Marvel Studios' upcoming Thunderbolts film has become the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe project to be affected by the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike.
As broken by Deadline, the strike has prompted Marvel to pause production on Thunderbolts, which was originally slated to begin filming in Atlanta in three weeks. Sources say that the current plan is for production to resume after the strike has ended. The same goes for Marvel Studios' upcoming Disney+ series Wonder Man, which was in the middle of filming when production was shut down due to the strike.
Marvel and the WGA Strike
The first MCU project to be affected by the strike was Marvel Studios' upcoming Blade reboot film, which halted pre-production earlier this month. At the same time, it was reported that the studio's Fantastic Four reboot was targeting a January 2024 filming start, but that this could change if the strike lasted longer than six months. However, a six-month strike is considered an unlikely prospect. (The last WGA strike lasted just over three months, from Nov. 5, 2007 to Feb. 12, 2008.)
That said, it was also reported at the time that Thunderbolts was still expected to enter production in Atlanta as planned, while Deadpool 3 was still expected to kick off filming in London as planned. Now that things have changed on the Thunderbolts front, it remains to be seen if any other MCU projects will have to delay production as well. Elsewhere -- still in the Marvel realm but outside the MCU bubble -- the strike has resulted in Sony temporarily shutting down the writers' rooms for its live-action Spider-Man spinoff shows Silk: Spider Society and Spider-Man Noir, which are slated to stream on Prime Video.
The writers' strike began on May 2 after contract negotiations between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) broke down. Among other things, the WGA is seeking increased pay, better residuals and for limits to be placed on the use of artificial intelligence in the writing process.
Thunderbolts Is Scheduled for 2024
Thunderbolts is currently slated to release in July 2024 as part of Phase Five of the MCU. The film is directed by Jake Schreier from a screenplay by Eric Pearson and Lee Sung Jin. It stars Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/Ghost, Wyatt Russell as John Walker/U.S. Agent, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova/Black Widow, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster and Harrison Ford as Gen. Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross. Additionally, Steven Yeun and Ayo Edebiri have been cast in undisclosed roles.
Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts is currently scheduled to open in theaters on July 26, 2024.
Source: Deadline