Disney has reshuffled its upcoming roster of tentpoles, with Marvel projects facing the brunt in this latest delay.
Less than a month away from the release of ‘Eternals’ on November 5, which stars Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington, Kumail Nanjiani and others in the lead, Disney has overhauled its release schedule, with coveted films such as ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’, along with ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ all facing a production delay as work resumes in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The delay in the MCU also comes due to storyline, which connects various films and TV projects with each other, forcing all to be pushed further down even if one gets bogged by production.
‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’, which marks the return of Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, was previously scheduled to release on March 25 but will now release globally on May 6. According to reports, this film will directly tie in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’, which releases December 17 this year.
‘Thor: Love and Thunder’, which stars Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman was earlier scheduled to release on May 6, but with Doctor Strange calling dibs on that date, Thor will deflect to July 8.
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, which is currently in the midst of shooting in Atlanta, will move from July 8 to November 11, which was occupied by ‘The Marvels’. That film is now pushed to February 17, 2023.
Paul Rudd will also return in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ previously dated on February 17, 2023 which now moves to July 28, 2023.
Three other untitled Marvel movies slated for 2023 have been removed from the roster entirely, while one untitled Marvel movie has relocated from November 10 to November 3, 2023.
Meanwhile, the untitled ‘Indiana Jones 5’ that was set to release on July 29 next year has been moved to June 30, 2023, largely also due to a delay in the shoot with lead star Harrison Ford, 79, sustaining injuries on set in June.
