Already disturbed for many months, the MCU is still suffering a disappointment. Faced with the status quo in Hollywood, Marvel Studios and Disney have made important decisions.
If the DCU continues to fail at the box office, at Marvel, things are not necessarily better. Without being a total flop, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania did not even exceed 500 million dollars at the worldwide box office. The house of superheroes has returned to its costs, but not to the point of celebrating this performance. Critics have also generally been less kind to later productions. In short, the balance is no longer as before, which led Disney to react and announce changes.
Marvel Studios series delayed by Disney… including Loki?
The strike of screenwriters and actors in Hollywood has led almost all studios to postpone their releases. No one is spared and especially not Marvel Studios, which even before this event had to shake up its schedule. The objective behind this decision is clear: to reconnect with success if possible by changing its tune on the Disney+ series. It is necessary to produce less of them to achieve savings, of better quality and to space out their posting on the platform.
“Marvel Studios had never been present in the television sector on a significant level. Not only did they increase their movie releases, but they also ended up producing a number of TV series. And honestly, I think it dispersed the attention.” Disney CEO Bob Iger said (via Variety). For this reason and in relation to the strike, Marvel is announcing various delays for highly anticipated Disney+ series, which will expand the MCU like the others.
First, some good news: Loki season 2 will be available on October 6th. On the other hand, for the others, it is spoilt. New episodes of What If…? which should have aired earlier this year are scheduled for December 25, 2023. Echo, the spin-off of the Hawkeye series, goes from November 29, 2023 to January 2024, with no date set. The animated television show X-MEN ’97 also slipping in early 2024, when it was supposed to arrive in late 2023 as well. Agatha: Darkhold Diariesthe villainess spin-off from WandaVision, will land in fall 2024 instead of winter 2023. One of the biggest delays noted for upcoming Marvel series, but there’s worse.
The MCU’s new Disney+ release schedule
Marvel Studios and Disney+ are also pushing back iron heartWonder-Man and Daredevil Born Again… indefinitely. The return of the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen was however due to take place in the spring of 2024. And this new calendar is not engraved in stone. The two companies can still revise the schedule due to the strike in Hollywood, but also the anger of the VFX artists. Compared to the strike, the American giants like Disney absolutely do not want to give in, and therefore have no intention of improving the living conditions of actors and authors. The studios are ready to go all the way, “until union members started losing their apartments and homes”. Chilling but very real words.
But in recent weeks, there has also been a movement of visual effects professionals. Faced with the delusional limits to make their work, overtime and pay equity that do not apply to artists, a number to call for a vote to unionize. They decided not to suffer anymore, but to act, which could therefore have repercussions on the series that have not yet been finalized. The production of Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse was particularly affected by these problems. This is one of the reasons for the delay in the sequence, Spiderman Beyond the Spider-Verse. The game is therefore far from over for Marvel and its future programs, which are also paying the price for their own inaction.
Schedule of the next series of the MCU :
- Loki season 2: October 6, 2023
- What If…? season 2: December 25, 2023
- Echo: January 2024
- X-Men ’97: Early 2024
- Agatha Darkhold Diaries: end of 2024
- Ironheart: delayed indefinitely
- Wonder Man: Delayed Indefinitely
- Daredevil Born Again: Delayed Indefinitely