While Eternals is right on schedule for its November 5 release date and the next entry in the Spider-Man series is still swinging into theaters on December 17, just about every other Marvel movie has officially gotten a somewhat substantial delay, starting with Doctor Strange in the Mulitverse of Madness. While the sequel to 2016’s Doctor Strange was originally scheduled to premiere March 25, 2022, the film has been pushed back to May 6. As a result, every subsequent Marvel movie is also being pushed back, with Thor: Love and Thunder moving from May 6 to July 8, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever moving from July 8 to November 11, The Marvels moving from November 11 to February 17, 2023, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania moving from February 17, 2023 to July 28, 2023.
According to Deadline, the drastic shift has “nothing to do with a change in distribution strategy for these films” nor are ” Disney execs immediately concerned about the future of the global marketplace.” Instead, Deadline reports, it’s all “on account of a domino effect going on with production and filmmakers,” as “some titles are contending with finishing scenarios while others are in production.”
While it’s a bummer to have to wait a bit longer to find out what happens next in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, some fans have been quick to look at the bright-side of the whole ordeal. For example, the only other movie opening against Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 6 is now Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, which I feel we can safely say won’t lead to too much competition. In addition, no other big blockbusters films are currently slated to go up against Thor: Love & Thunder on its new date of July 8. While Black Panther: Wakanda Forever does hit pretty close to DC’s The Flash, there’s at least a week of space between the two, meaning you won’t have to pick which film to see (or hurt your wallet seeing both in the same weeekend) when the time comes.
In addition to all these MCU titles, the next entry in the Indiana Jones series has also been extremely delayed, shifting from July 29, 2022 to June 30, 2023. As of right now, it’s not believed the push-backs are causing any changes in the production of the films, so it seems safe to say you can expect the exact same films, just a bit later.
