Marvel Studios President/Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige explained the changes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe's release schedule, which resulted in every MCU film debuting between 2022 and 2023 being pushed back.
"It's production shifts and changes, and because we have so many slots, we can just shift slots. So, all the Marvel slots are the same, we're just shifting the movies coming out," Feige told Variety. "[Doctor] Strange [2] has moved six weeks, so instead of there being three months between Marvel movies, there'll be five months between Marvel movies, and I think that we can all handle that."
Audiences grew accustomed to MCU delays in 2020 when the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic led Disney and Marvel Studios to overhaul their film slate multiple times, culminating in the decision to release Black Widow day-and-date in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access in July. The studios returned to premiering their movies in theaters only with September's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which currently ranks among the highest-grossing pandemic-era releases with a global box office take of $414 million. As such, Marvel Studios' next film, Eternals, will also receive an exclusive theatrical run before it begins streaming.
The latest Disney/Marvel release changes affected every MCU movie scheduled after December's Spider-Man: No Way Home (itself a Sony co-production), starting with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness shifting from March 25 to May 6, 2022. Other MCU films saw a much bigger delay, with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania moving back five months from Feb. 17 to July 28, 2023.
Outside of the MCU, Disney also postponed Lucasfilm's Indiana Jones 5, pushing it from July 29, 2022, to June 30, 2023. The action/adventure sequel, which marks Harrison Ford's last appearance as the eponymous archaeologist, had already changed dates on multiple occasions before that for varying reasons, including a change in director from Steven Spielberg to James Mangold in 2020. Shooting finally began in June and is ongoing in Europe, with the 79-year-old Ford back in action after suffering a shoulder injury during filming.
Marvel Studios' next film, Eternals, opens in theaters Nov. 5, with Spider-Man: No Way Home launching six weeks later on Dec. 17. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be the first MCU project to reach the big screen after that.
Source: Twitter