Disney delays Deadpool 3 and other Marvel films as actors’ strike ends

It’s one of several Marvel Studios films to see their release dates change like falling dominos. Captain America: Brave New World, which had originally been due to release July 26th, 2024, will now instead release on February 14th, 2025, and Blade has been pushed back from that date to November 7th, 2025. Finally, Thunderbolts has been delayed from December 20th, 2024 to July 25th, 2025. 

The delays mean that Deadpool 3 is currently the only film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe set to release next year, a huge change after years of three or more films from the franchise being released annually. It will be interesting to see what impact the relative drought has on audiences’ waning interest in the superhero genre.

The strike by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), along with the Writers Guild of America strike that ended just weeks earlier has thrown production schedules into disarray across Hollywood. Marvel Studios’ upcoming films were in varying stages of production prior to the strikes. Captain America: Brave New World had reportedly completed principle photography, leading some to speculate that it would shift forwards to take Deadpool 3’s slot, while Variety notes that production on Blade and Thunderbolts had yet to begin. 

Beyond Marvel Studios, Disney also announced a new release date for its CGI Lion King prequel, Mufasa: The Lion King, which will now release on December 20th, 2024 rather than July 5th. Earlier this week Sony Pictures announced it was delaying the release of its third movie based on the Marvel character Venom from July 12th, 2024 to November 8th of that year.