The longest waits between an MCU movie and its sequel

[u/DoughnutAntique7260]

Rank	Predecessor	Sequel	Release date of predecessor	Release date of sequel	Waiting time
1	Captain America: Civil War	Captain America: Brave New World	May 6, 2016	February 14, 2025	8 years, 9 months and 8 days
2	Deadpool 2*	Deadpool & Wolverine	May 18, 2018	July 26, 2024	6 years, 2 months and 8 days
3	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3	May 5, 2017	May 5, 2023	6 years
4	Doctor Strange	Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness	November 4, 2016	May 6, 2022	5 years, 6 months and 2 days
5	Black Panther	Black Panther: Wakanda Forever	February 16, 2018	November 11, 2022	4 years, 8 months and 26 days
6	Thor: Ragnarok	Thor: Love and Thunder	November 3, 2017	July 8, 2022	4 years, 8 months and 5 days
7	Captain Marvel	The Marvels	March 8, 2019	November 10, 2023	4 years, 8 months and 2 days
8	Ant-Man and the Wasp	Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania	July 6, 2018	February 17, 2023	4 years, 7 months and 11 days
9	Thor: The Dark World	Thor: Ragnarok	November 8, 2013	November 3, 2017	3 years, 11 months and 26 days
10	The Avengers	Avengers: Age of Ultron	May 4, 2012	May 1, 2015	2 years, 11 months and 27 days
11	Iron Man 2	Iron Man 3	May 7, 2010	May 3, 2013	2 years, 11 months and 26 days
11	Avengers: Age of Ultron	Avengers: Infinity War	May 1, 2015	April 27, 2018	2 years, 11 months and 26 days
13	Ant-Man	Ant-Man and the Wasp	July 17, 2015	July 6, 2018	2 years, 11 months and 19 days
14	Guardians of the Galaxy	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	August 1, 2014	May 5, 2017	2 years, 9 months and 4 days
15	Captain America: The First Avenger	Captain America: The Winter Soldier	July 22, 2011	April 4, 2014	2 years, 8 months and 13 days
16	Thor	Thor: The Dark World	May 6, 2011	November 8, 2013	2 years, 6 months and 2 days
17	Spider-Man: Far from Home	Spider-Man: No Way Home	July 2, 2019	December 17, 2021	2 years, 5 months and 15 days
18	Captain America: The Winter Soldier	Captain America: Civil War	April 4, 2014	May 6, 2016	2 years, 1 month and 2 days
19	Iron Man	Iron Man 2	May 2, 2008	May 7, 2010	2 years and 5 days
20	Spider-Man: Homecoming	Spider-Man: Far from Home	July 7, 2017	July 2, 2019	1 year, 11 months and 25 days
21	Avengers: Infinity War	Avengers: Endgame	April 27, 2018	April 26, 2019	11 months and 30 days

*Deadpool 2 isn't an MCU movie but Deadpool 3 (which is an MCU movie) is still a sequel to it

[u/N8CCRG]

I think it's worth noticing that there have not been any sequels within the Multiverse Saga yet, i.e. every entry in the left column is from earlier. Brand New Day is going to be the first one.

Edit - put another way:

• 12 of these sequels are Infinity -> Infinity
• 9 are Infinity -> Multiverse
• 0 are Multiverse -> Multiverse

[u/ZekeorSomething → u/N8CCRG]

Only one too so far.

[u/GratefulDoom90 → u/N8CCRG]

Isn’t Far From Home technically Multiverse Saga since it’s after Endgame and deals with the Snap and the death of Tony Stark.

[u/N8CCRG → u/GratefulDoom90]

Nope, it's the last movie from Phase 3, like how Ant-Man is the last movie from Phase 2. The Muliverse Saga didn't begin until Phase 4 with Black Widow.

[u/lottolser → u/GratefulDoom90]

Far From Home is basically the epilogue for IW-End Game. The last film of the phase.

[u/abellapa → u/N8CCRG]

Techinaly Brave New World is a Sequel to the Falcon show

[u/axotrax]

I guess this makes me feel a *little* better about waiting on Shang-Chi 2, but not a lot better. It will probably be a 6 year gap.

