When The Marvels is released in November 2023, it will be the last upcoming Marvel movie we'll see for some time – well, eight months, to be exact.
That's because Marvel Studios has revealed it's pushed back the launch dates of multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films again, meaning you won't be able to watch another of the studio's superhero flicks until July 2024.
Announcing the latest delay in a blog post on its official website, Marvel confirmed that three Marvel Phase 5 films and three Phase 6 movies had been given new release dates.
Captain America 4, which only received a new subtitle in Brave New World on June 6, has been delayed by two months from May 3, 2024 to July 26, 2024. It takes the theatrical release date previously held by Thunderbolts, which will now open in cinemas worldwide on December 20, 2024. Blade, which has been the subject of numerous production and launch date delays, won't see the light of day – good job the titular anti-hero isn't a fully fledged vampire in that respect, eh? – until February 14, 2025.
Marvel's highly anticipated Fantastic Four film, meanwhile, won't be out until May 2, 2025. It takes the spot formally occupied by Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which will arrive in cinemas a whole year later on May 1, 2026. Lastly, Avengers: Secret Wars – the reportedly final flick in Marvel's ongoing Multiverse Saga – has been pushed to May 7, 2027.
It's not all bad news on the Marvel movie front, however. Deadpool 3, which is yet to be given an official title, has actually been bumped up the release date roster. The Ryan Reynolds-starring, R-rated comic book movie, which sees the exciting return of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine for the final time, will no longer be released on November 8, 2024. Instead, it'll come out six months earlier, with Deadpool 3 set to launch in theaters globally on May 3, 2024.
While this is all disappointing news (Deadpool 3's new launch date aside), there'll still be plenty of other MCU-based content to lose yourself in between now and next. As well as the aforementioned MCU film The Marvels, a number of new MCU Disney Plus shows will be available to watch in the coming months. Secret Invasion will land on the streaming service on June 21, with Loki season 2 on October 6 and Echo on November 29 following suit before the end of 2023.
A necessary release date reshuffle
Understandably, the main question being asked by the MCU's devoted fanbase is: why has Marvel decided to push back all but one of its forthcoming movies?
For starters, this isn't the first time it's done so. Due to production issues with Blade, Marvel rejigged its entire movie release schedule in October 2022. Three months later, numerous reports suggested Marvel was preparing to delay a number of its upcoming TV shows, too, which proved to be the case. Then, in February 2023, Marvel confirmed it was pushing The Marvels out of its original July 28 launch date to November 17 instead.
This latest release date reshuffle, then, shouldn't come as a big surprise. The Disney subsidiary clearly has previous form for reworking its launch date schedules on the big and small screens. And, given the inevitable off-screen issues that usually accompany big-budget productions across the entertainment industry, it's inevitable that this won't be the last time we see Marvel tweak its plans.
Why is it 'inevitable'? Because the ongoing writers strike, which has shut Hollywood down for almost two months, is stopping any script-based work – rewrites, actor ad-libs, and such – from taking place at all.
That means MCU films already being filmed, such as Captain America 4 and Deadpool 3, are ploughing ahead without any changes to their scripts. It also means other MCU projects can't enter full production, especially if their head writers haven't completed their screenplays yet, or if finished scripts require further treatment. You can find out more on which Marvel movies and TV shows, as well as non-MCU projects, have been impacted by the writers strike in our guide on every film and series affected by the industrial action. In short, expect more MCU-based delays to be announced at San Diego Comic-Con in July or throughout the year.
In the meantime, be sure to find out how to watch the Marvel movies in order. Alternatively, get the lowdown on the best Marvel movies or see which MCU flicks made it onto our best superhero movies list.
