Credit: Marvel StudiosMarvel has been dealing with significant blowback to the company’s generally positive releases. At first, the industry strikes halted all production, which makes sense considering writers and actors are all striking. However, Disney has been thoroughly unimpressed with the MCU’s track record, which has resulted in delaying many upcoming shows, like Echo, Agatha, and X-Men ’97.
Related: Every Future Marvel Project at Risk of Cancellation
Disney did release its earnings report recently, which was a bit of a tell in determining what properties would be released. The only one that remained on the report’s schedule is Loki Season 2, which is keeping its release date of October 6. This means that the MCU will only have one show and one movie release for the rest of the year. Loki is planned for October, and The Marvels will release in November.
The industry strikes, as mentioned, have a lot to do with the schedule being shuffled as it has. Many productions cannot continue, and it would be difficult for Marvel to keep its current Phase Five and Six promised slate. Though the industry strikes are rumored to be ending in the coming months, they have significantly strained studios keeping their current release dates.
Disney has also been frustrated with how Marvel properties have been received. Ant-Man 3 was a box office bomb and shows like She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel failed to make their marks. Disney CEO Bob Iger has been very vocal about wanting to end the sheer number of releases from Marvel and Lucasfilm, and it appears he is keeping that promise.
Marvel Delays Its Full TV Release Schedule
The Hollywood Reporter first broke the news that the Marvel shows were being shuffled around. While some are not facing steep delays, others might upset fans a bit more.
Echo had an initial release date was November 29 but has now been pushed to January 2024. A two-month hiatus is certainly not too bad, but it is a bit upsetting that everyone will have to wait to see the return of Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin and Charlie Cox as Daredevil. The mini-series is meant to bridge the gap between Hawkeye and serve as the stepping stone to Daredevil: Born Again.
Next on the list is the highly anticipated X-Men ’97. The series that is bringing back the classic 1990s X-Men team is also getting hit with a delay. The series was initially meant to be released in the fall of 2023 but has now been moved to early 2024. “Early” can mean many things, but we imagine the show will be released in Q1, which could be between January and March.
Agatha: Darkhold Diaries (formerly Agatha: Coven of Chaos) is also joining the list of Marvel delays but is being hit with the largest delay out of any of the upcoming MCU shows. The spinoff sequel series to WandaVision was initially supposed to be released during the winter of 2023. It is now being reported to be released in the fall of 2024. That is nearly an entire year that everyone must wait to see this spinoff.
Plenty of secrecy and rumor have been attached to the Kathry Hahn-led series, but now fans must wait much longer to discover what might happen in the show.
Related: ‘She-Hulk’ Season 2 Development Dragged Down, Delayed
Considering that the MCU shows have already been hit with these delays, we can imagine many of the movies will follow. Marvel has much to answer for regarding Disney CEO Iger being upset, the dreaded “superhero fatigue,” and the industry strikes. We expect many more delays to happen, and these first ones are quite upsetting.
What do you think of Marvel shuffling all its TV releases? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!