Marvel Shakes Up Phase 5 Calendar: Deadpool 3, Captain America 4 & Two Others Delayed

In light of the SAG-AFTRA strike officially concluding, several movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 5 line-up are getting new release dates.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe will be looking very light in 2024 as Disney is officially shuffling around the release schedule for Phase 5. With The Marvels releasing in theaters this weekend, What If…? will be the last MCU TV show of the year. Going into 2024, with multiple Phase 5 movies and TV shows still left to debut, there has been a lot of uncertainty about when they will actually come out, since the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes have been putting Hollywood on pause for several months.

Now that the SAG-AFTRA strike is over, the MCU’s Phase 5 is going forward, but with some major release changes. Variety reports that Disney is retooling their schedule. Deadpool 3 is moving from May 3, 2024, to July 26, 2024, and that is just the start. All release date changes are as follows:

MCU Movie

Original Release Date

New Release Date

Deadpool 3

May 3, 2024

July 26, 2024

Captain America: New World Order

July 26, 2024

February 14, 2025

Thunderbolts

December 20, 2024

July 25, 2025

Blade

February 14, 2025

November 7, 2025

The MCU’s New Release Schedule Suggests Bigger Changes Are Ahead

The MCU shake-ups are a massive deal for a number of reasons, starting with the fact that, as of right now, the release of Deadpool 3 will be the only MCU movie for 2024. This is the first time since 2012 that Marvel Studios have had only MCU film to release, where The Avengers was the only outing for the year. Given that Deadpool 3 is expected to resume filming very soon, the delay to summer 2025 makes sense as there is likely a lot of post-production work to be done once principal photography is actually completed.

However, it begs the question of whether or not Fantastic Four, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, and Avengers: Secret Wars could be getting new dates following this recent announcement. With the Fantastic Four movie slated for May 2, 2025 and no cast set as of yet, it would make sense if Marvel’s First Family gets their reboot released a bit further into 2025. Even though a creative team has been set for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, there is no director yet for Avengers: Secret Wars, which may be a reason to delay at least the latter.

It may not be a bad idea for the MCU to only have one Phase 5 movie come out in 2024, given all the other BTS issues that Marvel Studios have been dealing with, including the VFX problems. The superhero movie genre took a beating in 2023 at the box office in some instances, and having a light year of comic book films could exactly be what the world needs right now. Hopefully, more updates about the MCU and The Multiverse Saga will emerge sooner rather than later.

Source: Variety