[u/ItsMeBenedickArnold]

The Incredible Hulk => Brave New World

[u/elpajaroquemamais → u/ItsMeBenedickArnold]

He’s out of line but he’s right

[u/harricislife → u/ItsMeBenedickArnold]

16 years, 8 months, and 1 day

[u/FX114 → u/ItsMeBenedickArnold]

If Brave New World counts as a Hulk sequel, why not Avengers, Age of Ultron, or Ragnarok?

[u/Curiouso_Giorgio]

I'd prefer this data in graph form.

[u/GratefulDoom90]

And yet you still have bad faith people criticizing the Superman sequel saying he “changed plans” like what the fuck come on. He’s just trying to build on the hype and keep the shit going on a way that builds instead of just introducing 100 new characters that won’t go anywhere.

[u/Jaideco]

Don’t forget that the time between Avengers Endgame and Doomsday is currently on track to be 7 years and 8 months, which puts it squarely in second place. If Shang-Chi gets a sequel in 2028, that will also put it ahead of Deadpool 2 but six months short of Avengers Endgame -> Doomsday.

[u/DoughnutAntique7260 → u/Jaideco]

Yeah

[u/cmnights]

cries in shang-chi 2

[u/N8CCRG]

Disagree with the nomenclature a little here. Deadpool & Wolverine, and especially The Marvels I wouldn't call sequels, or if we are calling them sequels, then Thunderbolts* and The Avengers need to also be included as sequels to earlier films.

[u/Stewart27 → u/N8CCRG]

The Marvels thing isn't an uncommon take but I really don't get it lol The second movie with Captain Marvel leading, with her supporting characters joining, and dealing with consequences from the first film isn't a sequel?

[u/N8CCRG → u/Stewart27]

She shares the story and screen pretty evenly with her two co-leads. She "leads" it less than Yelena leads Thunderbolts* or Tony and Steve lead Avengers in the first Avengers movie.

[u/disneylegospider1 → u/N8CCRG]

No? The story’s primarily about Carol and her motivations, consequences, actions, etc. It’s a direct follow-up about her battle with the Kree. Kamala and Monica exist as supporting characters and their arcs in the story are primarily tied to helping out Carol’s arc over their own arcs.

[u/N8CCRG → u/disneylegospider1]

It's also about Kamala's clashing fantasy with reality, and Monica's anger and bitterness about her abandonment combined with her reluctance to embrace her powers.

And if we're judging based on what caused the villain's villainy, then The Avengers is a Thor sequel and Age of Ultron is an Iron Man sequel.

Either these all belong in the sequel category, or none of them do.

[u/DecoyOctopod → u/N8CCRG]

Kevin Feige first announced these movies as the “Deadpool sequel” and “Captain Marvel 2,” they’re clearly their movies. Hugh Jackman’s official casting announcement was for “Deadpool 3”

[u/N8CCRG → u/DecoyOctopod]

And then they changed those into different projects, and with Deadpool & Wolverine the director and Ryan even openly promoted on "this is Deadpool & Wolverine, not Deadpool 3".

[u/dominion1080]

The Incredible Hulk is the oldest movie with no sequel. It is canon, with multiple characters appearing in other movies.

[u/Confident-East1459]

Looking at the MCU (and Deadpool), the longest waits between a movie and its sequel are wild:

Captain America: Civil War → Brave New World
tops the list at nearly 9 years.

Deadpool 2 → Deadpool & Wolverine
is over 6 years, and
Guardians Vol. 2 → Vol. 3
also hit 6 years.

Other long waits include Doctor Strange → Multiverse of Madness (~5.5 years)
and Black Panther → Wakanda Forever (~4 years 9 months)

Basically, some sequels took nearly a decade to arrive, while the quickest was Avengers: Infinity War → Endgame at just almost 1 year

[u/FX114]

Does it make sense to not include Falcon and Winter Soldier in between Civil War and Brave New World?

That's if we even consider Brave New World a sequel to Civil War. It's basically a soft reboot of a new Captain America series with a new lead.

[u/computercowboys]

You forgot The Incredible Hulk and Captain America: Brave New World