create, and one which not even Doctor Strange could predict!