Since the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike commenced, we have seen its major impact on the industry as numerous projects have halted their pre-production or production due to the absence of the writers. Amongst the projects that are currently affected are coming from the MCU.
We learned for the past few weeks that films such as Thunderbolts and Blade are now set to begin production once the strike ends, while Captain America: Brave New World remains in production as it started months before the strike started.
Now, with the strike still nowhere near its end, we finally have our first massive update regarding its effect on the theatrical films under the Disney umbrella and, as expected, all upcoming MCU movies (sans The Marvels) are going to be affected.
Disney Announces New Release Dates for 2024 MCU Movies and Beyond
As reported by Deadline, Disney has announced that all MCU films from 2024 and beyond are changing their respective release dates. First off, Deadpool 3 will now arrive in theaters earlier than expected - now set for release on May 3, 2024.
Captain America: Brave New World, which recently announced its title change, is now being moved to July 26, 2024. Meanwhile, Thunderbolts will now arrive in theaters during the Christmas season on December 20, 2024.
The long-gestated Mahershala Ali-led reboot of Blade is now being pushed to Feb. 14, 2025, while the highly-anticipated MCU reboot of Fantastic Four, which is still in the casting process, is now scheduled for release on May 2, 2025.
As a result, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty will now move a year later to May 1, 2026, while Avengers: Secret Wars is being moved to May 7, 2027, which is also a year later than its original date.
Disney also reserved slots for untitled MCU films on July 25, 2025, and November 7, 2025.
While it is unfortunate to hear about these delays as we've been waiting for years now to see them come to fruition, the bright side here is that Marvel Studios will now have more time to refine the projects, and it is also a contingency as a result of the ongoing impact of the WGA strike.
The Release Date Changes and Announcements on the Other Disney Titles
As for the other titles under the Disney umbrella, they also announced that the new upcoming Star Wars movies are now dated May 22, 2026, and December 18, 2026. It is unknown yet which of the three projects that were announced in Celebration are taking the two spots.
Avatar 3 will now be delayed from December 2024 to its new date December 19, 2025. As a result, the subsequent films will also move to three years later, with the fifth film now scheduled for release in December 2031.
The recently-announced live-action remake of Moana is scheduled for release in theaters on June 27, 2025. The new Alien movie, which is currently filming under the direction of Fede Alvarez, is scheduled for August 16, 2024.
These are certainly massive changes on Disney's release calendars, and it won't be surprising at this point if more studios make similar moves. Fans can now change their calendars again with these new dates, and hopefully, we won't see another considerable shakeup like this again soon.
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