Marvel Studios Rethinks Disney Plus Schedule: ‘Echo’ Off 2023, ‘Agatha’ Renamed Again
As we head into Labor Day weekend and the studios have failed to sign a new deal with the Hollywood actors and writers, heads are expected to roll. Or at least, release dates are expected to be pushed into next year or beyond, and those changes should be announced after the weekend is over, now that fall season is officially here. However, even before Marvel got the chance to announce their new dates for some of their upcoming titles, details of their new strategy were leaked to the media.
The Hollywood Reporter has learned about the broad strokes of what we should expect from Marvel’s Disney Plus plans for the rest of the year and even 2024. Check them out here:
- Loki season 2 will stay on its October 6 date, marking the return of Marvel to the Wednesday slot (ironically, Loki was the one that set the trend for major Disney Plus series to go to Wednesdays).
- Echo is no longer releasing on November 29 and will now come out on Disney Plus at some point in January 2024.
- What If…? season 2, once supposed to hit in early 2023, will now debut around Christmas Day.
- X-Men ’97 moves from its planned fall date to early 2024 — rumors from earlier this year point to a release date around January 3, but it’s unknown how much of this is still the case. THR also confirmed rumors of a second season being already in the works
- The WandaVision spin-off Agatha: Coven of Chaos was once planned for a winter 2023 debut. That has now been completely upended, as it’s expected to drop on Disney Plus in the early fall of 2024, just in time for Halloween. Moreover, the show has been renamed once again into Agatha: Darkhold Diaries.
- Ironheart was once supposed to hit in the fall of 2023, but has now shifted into a TBA slot despite having wrapped production months ago.
- Daredevil: Born Again and Wonder Man were hit by the strike in the middle of production, so they both are also on TBA mode, despite the former’s announced spring 2024 release.
This is likely just a taste of more delays that could come within the next week. Deadpool 3 will not be able to meet its May 3, 2024, release date even if they started filming on Monday, and Blade is almost assured not to make its February 2025 date either, especially considering Nic Pizzolatto was not done with his latest draft of the script by the time the writers’ strike hit, and that was also going to be a rushed production as they were aiming for a late May shoot. On the plus side for Marvel, though, Captain America: Brave New World was able to wrap production in late June, which means they could potentially move it up to its original May 2024 date. Also in 2024, Thunderbolts hasn’t shot a single frame of footage, so perhaps they will have to rethink their December 2024 plans as well.
And then there’s the question of The Marvels. At this point, after Dune: Part Two moved, Disney is in a very advantageous position as they will enjoy a full IMAX run for most of November, and the Marvel name alone could carry enough weight to put butts in seats even if they can’t have videos of Iman Vellani, Brie Larson, and Teyonah Parris going viral on TikTok. That being said, it’s still very possible Disney will move it into May 2024 to make up for Deadpool 3‘s production delays if they consider Brave New World won’t be able to make it there, or if they think they have a thin 2024 schedule — they also know that people could use a break from Marvel at the moment.
Stay tuned as the situation continues to develop, but don’t hold tight to any movie release dates yet. Changes are coming!
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
