What Does Indiana Jones 5 Announcement Mean for Marvel's Inhumans?

Disney today announced a new Indiana Jones movie, the fifth in the series. Harrison Ford is returning to star in the movie, the first since Disney purchased Lucasfilm, with Steven Spielberg returning to direct.

They also announced the release date: July 19, 2019. For those who keep up with movie release schedules, that's exactly one week after the previously announced date for Marvel Studios' Inhumans, a movie announced as part of their large extended slate, but rarely talked about since. Marvel Studios is also owned by Disney.

So what does the Indiana Jones 5 announcement mean for Inhumans? It means the latter movie probably isn't coming out on July 12, 2019, if at all. Since the initial announcement, Inhumans - the concept and relatively minor characters from the pages of Marvel Comics - have appeared on the TV show Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. That contributed to rumors last fall that Inhumans - the Marvel Studios film - had been removed from their movie slate. Conflicting reports said that it's still on, and will feature the Inhumans royal family - Black Bolt, Medusa, and other characters from the franchise.

While Disney has an incredibly busy film slate in 2019 - Captain Marvel, an Untitled Walt Disney Animation Studios Movie, Avengers: Infinity War Part II, Star Wars: Episode IX, The Incredibles 2, Indiana Jones 5, and another Live-Action Fairy-Tale remake are all on the docket - it's unthinkable for them to put out two movies in back-to-back weeks, especially two tent pole releases. Canibalizing their own business is bad business - you'll see releases coming as frequently as three weeks apart, but never less than that.

As of right now, Disney has a wide-open space between Indiana Jones 5 on July 19, 2019 and their Live-Action Fairy-Tale on November 8, 2019, so it's possible Inhumans could get moved there. it's also possible it could get cancelled, or another movie could get added in that space. It's nearly impossible to think, however, that Inhumans will come out on July 12, 2019.