All your favourite franchises are ending in 2019

There’s a major entertainment calamity around the corner, and we’re not sure how we’re going to deal with it when it gets here.

Literally every single pop culture franchise that’s kept us going for the last decade or so is about to come to an end, and there’s currently no clear sign as to what’s going to replace them.

So, you’d better enjoy 2018 while it lasts, because 2019 is going to be the year of the franchise death.

Don’t believe us? Take a look at this line-up of properties that are definitely doomed next year.

Game Of Thrones (2011 – 2019)

After months of rumours, it’s official, Game Of Thrones is taking a year off before its final season airs in 2019.

The six-episode, eighth and final season will leave a fairly massive gap in the telly schedule when it finally concludes – every major channel in the world has tried its hand at making its own Game Of Thrones, with no-one finding the success of HBO’s iconic series.

Something will come along to equal it eventually, but with no obvious contenders on the horizon (aside from the FIVE spin-offs HBO are currently gambling will be as good as the original), the golden age of TV may be about to come to an end.

Avengers (2008 – 2019)

We’re all excited for Avengers: Infinity War but, when we think about it, we’re not entirely sure why.

Seriously, why exactly are we looking forward to seeing the heroes we’ve spent the last ten years getting to know having their spines ripped out by Thanos?

As team-members like Iron Man, Captain America and the rest come to their contractual end, the Avengers as we know them will cease to exist in 2019. Yep, the release of Infinity War 2 will bring the curtain down on over a decade of entertainment. We’re bracing ourselves for the devastation.

Star Wars (1977 – 2019)

Yeah, yeah – we know, Disney will never let Star Wars end, they’ll still be releasing force-based movies long after we’re all dead. That said, in 2019 something rather big does come to an end in the Star Wars universe – the Skywalker saga.

According to JJ Abrams, his Episode IX will be a conclusion of a story that’s been told since 1977 – it’s the spine of Star Wars. In fact, there hasn’t been a single Star Wars flick without a Skywalker family member (even Rogue One featured Anakin in his Vader cosplay).

Will we care as much about a galaxy far, far away, when it’s entirely populated by a bunch of characters we’ve never met before? Disney will certainly be hoping so, but there’s no getting away from it – Star Wars will end in 2019 for a lot of fans who grew up on the franchise.

X-Men (2000 – 2019)

Thanks to the fact Disney have bought all of Fox’s movies, the X-Men series that’s been running since 2000 is going to come to a grinding halt sooner rather than later. X-Men: Dark Phoenix is out this year, as is Deadpool 2. Then, we’ll get the delayed New Mutants in 2019, and – if you believe in miracles – the even-more delayed Gambit.

Then, that’s it for the scheduled Fox X-films – and for the studio’s take on the series; they’ll be unrecognisable pretty much immediately afterwards. You can bet Marvel will want to incorporate such a valuable property into their stable as soon as they can. So, add X-Men to the list of franchises that’ll be changing forever after 2019.

Star Trek (2009 – 2019)

This one’s a little bit more tenuous, but bear with us. Star Trek 4 was originally pencilled in for 2019, when it was going to be a JJ Abrams joint about how Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk feels when he’s reunited with his dead dad (Chris Hemsworth) thanks to some timey-wimey nonsense.

Now that JJ Abrams is busy in a different galaxy, Paramount have decided to hand the directorial reigns to Quentin Tarantino, which means that the release date is almost certainly going to be pushed back until 2020 (Tarantino has his own film coming out in 2019 – that Charles Manson thing starring Margot Robbie).

Which means that we might not even get the chance to say goodbye to a franchise that will have been with us for a decade next year – because we seriously doubt a Tarantino Trek’s going to look anything like that’s coming before it. RIP reboot crew. Hello Captain Travolta.

Toy Story (1995 – 2019)

Okay, so while the Toy Story series isn’t officially ending in 2019, how much longer do you think Hanks and co can carry on with this franchise before their batteries run out?

We’d put pretty good monopoly money on Toy Story 4 being the final instalment of a franchise that’s been with us since 1995. That said, we thought they’d quit while they were ahead with the perfect Toy Story 3, so there’s a chance this one will still be going in 3019.

Read more
Game of Thrones season 8: Everything you need to know
Chris Evans might not be done as Captain America after all
Rashida Jones denies quitting Toy Story 4 over John Lasseter advances