Credit: Marvel StudiosMarvel Studios does not have a new Avengers movie on its schedule until 2026’s The Kang Dynasty, but Disney just surprise announced that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will be returning just weeks from now and on Disney+, to boot.
The Avengers have been the heroic core of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Robert Downey Jr burst into the world as Tony Stark in Iron Man (2008). Since then, the MCU has worked in Kevin Feige’s beloved Phases to bring the central group of Iron Man, Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) together, drive them apart, and then bring them back in a very big way with Avengers: Endgame (2019).
Since the culminating chapter of the Infinity Saga, things have been pretty quiet on the Avengers front, which makes it all that much more remarkable that Disney is bringing them back to its streaming service in barely five weeks.
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‘Avengers: Code Red’
The official Marvel Studios Twitter account recently posted an image announcing the return of the Avengers on October 27 for a Disney+ special titled LEGO Marvel Avengers: Code Red.
While Marvel has not released any further details of the special, it is definitely part of the ongoing LEGO Marvel collaborations that began in 2013. So far, Lego Marvel Superheroes: Maximum Overload (2013), Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Avengers Reassembled (2015), LEGO Marvel Super Heroes – Guardians of the Galaxy: The Thanos Threat (2017), LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: Black Panther – Trouble in Wakanda (2018) have been produced.
Interestingly, the poster for Avengers: Code Red appears to be a direct reference to Endgame, one of the more significant installments of the MCU as a whole.
Whether that means that the new LEGO movie will have a darker tone than the mostly comedic, child-friendly shorts will remain to be seen, but it’ll still be nice to have some Avengers action earlier than expected.
Marvel Avengers Upcoming Projects
In July 2022, Kevin Feige announced that the current Multiverse Saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe would culminate in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, respectively, scheduled for 2026 and 2027.
There is much reason to believe that Marvel Studios will struggle to meet those dates, however. For one thing, the Disney-owned company has repeatedly rescheduled numerous movies and shows in the last few years. For another, the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes have ground the development and production of basically every movie in Hollywood to a halt.
Related: Five Reasons Why Marvel Needs to Abandon the ‘Avengers’ Franchise
Then there is the matter of Jonathan Majors, the actor cast as Kang, the Multiversal threat, the new Big Bad of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the title character of the next official Avengers movie. The actor’s well-publicized legal issues have raised doubt about whether the studio will need to recast the character in a hurry and give the heroes someone else to fight against.
We’ll just have to wait for October 27 to see who the Avengers face off against this time.
Will the Avengers face Kang in Code Red or some other threat? Is Marvel under-using the team or does the company need to find something new? Let us know in the comments below!