Big news swept the Marvel Cinematic Universe today, Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger says President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige has films mapped out through the year 2028. At the rate they’re going that means there are potentially 28 more Marvel movies to look forward to, or more. Check out official statement after the break.

Sorry about the cruel April Fool’s joke earlier this week folks, but this is legit news. Captain America: The Winter Solider (review here) will be the ninth film under Marvel Studios’ belt within the last six years. SIX YEARS. And that could only increase with Iger’s talk about the MCU planned through 2028. Feige has already stated he has dreams of giving fans more than the regular two movies per year, and with this statement, his dreams may become reality.

Check out this chunk of the BusinessWeek interview with Bog Iger here:

“Much of Marvel’s success can be attributed to Feige. He has a special understanding of comics, fans, superheroes, and narrative. He concedes that Marvel won’t recover the film rights to Spider-Man or the X-Men anytime soon but says Marvel has something more valuable: a universe of thousands of characters it controls entirely. That means Feige can produce an unlimited number of films with interweaving story lines and characters, creating a vast audience for almost any Marvel movie. People might show up for The Avengers, meet the Black Widow, and come back for her movie, too. There’s a map of films reaching far into the next decade on the wall of Feige’s office. ‘It’s like looking through the Hubble telescope. You go, ‘What’s happening back there? I can sort of see it,’’ he laughs. ‘They printed out a new one recently that went to 2028.'”

As much as this statement gets me excited, I have feelings of sadness and worry. The MCU has dished out some incredible movies within its short six years, but in the comic book world those characters never age. We won’t know how fans will take the transition once the current actors decide to pursue other career choices or their contracts expire, but Robert Downey Jr. cannot be Tony Stark forever – as much as that would be a good thing. Downey Jr. is 48 now, and by the year 2028 rolls around he’ll be 62. Maybe he can play an older versions of Tony Stark if there are time travel paradox stories, but he’ll have to be recast at some point.

The interview also states many interesting tidbits as to what movies we may see down the road, particularly in the spin-off department. Iger says they could take each Guardian of the Galaxy (Star Lord, Drax, Gamora, Groot, and Rocket Raccoon) and give them their own movie. There has been talks of Scarlett Johansson appearing in her own standalone Black Widow movie as have read above, while other heroes such as Ms. Marvel, Doctor Strange, and Black Panther have also been tossed around as new heroes to be introduced in Phase 3. And then there are The Defenders which will have their own series on Netflix in the coming years.

With the rich history of Marvel, the possibilities are endless and I look forward to that future with open arms.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier opens this weekend, Friday, April 4; The Amazing Spider-Man 2 arrives May 2, 2014; Guardians of the Galaxy makes its big debut on August 1, 2014; Avengers: Age of Ultron springs into action on May 1, 2015; and Ant-Man gets his own feature July 17, 2015.

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Source: BusinessWeek