When Should We Expect Upcoming Marvel Releases?

I’ll be blunt. Marvel promised an MCU schedule for 2023 and 2024 that has completely collapsed.

This isn’t an assessment involving quality. Instead, it’s a realistic evaluation of Marvel’s own published roadmap.

Now that Marvel just took an Etch-a-Sketch to everything, we need to reevaluate what comes next.

Here’s when you should expect upcoming Marvel releases.

What Has Been Delayed?

The short answer to this question is A LOT!

In a few instances, Disney honored its stated timeline, but most titles either have failed or will fail to debut as planned.

Frankly, when you examine the list with the benefit of hindsight, it’s pretty brutal.

Here’s the list as Comic-Con once showed it:

• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – February 2023
• Secret Invasion – Spring 2023
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – May 2023
• Echo – Summer 2023
• Loki Season 2 – Summer 2023
• The Marvels – July 2023
• Blade – November 2023
• Ironheart – Fall 2023 (but listed after Blade for some reason)
• Agatha Coven of Chaos – Winter 2023/2024
• Daredevil: Born Again – Spring 2024
• Captain America: New World Order – May 2024

We’ve got minor quibbles like Secret Invasion missing their spring and summer dates, but those feel trivial compared to others.

For example, Ironheart should have already debuted. At this point, we may not watch the already-filmed series for 18 months or longer. I wish I were joking.

The MCU had connected Ironheart to stories that have since suffered delays, forcing its later release as well.

If that behavior sounds familiar, it should. This aggravation is the same one Marvel faced during the pandemic.

When one show or movie suffered a delay, others fell behind as a result. It was like a set of dominoes toppling over.

So, while the name changes of projects like Agatha: Darkhold Diaries and Captain America: Brave New World are annoying, they seem minor by comparison.

Other titles like Blade and Ironheart lack release date certainty. Also, Captain America 4 apparently needs a lot of work.

What Has Marvel Lined Up for 2024?

That answer depends on who you ask.

I can unequivocally state three things.

1. What If…? Season two debuts during Christmas Week.
2. Echo’s entire five-episode run debuts on January 10th, 2024.
3. Deadpool 3 should enter theaters on July 26^th, 2024, barring something unforeseen.

Everything else is entirely up in the air.

For example, MarvelBlog has chronicled the recent unpleasantness with Daredevil: Born Again.

Marvel had filmed several episodes of this series. During the twin Hollywood strikes, Kevin Feige and his team studied the footage.

In the interim, Secret Invasion bombed, and signs pointed to a disappointing performance for The Marvels.

Feige correctly deduced that his studio needed to release hits, titles worthy of the Marvel brand.

Some outspoken fans lament that Marvel has lost its way, and the box office for The Marvels and critical reception to Secret Invasion reinforce this belief.

The Disney+ Releases

So, Feige did something bold and rather expensive. He ditched much of the footage for Daredevil: Born Again and got rid of the creative team.

Can Marvel make a change like that and still air Daredevil: Born Again in 2024? I’m…skeptical we’ll get the whole run, but it might start then.

Conversely, Marvel had scheduled Wonder Man after the release of the Daredevil series.

However, Wonder Man is a limited series created by Destin Daniel Cretton, who directed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Cretton recently ceded directorial duties on The Avengers: Kang Dynasty so he’d have more time to finish Wonder Man.

I think we’ll get this ten-episode series during the 2024 calendar year. Marvel will release it under the new “Spotlight” brand, which means it’ll stand apart from the MCU.

We should also expect Marvel ’97 (finally!) and Spider-Man: Freshman Year.

More importantly, Agatha: Darkhold Diaries should debut on September 19^th, 2024. It’s the biggie…other than Deadpool 3.

Where’s Everything Else?

At the start of each year, I typically list the Marvel projects to expect. I’m hopeful that I’ll offer more 2024 insights by then.

Realistically, what I’ve already stated might be all we learn.

Hollywood is currently rushing back into production, but nobody is sure which projects are ready.

We have a good idea of what Marvel has delayed, though. Reports suggest that Brave New World’s storyline and action scenes were lacking.

However, you shouldn’t stress about that despite recent events. Instead, this is Marvel recognizing that it’s competing with itself.

Captain America 4 needs action scenes that rival those of the airport rumble in Captain America: Civil War and the elevator showdown in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Here’s a quick reminder of those sequences. This is the elevator scene:

and the airport superhero squabble:

I readily acknowledge having that many Avengers in a fight is mythic, but I still favor the gritty elevator scene. I think it’s the pinnacle of Marvel.

Captain America apparently couldn’t reach that level of hype, so it’ll get retooled.

This tactic happens all the time with Marvel movies, and it’s that much more critical due to an intended connection between this film and Thunderbolts.

If Marvel doesn’t get one right, the odds of success for the other drop as well.

What about Blade?

With Blade, we’re still in the waiting stage. Recent reports suggest it will go into production soon, but that one needs to be a grand slam.

Otherwise, Marvel is just throwing good money after bad by filming it.

In the aftermath of The Marvels, we know audiences won’t simply go see anything Marvel.

Blade would need to be really good, and it hasn’t had a script like that yet.

The coverage of Blade will define the first half of 2024 for Marvel. This franchise has proven its box office appeal.

However, this production feels cursed, and the last two Marvel projects with that misfortune were The Marvels and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

What about The Avengers?

Here’s the mystery of the moment.

Many were expecting Marvel to replace Jonathan Majors as soon as Loki season two ended. That didn’t happen.

Now, The Avengers: Kang Dynasty has announced that it will change directors.

As mentioned, Destin Daniel Cretton has a full plate right now and cannot take on a task as arduous as The Avengers.

Will Marvel remain true to the premise of Kang as a threat to the Multiverse? Is a recasting of the role in progress?

Could Marvel change course entirely with The Avengers by introducing Doctor Doom as the primary antagonist?

That’s been rumored as a possibility for years, and it makes sense with Fantastic Four filming early in 2024.

That title likely enters theaters in 2025, 2026 at the latest. That would be plenty of time to set up Doctor Doom as a threat to the Multiverse.

Other rumors suggest that Doom and Kang should share the role of top MCU villain for a while.

I’ve been inclined to dismiss that possibility, but it’s a way to manage risk if Majors loses his trial.

As of this moment, we should still expect two connected Avengers movies, as Marvel makes twice as much money that way.

However, we’re still in wait-and-see mode about how Feige and his team proceed here.

 

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