'Avengers: Doomsday' and 'Avengers: Secret Wars' delayed

Los Angeles, May 23 (IANS) Disney has delayed the release of Marvel Studios‘ upcoming team-up features “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Avengers: Secret Wars.” It will now be released in 2026 and 2027 respectively.

“Doomsday” is now set to debut on December 18, 2026. It was earlier scheduled to hit the screens on May 1, 2026. To match, the follow-up “Avengers: Secret Wars” is moving its release to December 17, 2027, after previously being set for May 7, 2027, reports variety.com.

Disney announced both “Avengers” delays Thursday afternoon, alongside a sweeping reorganization of its coming theatrical slate.

Notably, the new calendar saw the studio remove several unannounced Marvel titles off of its calendar. The date of February 13, 2026, previously slotted for an “Untitled Marvel” project, has been removed from the schedule.

Meanwhile, the dates of November 6, 2026 and November 5, 2027 also both previously set for “Untitled Marvel” features have been amended to simply “Untitled Disney” films.

With those changes, “Avengers: Doomsday” and Sony’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” are now the only Marvel Cinematic Universe entries slated to hit theaters in 2026.

Additionally, there is now no theatrical Marvel feature slated to release between “The Fantastic 4: First Steps” on July 25 and the fourth Tom Holland “Spider-Man” installment on July 31, 2026 — more than a year later.

It’ll be the MCU’s biggest gap between feature films since the COVID era gap between 2019’s “Spider-Man: Far From Home” and 2021’s “Black Widow.”

Disney has kept a few flags planted on 2028 dates for “Untitled Marvel” features: Feb. 18, May 5 and Nov. 10. Marvel Studios has also previously announced titles like “Armor Wars” and “Blade,” though neither film project currently has an official release date.

The notable decrease in theatrical Marvel features on the immediate horizon aligns with Disney CEO Bob Iger’s recently articulated strategy for the company’s superhero features.

During an investor call, Iger shared that Marvel Studios had “lost a little focus by making too much” between its tent poles and various Disney+ series. He continued, “By consolidating a bit and having Marvel focus much more on their films, we believe that will result in better quality.”

--IANS

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