In a plot twist, Disney’s highly anticipated upcoming Marvel, Star Wars and Avatar movies are facing unexpected delays.
The reason? None other than the Writers Guild of America strike, causing production hiccups and leaving audiences eagerly counting down the days until release.
Let’s start with Marvel, which has shifted nearly every upcoming releasing for the next four years. Captain America: Brave New World, originally slated for May 3, 2024, has had its premiere postponed to July 26, 2024. Thunderbolts has shifted its release from July to Dec. 20, 2024. Blade has moved from its initial release of Sept. 6, 2024, to Feb. 14, 2025. Fantastic Four has been rescheduled from February to May 2, 2025. Avengers: The Kang Dynasty has been bumped an entire year to May 1, 2026. And lastly, Avengers: Secret Wars has been pushed back to May 7, 2027.
However, the still-untitled Deadpool threequel has snuck its way into the limelight six months earlier than anticipated, with a new release date of May 3, 2024.
Now let’s shift our attention to a galaxy far, far away, where the force is strong but the wait just got longer. Star Wars enthusiasts will have a great year… in 2026. An untitled Star Wars film that was previously set for December 2025 will now premiere on May 22, 2026. Later that year, another untitled Star Wars adventure will drop on Dec. 18, 2026. And remember those three new Star Wars movies Disney teased us with in April? One of them is now rumored to bring back Daisy Ridley as Rey Skywalker.
Not to be outdone, the Avatar series is sticking to its tradition of keeping fans waiting for years. The release of the third Avatar film has been pushed back an entire year, now slated for Dec. 19, 2025, while the fourth film will drop in Dec. 21, 2029 and the fifth and final chapter is scheduled to arrive on Dec. 19, 2031.
The writer’s strike isn’t the sole reason for the films’ delays. Avatar producer Jon Landau shared that the quality of production takes time and is an “epic undertaking.” A nice reminder that good things come to those who wait.
Each Avatar film is an exciting but epic undertaking that takes time to bring to the quality level we as filmmakers strive for and audiences have come to expect. The team is hard at work and can’t wait to bring audiences back to Pandora in December 2025. pic.twitter.com/DrFX01qzTa
— Jon Landau (@jonlandau) June 13, 2023
