Some big shake-ups have come out of a Disney earnings call today, as the studio has shifted the release dates of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars… And dropped multiple Marvel movies from the calendar.
Per Variety, the currently in production Doomsday is shifting from May 1, 2026, to December 18, 2026. Meanwhile, Secret Wars will shift from May 7, 2027, to December 17, 2027. Though all three trades (Variety, THR, Deadline) note “insiders” who explain this is to give the two movies plenty of time to finish production and post-production, some other release date shifts tell another story.
Specifically, the previously scheduled “Untitled Marvel” for February 13, 2026, has dropped off the calendar, while those scheduled for November 6, 2026, and November 5, 2027 have been retitled as “Untitled Disney.” February 18, May 5 and November 10, 2028 all remain as “Untitled Marvel.”
That means that after the release of Fantastic Four: First Steps on July 25, there is no Marvel Studios production until Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is currently scheduled for July 31, 2026. However, that movie is scheduled by Sony, not Disney — and as it seems likely it follows the plot of Doomsday, may shift dates as well.
Listen, it’s hard to see this and not see a shift in terms of the overall strategy when it comes to Marvel movies. Disney CEO Bob Iger has said they want quality, not quantity, which is nice and all. But the box office for both Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts* has been less than desirable. If your non-Spider-Man, non-Avengers movies (even if Thunderbolts* has been revealed to be New Avengers, it’s not, not really) are “only” making $200 million or less domestically, and can’t crack $500 total worldwide, that’s going to lead to cutting those from the calendar. Setting the only Marvel movies a safe distance past Doomsday lets Disney see how damaged the brand has really become.
So will the two Avengers movies be the swan song for the MCU? We’ll know more in a year and a half.
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