Did you feel that rumbling? That’s one of the biggest studios in the world stretching its limbs and reconfiguring itself, making major waves in the upcoming film release calendar. After 18 months of near-constant date shuffling due to Covid, things have been more stable of late – with the likes of Shang-Chi, No Time To Die and Dune actually making it to the screen. But now Disney has unveiled a series of changes for its upcoming schedule, pushing several films back – mostly significantly in the case of Indiana Jones 5, now due a whole year later than previously expected.
Harrison Ford’s next (final?) Indy film was expected to arrive in July next summer, but has now gone back to 30 June 2023 – giving it a whole extra year to try and make up for the shortcomings of Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. And if the Marvel moves are less dramatic, all four films due in 2022 have now got new dates. Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness has moved from March to 6 May, Thor: Love And Thunder has shifted from June to 7 August, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has gone back from July to 11 November, and The Marvels (formerly known as Captain Marvel 2) has shifted from November 2022 to 17 February 2023. That in turn moves Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania to 28 July 2023.
Notably, Marvel has vacated a couple of dates too. If the next lot of Marvel movies post-Quantumania is largely unknown, today’s news also sees two ‘Untitled Marvel’ projects removed from the schedule, formerly having occupied 28 July 2023 and 6 October 2023. One ‘Untitled Marvel’ project has moved forward one week, from 10 November 2023 to 3 November. Which is nice, in theory.
Finally an ‘Untitled Disney Live Action’ film formerly set for 14 July 2023 has also been removed from the schedule, along with an ‘Untitled 20th Century’ film, previously due on 20 October 2023.
Quite what has triggered this shift is unknown, though Variety reports sources stating it’s due to production rather than pandemic release strategies. And while MCU fans might be sad about longer waits for more Doctor Strange, Thor, Black Panther, Ant-Man and The Wasp, and Captain Marvel, worry not – we also have many more Disney+ shows on the way too, starting this November with Hawkeye.