Despite repeated delays, we’re still getting four MCU movies this year—Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Marvel also looked like four movies per year would also be their plan going forward, and that was in addition to all the TV series. Thankfully, it looks like fans will get a little bit more time to breathe between film installments as Disney has announced some release date shifts for 2022 and 2023.
Disney has announced the following shifts for their upcoming Marvel films:
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness moves from March 25, 2022 to May 6, 2022
- Thor: Love and Thunder moves from May 6, 2022 to July 8, 2022
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever moves from July 8, 2022 to November 11, 2022
- The Marvels moves from November 11, 2022 to February 17, 2023
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania moves from February 17, 2023 to July 28, 2023
Additionally, two untitled Marvel movies, one slated for July 28, 2023 and another October 6, 2023, have been removed from the schedule entirely. An untitled Marvel movie set for November 10, 2023 has been moved up a week to November 3, 2023.
Overhauling the schedule like this now keeps MCU movies limited to three per year for the next two years, which is the smarter move for Disney. At some point, Marvel fatigue dares to set in, and it’s hard to get excited or even talk about a Marvel movie before you’re already having to make time for the next one. Throw in the constant stream of Disney+ series and the saturation ends up diluting what should be eventful openings for the films. Yes, these movies will continue to dominate at the box office, but if Disney wants to keep the excitement going, they need to allow more anticipation to build. I think the six-month break between Eternals and Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness should help accomplish that.