In case you haven’t heard already, Marvel Studios decided to delay the release of several of their upcoming Phase Four films. This includes Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Marvels, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantummania.
You’re probably thinking, “what is the big deal?” Well, Marvel has a reputation for planning ahead and teasing upcoming releases. Part of their marketing for these upcoming films included that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 would kick off this new phase of films that are the beginning of a whole new universe within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, that film specifically suffered delays when the director, James Gunn, was fired from the project for some old tasteless Twitter jokes. Even after that, Marvel’s deal with Sony over the Spider-Man movies was almost jeopardized.
However, the latest and greatest problem for the MCU has been the COVID-19 pandemic. With the film and TV industry being shut down, in addition to cinemas being closed, production was also greatly affected. This forced Marvel in 2021 to lean into their Disney+ TV shows (which were always planned to be released for streaming). They also pursued a hybrid option for the release of their summer blockbuster, Black Widow (which did get them in a great deal of trouble with their leading lady, Scarlett Johansson).
But, if we all thought that Marvel was done being messy and delaying projects, don’t get too excited. They announced changes for their upcoming Phase Four releases, but they do not seem to be Coronavirus-related. The reason why it’s making such a difference is that Marvel doesn’t usually release more than one to two films a year. But the Phase Four releases seem to have been packed into the beginning of 2022, closely following the releases of Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home in November and December of 2021 respectively. That means that one change can have a bigger effect, and thus, we have five release date changes.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has moved from March 25, 2022 to May 6, 2022. Thor: Love & Thunder was originally supposed to come out on May 6 and has moved to July 8, 2022. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has been pushed from July to November 11, 2022. Captain Marvel 2 has moved from November 2022 to February 17, 2023. Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania has been pushed back from February 2023 to July 28, 2023. An untitled Marvel project scheduled for November 10, 2023 has moved to November 3, 2023. Looking beyond July 2023, a handful of untitled MCU projects have also been pushed. Whatever was previously intended to come out on July 28, 2023, has been taken off the calendar for now, as has another project originally set for October 6, 2023.
This does greatly affect the vision that we all (and Marvel Studios, apparently) had for Phase Four, as now there will only be three films released in 2022. But strangely enough, in the midst of all the movements, Marvel hasn’t changed the release date of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3. It’s still set to come out May 5, 2023. Lest we all know not to get our hopes up that this date will remain the same.
It’s safe to assume that because these delays aren’t COVID-related but rather due toto production delays, such as filming and post-production,and not box-office performance. This is because recent releases like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Eternals have been met with or have projected strong returns. However, this theory could be debunked by the delay of Doctor Strange, which has wrapped filming but is still in post-production. Another theory as to the delays have to do with box office competition, circling back to Doctor Strange, which moved from a March 2022 release date to May 2022. DC is releasing its latest Batman film in March as well and perhaps wanted to avoid competing.
Phase Four has taken the MCU to the next level and transcended into other forms of media. Marvel significantly boosted the popularity of Disney+ with the release of their TV shows, which, unlike previous shows, are canon to the rest of the Phase Four universe. Many of these shows, like WandaVision and The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, have set up the anticipated films of this phase, like Doctor Strange and even a fourth Captain America. The strategy clearly works, but when characters and plots transition through different mediums, there is more room for disruption.
As previously mentioned, the MCU’s Phase Four has been in a state of upheaval from the outset. It’s typically been straightforward to track the changes, to understand the causes behind them, and evaluate their consequences. This, though, is Marvel’s most cryptic adjustment yet, with a hazy explanation of “production concerns.” Hopefully, it won’t be long before some more specific answers surface, and MCU watchers can understand why Marvel made these recent delays.