Marvel Studios President and Marvel Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige said production delays caused by the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have actually "worked well" with projects the studio planned to release in 2021 and beyond.
"If the run we had in 2018 and 2019 had gotten disrupted this way, in the buildup to [Avengers: Endgame], it would have been a bigger headache," Feige recently told NYT.
"With these projects, it worked well," he added. Feige further explained that Marvel Studios' lineup of Disney+ series -- including WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier -- allowed more flexibility in timelines.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier aimed for an August 2020 release date. However, WandaVision filmed the bulk of its episodes before the pandemic struck, moving it ahead of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Marvel's release schedule. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will now debut on Disney+ on March 19. Marvel Studios' planned Loki series now premieres in May 2021, followed by the recently announced Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye television series.
WandaVision premiered on Disney+ on Jan. 15. The new series is set in the present day after the events of Avengers: Endgame, and will serve as an introduction/primer for Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Feige also confirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic postponed the release order of many MCU Phase Four films. While Black Widow and Eternals were supposed to hit theaters in 2020, they've been pushed to May 2021 and November 2021 releases, respectively.
Additionally, the release of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has moved to July 2021, meaning the timelines across MCU films won't necessarily be cohesive nor release in chronological order. It was also previously announced that the as-yet-untitled Spider-Man 3 film -- which Feige is currently calling Homecoming 3 -- will now release on Dec. 17. Likewise, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will also see a pushed release date, arriving in theaters on March 25, 2022.
Written by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Matt Shakman, WandaVision stars Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany as Vision, Randall Park as Agent Jimmy Woo, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau and Kathryn Hahn as Agnes. New episodes air Fridays on Disney+.
Source: NYT via ComicBook.com