With box office numbers on the rise, more movies arriving on schedule and the likes of No Time To Die breaking box office records, you would think it was safe to say that the closures of last year are a thing of the past. However, Disney have put a spanner in the works of that rosy looking picture of a bright and normal future by announcing a mass delay on all of its upcoming Marvel movies beyond December's Spider-Man: No Way Home, starting with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
According to the new release, there are a number of movies for all of the known Marvel movies, including Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Marvels and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. In addition to these changes, the fifth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise has also has its release date pushed by back a year, while a number of other unnamed movies are completely removed from the schedule, including the two Marvel slots that were expected to see Blade and Fantastic Four arriving into the MCU. The updated release schedule now looks like this.
- Please note the following update to WALT DISNEY STUDIOS MOTION PICTURES release schedule:
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Disney) previously dated on 3/25/22 moves to 5/6/22
- Thor: Love and Thunder (Disney) previously dated on 5/6/22 moves to 7/8/22
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Disney) previously dated on 7/8/22 moves to 11/11/22
- Indiana Jones 5 (Disney) previously dated on 7/29/22 moves to 6/30/23
- Untitled Disney Live Action Movie (Disney) previously dated on 7/14/23 is removed from schedule
- The Marvels (Disney) previously dated on 11/11/22 moves to 2/17/23
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Disney) previously dated on 2/17/23 moves to 7/28/23
- Untitled Marvel (Disney) previously dated on 7/28/23 is removed from schedule
- Untitled Marvel (Disney) previously dated on 10/6/23 is removed from schedule
- Untitled 20th Century (20th) previously dated on 10/20/23 is removed from schedule
- Untitled Marvel (Disney) previously dated on 11/10/23 moves to 11/3/23
While one Disney Live Action movie is removed from its original July 14th, 2023 slot, there is no word on any changes to the live action remake of The Little Mermaid, which is still seemingly arriving on May 26th, 2023.
While there could have been a suggestion that the shift in dates was linked to an expected surge in Covid cases over the winter months, which potentially could touch on Doctor Strange's original March release, the scheduling shuffle is seemingly more down to their Marvel production plans. Due to the previous Covid restrictions, shut downs and the general stop/start filming that has been going on for the last few months, Disney seem to be worried that with the likes of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever still shooting, even the smallest delay on any of the upcoming movies could impact on other movies due to their interlinking nature. With that in mind, it does seem to be an easier solution to make the changes now than see the same kind of uncertainty that has been the signature of this last 18 months.
So while we now know that there will be a five month wait between Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, there will still be Disney Plus series coming in to bridge the gap.