Marvel Studios was developing a film based on the Inhumans race by March 2011 to be similar to 20th Century Fox's X-Men (2000), with the plot revolving around the Inhumans being sent to Earth as sleeper cells to bring their race to conquer the planet. Kevin Feige said the film would feature an ensemble cast similar to the X-Men films and The Avengers, later expressing his confidence in April 2012 that a film would be made. By August 2014, Marvel was planning to move forward with an Inhumans film and have Joe Robert Cole writing the screenplay, and officially announced the film that October as part of their Phase Three slate to release on November 2, 2018 and Vin Diesel openly attached to the role of Black Bolt shortly after the film's announcement, despite already having a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Groot. Marvel Studios wanted to make the Inhumans a film franchise that could continuously redefine what the MCU is about by exploring their different powers and social structure. That December, the Inhumans race was introduced in the second season of the MCU television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., with Chloe Bennet's principal character Daisy "Skye" Johnson revealed as an Inhuman. By October 2015, Cole was no longer involved with the film, and he later said he had not written an Inhumans script.
In February 2016, Marvel pushed the release date to July 12, 2019, and that April, Feige said he expected the film's release to be delayed once again after Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) were added to Phase Three and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures scheduling a fifth Indiana Jones film near the July 2019 date. Shortly afterward, the film was removed from Marvel's release schedule and Phase Three for undisclosed reasons, but was not outright canceled. That July, Feige said Inhumans would be discussed for Marvel Studios' future film releases after 2020, and felt in November that the property would be adapted, noting its potential as a television series or as a film in the future. Marvel Television announced in November 2016 that they were developing Marvel's Inhumans as a new series without Diesel, Feige or Marvel Studios involved, which was not intended to be a reworking of the film. The first two episodes debuted in IMAX in September 2017, to disappointing box office returns, while its run on ABC was critically panned by fans and critics alike and was cancelled in May 2018 after one season. After working with Marvel Studios on the script for Ant-Man, Adam McKay said in December 2018 he was willing to work with the studio again and had discussed making an Inhumans film with Feige.