Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has explained why Avengers movies are now positioned to be saga cappers rather than team-up films that arrive in the concluding chapters of each MCU phase.

Speaking to MTV News at San Diego Comic-Con 2022, Feige discussed the future of the MCU and how there has been a shift in the way that they map out their projects, with Avengers movies now being placed at the end of a complete saga that comprises of multiple phases instead of being released as a culminating film of each individual phase, bearing in mind there are now more projects across fewer years.

"The truth is, when we were doing Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3, there were less projects over more years," Feige asserted, reflecting on the earlier phases of the MCU. "They were smaller projects and individual character stories, and it felt appropriate at that point, that after every two or three years that it took for a phase, we would do an 'Avengers' film."

The Infinity Saga, encompassing Phase 1, 2 and 3 of the MCU, featured four Avengers movies across seven years, with the first Avengers film being released in 2012 and the last arriving in 2019. The first three Avengers movies were released with three years between each, while Infinity War and Endgame debuted just a year apart from one another.

The next Avengers film, The Kang Dynasty, is slated for release in 2025, six years after Endgame hit theaters. Feige explained that the larger gap between Avengers films is partly due to the fact that big superhero team-up movies are now scattered throughout each MCU phase, changing the way that Avengers films factor into release schedules.

"As [Phase] 4, 5 and 6 were coming together, there are more projects in less years – because of all the amazing stuff we're now allowed to do on Disney+, and getting characters from Fox, Fantastic Four and Deadpool — that it felt like, certainly after 'Infinity War' and 'Endgame,' that we thought 'Avengers' movies aren't cappers," he said. "So many of our movies now — 'Multiverse of Madness' and what you're about to see in ['Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania'], all are big team-up films introducing big parts of the mythology… 'Avengers' films really should be the capper to a saga."

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty will be directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and will close out Phase 6 alongside Avengers: Secret Wars. The Kang Dynasty will hit the big screen on May 2, 2025, and Secret Wars will be released six months later on November 7, 2025. Phase 6 will also officially conclude the MCU's second saga, which is now known as The Multiverse Saga.

Secret Wars may well be Marvel's biggest superhero movie yet, one that can dwarf even Avengers: Endgame in scope and the sheer number of characters involved. If you're not familiar with this huge cosmic epic, then you might want to check out IGN's breakdown of everything you need to know about Secret Wars and why Phase 6 will be the biggest ever.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.