Disney's Bob Iger announced the release strategy for the MCU going forward. And fans can expect fewer projects than ever.
During Disney's latest earnings call (via Variety), Iger revealed that the MCU will be reducing its output going forward. They will be focusing on quality over quantity in the future.
“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,” Iger said. “And we’re working hard on what that path is.”
However, he did promise that Disney has “a couple of good [MCU] films in ’25 and then we’re heading to more Avengers, which we’re extremely excited about.
He continued, “Overall, I feel great about the slate. 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.”
Later on, Iger was asked whether Disney would focus greater on sequels or original films going forward, and he responded: “We’re gonna balance sequels with originals. Specifically in animation, we had gone through a period where our original films and animation, both Disney and Pixar, were dominating. We’re now swinging back a bit to lean on sequels.”
The MCU's upcoming slate
Bob Iger's comments don't quite align with what's being presented. As of the time of this writing, four films are slated to be released in 2025. That is the most since 2021.
Captain America: Brave New World will kick off the year in February 2025. Thunderbolts (May), The Fantastic Four (July), and Blade (November) are due to follow.
It is, however, possible that Disney ends up pushing one or two of those films. But as of now, it sounds like the MCU won't implement that change until after Phase Six is over.
To their credit, there is only one MCU film slated to release in 2024: Deadpool and Wolverine.
The MCU's beginnings
Back when the MCU started, they were only releasing one or two films a year. 2008 saw the releases of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, but another film wasn't made until Iron Man 2 in 2010.
One or two MCU films were released a year until 2017. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Thor: Ragnarok were all released. 2018 and 2019 were also both three-film years.
After the pandemic, Disney upped the ante. They released four MCU films in 2021 including Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. 2022 and 2023 both had three film releases in addition to the several MCU Disney+ series that were released.
It became too much, and Iger and Disney now seem aware. After Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels both disappointed at the box office in 2023, they likely came to the decision to pull back on their releases.
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