Marvel And Disney Delay Multiple Films Including ‘Thor 4’ And ‘Black Panther 2’

Disney and Marvel Studios recently announced that they will be pushing back quite a few release dates for films coming out in the next few years. Marvel has a full list of projects in various stages of production, including a new release Eternals, that has just come into theaters. There are also announced projects that do not even have titles or stories written yet. Unfortunately though, fans are going to have to wait a little longer for many of the highly anticipated projects. In addition, Disney has announced that their entire list of movies that are currently supposed to be released in 2022 is getting pushed back at least one release spot if not more. This includes many Marvel projects that are supposed to come out in 2022. 

The first of these movies is the highly anticipated Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This movie is rumored to be about the first real exploration of the Marvel multiverse. Previous projects such as the Disney+ series Loki have alluded to the multiverse, and generated quite a stir of excitement among Marvel fans. They just could not wait to see how that will pan out on the big screen. However, fans are now going to have to wait even longer for an Avengers-scale project. Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness was originally supposed to be released on March 25, 2022. However, Disney has now pushed the release to May 6, 2022. It is not a huge shift, but it is still disappointing to many who have been eagerly awaiting for its release. 

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Thor: Love and Thunder is also slated to be released in 2022. We do not know much about the story yet since Marvel is still keeping things pretty well under wraps. We do know that this film is definitely going to be big in the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and is set to be a huge shift in the status quo. Unfortunately, Thor: Love and Thunder has been pushed back to July 8, 2022 instead of its original release date of May 6, 2022.

Fans have been very excited about Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Despite sadly not having Chadwick Boseman to reprise his iconic role as Black Panther, this film has many fans intrigued as to the direction it will take. Marvel has already said that it will pay tribute to Boseman. What that might look like remains to be seen. Regardless, this film is also set up to change the status quo in the MCU. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s original release date was set for July 8, 2022. Unfortunately fans are going to have to wait quite a bit longer for this one as the date has been changed to November 11, 2022. 

The Marvels was the last major MCU film that Disney and Marvel Studios had planned to release in 2022. The only thing fans really know about the movie is that it will include a team-up of Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, and Ms. Marvel. What that will look like remains to be seen. Unfortunately, we will not see The Marvels until February 17, 2023. The release date was originally supposed to be November 11, 2022.

The change in film release dates also affects movies scheduled for 2023 release dates. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was originally supposed to premiere in the beginning of 2023. Since The Marvels has been pushed back, it will not be in theaters until July 28, 2023. 

Marvel also removed two untitled movies that were supposed to be released on July 28, 2023 and October 6, 2023. A third untitled movie that had a release date of November 10 2023, still remained on the schedule. Instead, they moved its premiere up one week to November 3, 2023, which is quite intriguing. 

While this turn of events might be disappointing, this does not mean that Marvel is stopping their insane amount of projects. They still have many announced untitled projects and titled projects on the docket, such as Blade, Fantastic Four, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Let’s not forget the upcoming Disney+ shows like She-Hulk, Moon Knight, and Ms. Marvel

Disney not only change the release dates for Marvel Studios films. They also delayed Indiana Jones 5, which actually has the largest shift. It was originally supposed to be released on July 29, 2022, but is now pushed back for an entire year to June 30 2023, which is a huge move. Disney has not made any official statements as to why these films are being delayed, but Entertainment Weekly has speculated that Indiana Jones 5’s delayed release could be due to a shoulder injury that Harrison Ford received while rehearsing a fight scene this past June. Other delays include an untitled live-action Disney project and an untitled 20th Century film. 

Deadline is reporting that the delays are due to a domino effect between production and filmmakers. Hollywood in general is still reeling from the effects of having to push back production for so many of their projects due to the pandemic, and is busy trying to get everything back on track. The Direct is also speculating that the movement of release dates could be because of the change in The Batman’s release date. The Batman was supposed to come out only a few weeks before Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, which would not be good for the latter’s box office results. Companies tend to move things around to maximize earnings from ticket sales. Unfortunately, this can lead to a snowball effect down the line. 

One explanation could be the IATSE strike. The Hollywood strike is averted for now as a tentative settlement has been reached. However, situation could change and a strike could still be on the table for union members in Hollywood. Disney and Marvel Studios may be trying to either prepare for the worst case or perhaps mitigate anything that might be happening now. 

The other reason could be that the Marvel is trying to line up its Disney+ shows with its movies. This was the case with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Captain America: Winter Soldier where you would not want the movie or the show to come out before the other due to their intertwined storylines. They had to come out at the same time. Whatever the reason, it is still a huge shift in the release dates of these highly anticipated films. 

Another thing to note for any fans freaking out right now. Just because the untitled Marvel films were taken off the schedule for 2023, it does not mean that they are canceled entirely. There is a good chance they will appear again in 2024 or 2025 when their titles are announced and/or when Marvel finally catches up with its backlog. Perhaps, new release dates will be added for 2022 or 2023. It is still too soon to tell for some of these films. We may get really lucky and get earlier releases for some of them! Either way, rest assured that Marvel Studios and Disney will let their fans know as soon as possible.

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Source(s): The Direct, Entertainment Weekly

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