Marvel Release Schedule Cuts Reveal a Hard Truth About the MCU’s Phase 5 and 6 Plan

How much Marvel is too much? That question has hung over the MCU for more than five years, since Avengers: Endgame gave viewers an easy jumping off point. In that time, Marvel has released 25 movies, TV series, and specials, few of them pleasing all but the most committed fans.

It’s no surprise that, since he came back as the franchise’s future success.

Bob Iger Reduces Marvel Output

In a quarterly earnings call described by Marvel plan moving forward. “We’re slowly going to decrease volume and go to probably about two TV series a year instead of what had become four and reduce our film output from maybe four a year to two, or a maximum of three,” he explained.

Iger pointed out that the franchise has “a couple of good films in [2025] and then we’re heading to more Avengers, which we’re extremely excited about.” However, Iger was less upfront about television series plans, calling many of them “a vestige of basically a desire in the past to increase volume.”

Although he’s talking only about cutting things back, Iger framed the announcement in positive . “Overall, I feel great about the slate,” he declared. “It’s something that I’ve committed to spending more and more time on. The team is one that I have tremendous confidence in and the IP that we’re mining, including all the sequels that we’re doing, is second to none.”

Despite Iger’s comments, it’s hard to see how that approach will work for this year and the next. Marvel only has one film on the docket for 2024, the much-anticipated WandaVision, still plans to release in 2024, but with the hype of WandaVision long faded and the series’ multiple title changes, it’s hard to see that show succeeding.

Phase 5 and 6 Projects Now in Limbo

The most interesting part of Iger’s comments might involve projects currently in production. If Disney plans to cut back on Marvel output, will less-exciting projects such as Agatha or Wonder Man, which finished shooting last month?

The movies Fantastic Four also looming.

With all of this in mind, it seems that only Marvel’s flagship characters are safe. Sony’s doing everything it can to tank the Spidey brand and Spider-Man movie, to go alongside Fantastic Four and Avengers. X-Men ’97 has garnered rave reviews, so we’ll at least see more of that series, with a second season already written.

What does that mean for everything else? Marvel won’t scuttle Brave New World or Thunderbolts, but one gets the sense that some of these films will release to little press, outside of the producers throwing the directors under the bus, like they did with The Marvels. Blade? It feels more and more like there’s no way those will happen, especially after multiple delays. Agatha, Ironheart, and Wonder Man might be far along enough to warrant release, but it may be done in the style of Echo, dropping all episodes at one time and immediately ignored.

So that takes care of the projects in development. But where should the franchise go from there? To find that answer, Marvel should take a cue from its production logo and go back to the comics.

The MCU Needs to Learn a Few Lessons From the Comics

The movie industry is going through its first throes of superhero fatigue, but that’s old hat for the comic book industry. Between wars beginning and ending, speculator markets, and crazed psychologists, the industry has exploded and imploded multiple times. Every time publishers up their production and flood newsstands with new releases, they just as quickly pull back to a few evergreen faves. Although the movie and comic book industries are very different, they’re now both trying to figure out how to keep and expand their audiences, which means the former could learn from the latter.

First of all, Iger’s on the right track by emphasizing the Avengers. Whenever Marvel or Superman, etc. These comics focus on the characters that the most people love, and use those stories to introduce new characters or bring back familiar faces. If there’s enough demand for those B- and C-level characters, then they get a shot to carry their own books.

So maybe, instead of forcing Black Panther, clearing space for his excellent first solo movie.

That said, the comics sometimes go in other direction. As soon as a character pops in one series, they’re quickly added to other projects (sometimes too many). When Barbie.

Some might point out that fans often complain about all of the homework that comes with Marvel movies, that they want to watch movies that stand on their own. However, no one should confuse this demand with a desire for Wonder Man, Nova, or other characters they don’t know. Rather, fans want to be able to watch a film and feel like they’re getting a full story, with a satisfying beginning, middle, and end. Too often, Marvel movies offer likable characters, but a bland story, with distracting jokes and unconvincing CGI. The post-credit teases are even worse, as if they apologize for the bad movie we just watched and promise to do better the next time.

Again, Civl War serves as a good example. That movie has a satisfying story for Cap and Iron Man and also does a great job setting up Black Panther (less so with Spider-Man, but it was also less necessary). But the most recent Back Panther film does the opposite.

Half of Wakanda Forever serves as an elegy for Ryan Coogler and writer Joe Robert Cole developed in the first film to build. However, it then turns too much space over to Riri Williams and especially Americans Everett K. Ross and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, crowding out favorites M’Baku, Okoye, and Nakia.

If the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to survive, it needs to take a page from the House of Ideas. Fewer releases doesn’t mean that the franchise has to ignore all of the weird and wonderful characters they have in their bullpen. Rather, it means that it needs to be more focused on the basics: strong storytelling and characters people like.

Trimming out the fluff is a step in the right direction. Iger and Kevin Feige might be able to get away with too little Marvel, but fans will never accept too much Marvel.

You can check out the full schedule of Marvel movies and shows here.