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Credit: D23The Walt Disney Company and Marvel Studios are not keeping it a secret that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is seriously in need of a refresh. As new information piles up regarding one of its troubled upcoming movies, Kevin Feige’s superhero studio is seemingly being forced to reconsider its release.
It was only weeks ago that Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger shared that the MCU franchise would be tightening up. No longer would Marvel Studios have free reign over what to release and when; instead, Disney would only distribute a maximum of three films and two TV shows per year.
This move, along with the creative overhaul of the television business and Brad Winderbaum’s confirmation of a “new system” in place at the studio, comes after the MCU’s most troubling year to date.
2023 featured two duds when it came to feature films (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels) and a poorly-received new show in the form of the Samuel L. Jackson-led Secret Invasion. Despite The Marvels being scoring a franchise-low box office, Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel is set to return.
This has caused Disney and Marvel to regroup and distribute just one movie this year: Shawn Levy’s Deadpool & Wolverine (2024). It’s already looking good for Marvel Studios, as Forbes confirmed that the upcoming movie has broken pre-sale ticket records for an R-rated movie.
The R-rated nature of Deadpool & Wolverine, which also sees the MCU debut of Hugh Jackman’s fan-favorite X-Men character, is a first for the studio and one that will appease the ardent followers of the Merc with a Mouth’s live-action journey.
Aside from his debut appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), Deadpool has lived up to his foul-mouthed legacy in both Tim Miller’s Deadpool (2016) and David Leitch’s Deadpool 2 (2018), both of which were released by 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios) before Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019.
With Deadpool & Wolverine all but confirmed to reboot the MCU (Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson did say he was “Marvel Jesus,” after all), sights will soon be set on the future of Marvel Phase Five and the beginnings of Phase Six, which just so happens to include the comic book giant’s First Family, the Fantastic Four.
Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm/Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm/The Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm/Thing) will soon join the MCU as the titular characters of Matt Shakman’s Marvel movie, The Fantastic Four (2025).
Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts* are also ready for a 2025 release.
Footage of the former, taken at CinemaCon 2024, confirmed that Harrison Ford’s President of the United States, Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, wants Sam Wilson, AKA the new Captain America (Anthony Mackie), to rebuild the Avengers.
Production is well underway on these three Phase Five and Six movies, but the fourth on the 2025 slate is being forced to be abandoned.
After many delays, the MCU’s first Blade movie is slated for a November 2025 release. However, it feels like it may never arrive. Mahershala Ali was announced as playing the vampire hunter back at San Diego ComicCon 2019 and made an uncredited appearance in the credits scene of Chloé Zhao’s Eternals in 2021.
Blade has since been in development hell. Back in 2021, Stacy Osei-Kuffour was hired to write the movie with Bassam Tariq hired to direct later that year in September. After Tariq left in 2023 following scheduling and creative differences, Yann Demange was hired to helm the film.
During this development period, a number of other writers have boarded Blade. Michael Starrbury, Nic Pizzolatto, and Eric Pearson have all had their hands on the script. The latest update on the creative team came this week as Yann Demange has also dropped from the project, leaving the movie directorless once again.
This update, along with Iger’s need to have no more than three movies hitting the big screen, does not leave one hopeful for its scheduled 2025 release. But even more information has come to light in the last day that also sees Marvel surely having to address its Blade reboot.
Mahershala Ali is also starring in Universal’s upcoming “fast-tracked” Jurassic World 4 movie, and production is commencing right now. As confirmed by Variety, production on the fourth Jurassic World movie–which is said to be a “completely fresh take” that launches a “new Jurassic era”–will take place in Thailand from June 13 through July 16 “at locations including Bangkok, Trang, Phang Nga, Phuket, and Chiang Mai.”
Colloquially known as Jurassic World 4, although Jurassic City has also been floated, Universal Pictures expects to release the movie on July 2, 2025. Ali is joined in the film by Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Jonathan Bailey (Wicked), Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (The Magnificent Seven), Rupert Friend (Asteroid City), Luna Blaise (Manifest), and David Iacono (The Summer I Turned Pretty).
Related: Report: ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ Scrapped as We Know It Amid MCU Restructure
The fourth movie in the Jurassic World franchise and seventh in the overall Jurassic Park series is directed by Gareth Edwards from a screenplay by David Koepp. Steven Spielberg is back as producer, along with Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley.
This trifecta of obstacles is forcing Marvel to abandon the 2025 release of its Blade reboot, but will the studio power ahead? Or will it be pulled indefinitely? Mia Goth (Pearl) is also set to star with Ali in the Blade movie.
Related: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Spinoff Survives Bob Iger MCU Cancellation
It’s been a long time since Marvel fans saw Wesley Snipes as Blade, and it might be even longer until they see the classic vampire hunter return to the big screen.
Following Blade‘s projected release, 2026 will see the Avengers return in Avengers 5 (formerly Avengers: The Kang Dynasty), which is seemingly undergoing a major overhaul due to the arrest, sentencing, and subsequent firing of Kang actor Jonathan Majors.
Michael Waldron is penning the script, and Shawn Levy is the latest director to be connected to the upcoming Marvel movie. Waldron is also writing the screenplay for 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars, which may see the return of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark/Iron Man.
Do you think Blade will end up being pulled from the Marvel release schedule? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!