After a week of crowd-pleasing announcements, a new report suggests Marvel Studios is far from done with tinkering its forthcoming line-up of movies and TV shows.
According to The Hollywood Reporter (THR), the Disney subsidiary will spend much of 2024 retooling its slate of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) projects after a torrid 2023 filled with box office bombs, PR blunders, and other negative press.
Chief among Marvel's priorities is its Fantastic Four movie, the new title, revised release date, and long overdue cast announcements of which were recently revealed. Per THR, filming will begin this summer (that's winter, for any southern hemisphere readers) in London. Marvel is also believed to have quietly hired Eric Pearson to punch up its script, too – the scribe, who also added some finesse to Black Widow and Thor: Ragnarok's screenplays, is being viewed as a safe pair of hands within the corridors of power.
Pearson isn't the only screenwriter who's recently joined an MCU production. THR also suggests The Bear's Joanna Calo has been drafted in to perform a similar job on Thunderbolts, one of the many Marvel Phase 5 projects that are in active development. Principal photography is rumored to begin next month (March 2024), so Calo, who's also likely penned the majority of the scripts for The Bear season 3, doesn't have long to inject the ensemble flick with some (apparently) much needed flair.
Looking further ahead, Marvel is also considering a rebrand of its next Avengers movie. Originally titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, the Marvel Phase 6 movie will reportedly move ahead with a new subtitle after Marvel fired Kang actor Jonathan Majors in December 2023.
THR's sources have even claimed that the comic book giant could decide to move away from the time-traveling villain altogether, with Marvel looking to "minimize the character" in the wake of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania's poor box office performance in addition to Majors' off-screen problems. However, there are rumors that Colman Domingo (Rustin, Euphoria) could assume the role of Kang and, if a recent Vanity Fair interview is anything to go on, there may be more than a smidge of truth to it.
One step back to take two steps forward
2024, then, looks like it'll be a year of resets for Marvel. Yes, the entertainment behemoth will still release a number of highly-anticipated films and TV series over the next 10 months following Echo's January launch on Disney Plus and Hulu. But, after a turbulent year that seemingly knocked the studio, realigning its release strategy is in Marvel's best interests.
It shouldn't have to worry about the properties it's releasing this year, however. Next up is the hotly-anticipated X-Men 97, a sequel to the beloved X-Men: The Animated Series project that was originally released in the 1990s. We recently learned of X-Men 97's confirmed launch date via its exciting and nostalgia-fueled first trailer, so prepare for a potentially terrific X-Men series in the near future.
After that, Deadpool and Wolverine – the only Marvel movie of 2024 – will debut in theaters. It's due out on July 26 and, while you wait for one of the most exciting MCU films in recent times, you should read our Deadpool and Wolverine trailer breakdown article for more on what to expect.
Lastly, Agatha: Darkhold Diaries, the Kathryn Hahn-starring spin-off of hit show WandaVision, is expected to launch on Disney Plus in late 2024. With its stacked and likeable cast, plus many of WandaVision's creative team returning to oversee the show, it'll likely be another solid hit for Marvel on one of the world's best streaming services.
So, yes, with only one film and three shows set to arrive in 2024, it'll be a quieter year than usual for the comic book titan. If that's what it takes to get its cinematic juggernaut back on an even keel, though, it's the right move to make.
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