With a few very pointed exceptions, MCU sequel titles work perfectly to both catch fan’s attention and send a message of continuity. The MCU is one big world where everything is connected, and the titles play a big part in making sure that is always at the forefront of people’s minds.
This wasn’t the case at first. All the Iron Man movies have sequential titles, and one of the newest franchises, Guardians of the Galaxy, has also stuck to sequential numerical titles, all the way up to the upcoming third movie. But these are the exceptions, not the rule. From Captain America to Spider-Man, without forgetting Thor or heroes newer to the MCU, like Black Panther and Captain Marvel, MCU titles are set up to feel more like chapters in a longer, ongoing story. And they absolutely nail the vibe.
Captain America: The First Avenger is clearly an origin story. It’s easy to tell that just from the title. But that’s not all the title establishes, it also sets up Captain America’s role in the MCU at large. Subsequent movies will focus on other characters, other events that will end up being important to the universe, and therefore will get to be mentioned alongside the titular character. For example, Captain America 2, officially titled Captain America: The Winter Soldier, focuses on Bucky Barnes and his struggle to fight the Hydra conditioning that made him a mindless weapon. Captain America: Civil War, meanwhile, pits friend against friend, in a civil war of sorts.
Thor’s titles give as much a sense of place as ongoing situations, but they also serve to establish the way the story is moving. Viewers go from just Thor in the first, introductory movie, to Thor: The Dark World in the sequel that introduces the Dark Elves and the Aether, aka the Reality Stone. This movie is set up for so much more than Thor, and the ominous title serves to reinforce that. Meanwhile, the third movie, Thor: Ragnarok is the beginning of the end for the Infinity Saga, and for the MCU, something the title doesn’t shy away from.
Even the unreleased fourth Thor movie, which is currently filming, and is officially titled Thor: Love and Thunder, tells a story just by the title. This movie will not just be the fourth movie for Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, the God of Thunder, but marks the return of Thor’s former love interest, Jane Foster: Love and Thunder. It’s hard to tell what role this movie will play in the larger plan for the MCU going forward, but it’s likely the title is setting up even more than fans understand just yet.
This is pretty much the story for every one of the Marvel properties. Spider-Man was already a pretty well-established superhero when his first MCU movie came around, so the first title wasn’t just the name, but instead Spider-Man: Homecoming. That was later followed by Spider-Man: Far From Home, in a movie where Peter Parker is, literally, far from home, and the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home, which, if the history of obvious titles holds, will likely find Peter Parker lost somewhere. Maybe the multiverse?
For some of the movies, the titles aren’t just about the trials of the main character, but how that main character might be changing. For example, even though the first Doctor Strange movie was titled just that, the second one is named Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness, a story that hints at much more, not just for Strange. But that has nothing on Ant-Man, who in movie two turned into Ant-Man and the Wasp, and in the third installment will be Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, a nod to the changing nature of the main character(s) in this series.
But the biggest nod to change can be, perhaps, seen in the recently announced titles for two upcoming movies. The Black Panther sequel will be called Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, as the movie shifts to focus on the fictional nation, instead of its leader, after the passing of Chadwick Boseman. Likewise, the second announced Captain Marvel film will not actually be called Captain Marvel 2 or Captain Marvel: Anything, but The Marvels. It’s not just Carol, anymore, after all.
It’s hard to tell what the MCU has in store for its new upcoming properties, naming-wise. But considering Marvel even gave self-explanatory titles that were nods to the bigger story to its biggest team-up movies, it wouldn’t be shocking to see some version of that. The Avengers faced Avengers: Age of Ultron, then Avengers: Infinity War, and finally Avengers: Endgame. But there are still stories to tell, and if Marvel has learned anything from the past 10+ years, it’s that simple, to-the-point titles that nonetheless give a nod to the story being told, absolutely sell.