2024 Has Too Many Superhero Movies

2024 looks to contain too many superhero movies, with plenty of releases from franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Universe, and Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Since the early 2000s, superhero movies have dominated Hollywood franchise filmmaking. While franchises like X-Men, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, and Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy were all popular, it was really 2008’s Iron Man that kickstarted the modern age of superhero cinema.

The overwhelming success of the MCU led to multiple projects being released each year by Marvel Studios. This was then matched by Warner Bros. and the studio’s attempted DCEU. Combined with Sony’s own attempts at creating a superhero universe, superhero cinema quickly became the most abundant genre from year-to-year. 2024 only looks to be continuing that streak with the release of several superhero films that may prove to be too many for one year to handle. With that said, here is every superhero movie releasing in 2024 from Marvel’s upcoming movies and their release dates to the works of DC.

All 8 2024 Superhero Movies

After the latest changing of release dates from differing movie studios, there are eight confirmed superhero movies set to release in 2024:

• Madame Web – Set to be the fourth major film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, Madame Web is expected to be released on February 12, 2024.
• Deadpool 3 – The third installment in the Deadpool franchise but the first in the MCU, Deadpool 3 is scheduled for release on May 3, 2024.
• Venom 3 – The as-of-yet-untitled Venom sequel is set for release on July 12, 2024, with Sony announcing the release date for the first time after various Sony-Marvel films’ release dates were changed.
• Captain America: Brave New World – The fourth Captain America movie is expected to release as the MCU’s second 2024 film, with its release date currently set as July 26, 2024.
• Kraven the Hunter – Originally scheduled for October 6, 2023, Kraven the Hunter has recently been delayed by Sony and will now release on August 30, 2024.
• Joker: Folie à Deux – The first DC Elseworlds film to be released since James Gunn and Peter Safran coined the term for live-action movies will be Joker: Folie à Deux, scheduled to release on October 4, 2024.
• Untitled Sony/Marvel Movie – In June 2023, Sony confirmed an untitled movie in their Sony Spider-Man Universe that is still set to release on November 8, 2024.
• Thunderbolts – The final superhero film to release in 2024 will be Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts, which currently has a release date of December 20, 2024.

The Last Time So Many Superhero Movies Released Was In 2019 With 10

With the argument of superhero fatigue often being brought up of late, it is hard to imagine more than eight superhero films releasing in a year like in 2024, yet 2019 saw the release of 10 major superhero releases. Starting with the MCU, 2019 was a huge year for the Disney franchise. 2019 saw the end of the Infinity Saga, with Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home all releasing to overwhelming success. Many would argue that this year was the last year Marvel Studios had a unanimously successful year given the state of flux the franchise has been in since the Multiverse Saga began.

Alongside Marvel Studios’ three releases was another Marvel release as part of the waning X-Men franchise – X-Men: Dark Phoenix. Not counting the mid-COVID release of The New Mutants, Dark Phoenix rounded out Fox’s X-Men franchise in an underwhelming fashion before the rights for the titular team fully transferred to Disney. DC also saw a lot of success in 2019, releasing the billion-dollar hit Joker alongside the well-received Shazam! in the live-action department. Another major release for DC in 2019 was Teen Titans Go! Vs. Teen Titans.

Besides the DC and Marvel releases, three other superhero movies were released. These were Hellboy, Glass, and Brightburn. When taking into consideration all of these releases, 2019 has been the biggest year for superhero movies in a long time. While 2024 will not top 2019 regarding superhero movies, it matches 2023 by having eight releases, albeit both years likely have too many.

Why So Many Superhero Movies Are Releasing In 2024

The sheer amount of superhero movies releasing in 2024 begs the question of why such an influx is taking place. One of the primary reasons is the recent SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. In May 2023, the WGA began striking as a means of obtaining fairer working conditions from major Hollywood studios. A few months after this, the SAG-AFTRA union followed suit. With the strikes currently showing no sign of being resolved quickly, Sony became the first studio to shuffle its release schedule in response to the strikes.

One of the movies affected was Kraven the Hunter. The standalone Kraven film was originally supposed to be released in October 2023, yet the strikes caused Sony to push the film to August 2024. Similarly, Sony announced the release date of July 2024 for Venom 3 alongside these delays, adding two more superhero movies to the release slate for the year. The other untitled movie from Sony and the various MCU/DCU releases of 2024 see the tally rise to eight.

2024 May Not Hold The Record For Most Superhero Movies For Long

Despite 2024 holding the record – tied with 2023 – for the most superhero movies released since 2019, it may not hold this record for long. Both the MCU and Sony’s Spider-Man Universe show no sign of slowing down regarding how much content they will release meaning 2025 and beyond could see a similar number of four-to-six movies being released from those franchises alone. To add to this, James Gunn’s DC Universe officially begins in 2025 with the release of Superman: Legacy, not to mention The Batman – Part II being another Elseworlds release.

If the DCU begins releasing two-to-three movies a year like its Marvel competitors, 2025/2026 could easily go beyond 2024’s tally of eight superhero movies. This is not taking into account any other delays or shuffling of plans from the various franchises which could certainly see this amount change. However, it is clear that 2024’s eight superhero movies may be dwarfed in the near future, especially with the hopeful rise of DC under Gun and Safran on the horizon.

Will Superhero Movie Fatigue Every Truly Set In?

However, this inevitable increase in superhero movie releases could only further the arguments for superhero fatigue. With movies like Black Adam, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and The Flash all bombing at the box office in 2022 and 2023, the argument that superhero fatigue has finally set in became more frequent. That being said, some outliers like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse all performed well at the box office, proving that audiences are simply fatigued of mediocre superhero movies rather than the genre as a whole.

As such, if the movies released in 2024 are all of good quality, they could all see some semblance of success. The same goes for any superhero movies released after 2024. Studios simply need to begin striving for quality over quantity, which could see the argument of superhero fatigue disappear as quickly as it was raised. However, if studios continue releasing subpar products in franchises like the MCU, DCU, and Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, 2024’s eight releases could prove to be too much and directly contribute to the fatigue of below-average superhero cinema.