"Thor" hits theaters in May 2011. "Captain America: The First Avenger" arrives just a few months later. In 2012, "The Avengers" brings the two aforementioned heroes together with Iron Man and Hulk in one colossal team-up movie. And then... what?
That's the question I posed to Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada when he dropped by Splash Page HQ during Comic-Con. While he couldn't drop any specifics of their post-"Avengers" movie plan, he did hint that there is a plan — and it extends well beyond Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
"We are thinking about those things right now," Quesada told MTV News. "There's no question about it. It's not lost upon us that we say, 'Okay, we have one great franchise rolling right now in 'Iron Man,' we're going to have another one rolling in 'Thor,' and another in 'Captain America,' and I'm pretty sure those movies are going to be fantastic and have sequels of their own."
"I'm not a betting man, but based upon what I've seen and what I've read, I'm pretty hopeful," continued the Marvel artist-turned-editor, who's also read the scripts for each of the upcoming Marvel films. "I'm going to assume that 'Avengers' will as well, but we also have to sit back and say, 'What is next? What is the next great hill for us to charge?'"
With the rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four universes held by 20th Century Fox, Spider-Man and his stable of supporting characters owned by Sony, and various other Marvel characters aligned with studios outside Marvel, one has to wonder where the company will turn its attention once "Avengers" is in the rearview mirror.
"We've had those discussions already, and there is a lightly, in-pencil drawn gameplan of where we want to go," said Quesada. "[It's] way, way to early to discuss, but again we are methodical and we do think these things through. The climates can change and the wind can turn at any moment and we may just go in a different direction, but we have an idea."
Where do you think Marvel Studios should go next? Let us know in the comment section or on Twitter!