The Marvel Cinematic Universe apparently has plans extending all the way to 2024, but a new report reveals that Marvel Studios will be changing at least one release date for one one its upcoming 2021 films.
MALEFICENT 2 gets a release date: May 29, 2020…and a mystery MARVEL movie that was previously dated for July 30, 2021 will now open on Feb 12, 2021.
— Borys Kit (@Borys_Kit) July 10, 2018
THR reporter Borys Kit reveals some big Disney release date changes, noting that “a mystery MARVEL movie that was previously dated for July 30, 2021 will now open on Feb 12, 2021.”
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We could do a whole breakdown of what that film could be, but any Marvel Cinematic Universe fans worth their salt will probably have a good, educated, guess as to what that film will be: Black Panther 2!
The particular release date of February 12th seems all to conspicuous: it’s the same Black History Month release window that Marvel Studios had for the release of Black Panther this year, on February 16th. That date struck a major cultural chord that resulted in Black Panther having a massive theatrical opening and run, and the fact that theaters were clear of any major competing blockbusters for weeks on end, helped Marvel reap a bigger box office from Black Panther than the studios or filmmakers ever imagined.
As of now, the current MCU release date calendar of confirmed films looks like this:
- Captain Marvel – March 8, 2019
- Avengers 4 – May 3, 2019
- Spider-Man: Far From Home – July 5, 2019
Below are the release dates that Marvel Studios has staked out, without confirming which films will occupy the slots:
- May 1, 2020 – Untitled Marvel Movie
- July 31, 2020 – Untitled Marvel Movie 2
- November 6, 2020 – Untitled Marvel Movie 3
- February 12, 2021 – Untitled Marvel Movie 4
- May 7, 2021 – Untitled Marvel Movie 5
- November 5, 2021 – Untitled Marvel Movie 6
- February 18, 2022 – Untitled Marvel Movie 7
- May 6, 2022 – Untitled Marvel Movie 8
- July 29, 2022 – Untitled Marvel Movie 9
We do know some things: Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 will occupy one of the 2020 dates (likely May or July); as stated, Black Panther 2 is probably the February 2021 date. Doctor Strange 2, Ant-Man 3, Captain Marvel 2 and some new crossover event films are obvious candidates to fill more of the 2020 – 2022 slots, but until we see what happens in Avengers 4, it’s hard to predict which of the original Avengers solo franchises will be continuing as we know them (Cap, Iron Man, Thor…) – and also, which new hero solo films could be coming in Phase 4 (Nova). As of now, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige maintains that the studio will be taking its time unveiling the Phase 4 lineup, so we’ll likely have to wait until Avengers 4 arrives to get a lot of these reveals. Stay tuned.
Ant-Man and the Wasp is now in theaters. Avengers: Infinity War will be released on home video in August. Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.
