The One Marvel Movie Release Date That Hasn’t Been Changed

In a somewhat expected (but still surprising) move, Disney has announced various delays to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s list of upcoming projects, but only one movie remained unchanged. Disney announced release dates for movies from its different branches, but it also revealed major changes to already established dates, and falling into the latter category is the MCU. Marvel’s connected universe of movies and TV shows is currently in its Multiverse Saga, and while Phase 5 is already full and Phase 6’s biggest projects are already set, they can still change depending on a variety of factors.

Among the main reasons for Disney changing the release dates of most of the MCU’s upcoming movies is the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, which has put various projects from different studios on hold. In addition to that, the MCU’s Phase 4 received a lot of criticism for its quality and for releasing a lot of content in a short period of time, so the new schedule gives these projects some extra time in production and allows the audience to have a break of MCU content. However, there’s one Phase 5 movie that wasn’t changed: Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels.

The Marvels Was Already Delayed To November 2023

The Marvels is the next MCU movie to be released, and it kept its November 10, 2023, release date. The Marvels is the long-awaited sequel to Captain Marvel (2019), and it will bring together three similar yet very different superheroes: Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), and Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani), whose powers have been making them swap places. The Marvels is one of many MCU projects post-Avengers: Endgame that went through various delays for different reasons, but in The Marvels’ case, it went through so many that it ended up jumping from one Phase to another.

The Marvels was originally scheduled for a July 8, 2022, release, meaning it could have been part of Phase 4, but it was later delayed to November 11, 2022, with these dates ending up being Thor: Love and Thunder and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s release dates, respectively. The Marvels was then rescheduled to a February 17, 2023, release date, which was later given to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and it was moved one more time to July 28, 2023, before getting its final November 10, 2023 release date.

As for the reason why The Marvels was delayed so many times, and aside from changes in the narrative structure of the Multiverse Saga, it was due to post-production. A report revealed that The Marvels was moved to November as Marvel wanted to give the post-production team some extra time to perfect the CGI and more visual effects. Among the many critiques the MCU’s Phase 4 received was the quality of its CGI, which wasn’t at the level of that of the Infinity Saga. By delaying The Marvels, Marvel addressed a major MCU problem, and this is a movie that will rely a lot on CGI due to its different settings and its main characters’ powers.

Why The Marvels Isn’t Being Delayed Again

Being the movie that’s next in line to be released and the only one that has been completed, it makes sense that The Marvels didn’t have to go through another delay. Unlike other MCU projects currently in pre-production and filming, there’s no reason for The Marvels to be affected by the WGA strike, and having been given extra post-production time, it can still be released on its scheduled November date. Captain America: Brave New World, for example, is currently filming, as is Deadpool 3, so they can still go through changes in their release dates without major repercussions, while Blade was put on hold due to the WGA strike, so delaying it made perfect sense.

What The Next MCU Movie After The Marvels Is

Before Disney’s many changes to the MCU’s schedule, The Marvels was going to be followed by Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts, and Blade, but the MCU post-The Marvels now looks very different. The audience will have to wait to see Sam Wilson as Captain America but won’t have to wait long to reunite with Deadpool, as his third movie (and his first as part of the MCU) will now arrive after The Marvels, on May 3, 2024. The Merc with a Mouth’s adventures will be followed by Captain America: Brave New World (July 26, 2024), Thunderbolts (December 20, 2024), and Blade (February 14, 2025), closing the MCU’s Phase 5.

The order of the announced Phase 6 projects remains the same but with different release dates. Kicking off Phase 6 will be the long-awaited introduction of the Fantastic Four, arriving on May 2, 2025, and it will be followed by the Multiverse Saga’s crossover events Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, now to be released on May 1, 2026, and May 7, 2027. Surely, all these projects can still go through more changes and delays, but for now, The Marvels stands as the only MCU movie that kept its release date after Disney’s many scheduling changes.