While the Marvel Cinematic Universe is still going strong more than a decade and a half since its inception, there's no denying it hasn't seen a similar level of praise nowadays compared to its first three phases. Critics and audiences alike loved most of the movies released since Iron Man all the way to Avengers: Endgame (with perhaps The Incredible Hulk and Thor: The Dark World being the two exceptions). However, that flawless reputation has changed in recent years and it seems like a big success like Deadpool & Wolverine is followed by a rather underwhelming project to balance things out.
With that in mind, sequels aren't such a safe bet for Marvel anymore. There isn't a complete guarantee that audiences will show up and fill movie theaters every single time. As a result, some highly anticipated movies unfortunately had to be canceled. To solidify that idea, a new report by a very credible source claims that the House of Mouse scrapped plans for two sequels which we all assumed were a given at some point.
Eternals 2 and Ant-Man 4 scrapped at Marvel
According to a scoop by renowned insider Daniel Richtman, Marvel officially canceled any plans for Eternals 2 and Ant-Man 4 given the underwhelming reception of the previous installments in their respective franchises. It's worth pointing out that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania made a profit of $88,000, but such a feat was only accomplished given that the movie was filmed in the UK and earned a tax credit for that (as reported by Forbes). Had it not been for that extra $58 million of credit, then Marvel would've had a big loss on its hands.
Similarly, the budget of Eternals was $236.2 million (a figure that would've been greater had it not been for the UK tax credit, once again), and it only grossed a little over $400 million in the box office — likely resulting in a loss if we also take into account marketing expenses.
Not only were both movies a disappointment in terms of earnings but also when it came to fulfilling expectations. Kevin Feige once claimed the Eternals pitch was "the best he's ever heard". Furthermore, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was supposed to kick-start Phase 5 with a bang by featuring Kang as the main villain. It's clear Marvel had high hopes for both movies, so it's not a surprise that the disappointing results eventually led to the cancellation of any potential sequels.
Kevin Feige himself admitted there were no immediate plans for an Eternals sequel back in July 2024. So at this point, audiences will have to look elsewhere for the return of Scott Lang, Sersi, Hope van Dyne, Kingo, Cassie Lang, Sprite, and many other heroes. On the bright side, most of these characters have been seen in other projects such as the third season of What If...?, while the giant Celestial that was frozen during the events of Eternals made a comeback in Captain America: Brave New World. It's clear Marvel has no intention of abandoning these characters altogether, and that's a great sign heading into the big crossover events.
Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars are on the horizon, and they are the perfect place to feature some shocking MCU comebacks. If Marvel and Disney ever hope to top (and perhaps even surpass) the levels of success they achieved with Avengers: Endgame, then every big hero introduced from the beginning of Phase 4 onwards should join the fight to stop Doctor Doom — no exceptions.
Rumors suggest that the Young Avengers will finally unite on the big screen just in time for these crossover events, which would all but confirm Cassie Lang's involvement. As for the other heroes? Well, it's safe to say that the collapse of the multiverse as a whole could get the attention of big players such as the Celestials, and that of (literally) small heroes such as Ant-Man. There will definitely be more to their stories going forward — it's just unfortunate it won't happen in their very own sequels. But hey, at least it's better than nothing!
Avengers: Doomsday will be released on May 1, 2026.