The Marvel's successful model of letting the audience get to know and grow to love each character before adding them to the bigger picture.
Before they assembled for the first time in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
By this point, the MCU had expanded so much that only 7 out of the 11 Phase 3 movies were sequels, and 3 of these were ensemble films: Thor: Love and Thunder will gain the distinction of being the next fully Disney-owned film that directly follows the story of an already-established title.
Phase 4 of the MCU will start a new saga with 2020's only Marvel movie, Thor: Ragnarok and his resignation from the throne at the end of Endgame.
There are so many future releases planned in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that it's easy to overlook details like these. For instance, another oddity in the current schedule is how Thor 4 and Doctor Strange 2 will release only six weeks apart in 2022. This is proof that the level of anticipation for Marvel's films and shows overshadows whatever technicalities may arise in the production of such a vast web of projects. All things considered, a lack of direct sequels is definitely not an issue worth worrying about for Disney.
