Marvel Quietly Scraps Another Major Phase Five Project

Marvel Studios has been in a weird position even before the Hollywood strikes started earlier this year. The original lineup of Avengers movies, leading up to Avengers: Endgame (2019), appropriately nicknamed the Infinity Saga, were some of the most successful movies in Hollywood and in Disney’s history. Now, however, it seems as though the studio just can’t re-create the same success it once had.

Avengers: Endgame became the second highest-grossing film of all time, sandwiched in between the first and second Avatar movies. In comparison, Marvel had its the biggest box office flop ever earlier this year with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The film was supposed to kick off Marvel’s Phase Five and further cemented Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror as the next major villain in the Avengers lineup.

The “Multiverse Saga” was first introduced in Loki Season 1 in 2021 and was further explored throughout Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). It has drawn a lot of concern from fans, new and old, as the constant content from Marvel gets more and more convoluted with the inclusion of the multiverse, and the requirements of having to be fully caught up on previous films and series. Many fans are saying that there is a big barrier of entry to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) now, which makes it hard for new fans to get into.

Due to the underwhelming performers of many of Marvel’s recent releases, the studio announced that several of its upcoming releases would be delayed. This announcement also came amid complaints of quality coming from the studio, complaints about the working conditions of the VFX workers at Marvel Studios, and even Disney CEO Bob Iger himself denouncing the studio for releasing too much too quickly over the last few years.

When the strikes started earlier this year, it officially further halted and delayed every other Marvel project that had been planned for the next few years. The most anticipated releases, including Deadpool 3, Avengers: Kang Dynasty, and Avengers: Secret Wars, were all delayed indefinitely until the strikes were resolved. Now, it seems that as the writers get back to work, the studio has had to make some decisions about where their priorities should lie for their next few projects.

WandaVision was the first MCU series to be released to Disney+, starting Phase Four and leading the way for every MCU Disney+ release that came after it. While Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness worked as a sort of sequel for Wanda’s story, the series itself was originally expected to create two spinoffs, Agatha: Coven of Chaos (now titled Agatha: the Darkhold Diaries), and VisionQuest.

The end of WandaVision saw the creation of White Vision, a combination of Vision’s memories and? And it was expected that VisionQuest would tell more of his story. Now, it seems as though the feature writers that had previously been working on the show are no longer a part of it as VisionQuest has been dropped from the profiles of WGA writers, Jac Schaeffer, Eileen Shim, and presumably others.

Jac Schaeffer and other writers have removed ‘Vision Quest’ from their WGA profiles.

‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’ title has been updated to ‘Agatha: Darkhold Diaries’ on the same profiles. 🔮 pic.twitter.com/6gUwLA0I8n

— Scarlet Witch Updates (@ScarletWitchUpd) September 27, 2023

Schaeffer has previously written for WandaVision, Black Widow (2021), and is currently still listed as writing for Agatha: The Darkhold Diaries. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending how you look at it, it seems as though VisionQuest has been all but canceled for the time being. Although fans won’t get to know any more about White Vision, perhaps it’s for the best with the amount of complaints Marvel has been dealing with.

#VisionQuest ➡️ #ChildrensCrusade 👀🔮 https://t.co/1DB8LttWel

— CanWeGetSomeToast (@CanWeGetToast) September 28, 2023

However, according to industry insider Can We Get Some Toast, it’s possible that VisionQuest will be turned into Children’s Crusade. The storyline in the comics follows Billy Kaplan, aka Wiccan, as he sets out to find the woman rumored to be his mother–Scarlet Witch. His reality-altering powers (multiverse, anyone?) have started to spiral out of control and he needs someone to help him learn his powers. Along the way, he goes up against the Avengers and the X-Men, who we know will be introduced to the MCU with Deadpool 3.

This Young Avengers story would be a fitting adaptation in place of VisionQuest given that Wanda’s children have already been cast for Agatha and many fans don’t believe Wanda’s story is over just yet. Although unconfirmed, and nothing has been announced by Marvel as of yet, it would be exciting to see a new generation of Avengers start to step into the spotlight.

Fans have been calling for a Marvel reboot for years, with many saying the Avengers should have been dropped after Endgame. Marvel also desperately needs something newer and more exciting to combat the recent disappointments the studio has released. Adapting the Young Avengers and bringing them up as the new MCU would be the perfect middle ground: not quite a reboot, but definitely something new.

What do you think about VisionQuest possibly being cancelled for Children’s Crusade? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!