What’s Up With The MCU? – An Update On Marvel’s Upcoming Projects

The world is going through a lot right now. Things aren’t easy, and everything is changing. None of that should be ignored, and we shouldn’t lose sight and/or focus when it comes to facing and discussing all of those changes and issues in the world. 

However, if you’re like me, then despite all of that–you still can’t help but look forward to the exciting things to come in the future. For me, there’s a long list of things that could fall under that category. Today though, I want to take the time and focus on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We’re in one of the longest MCU droughts (sans the recent premiere of Agents of SHIELD) since the first Iron Man started it all.  We have a massive slate of projects to look forward to–but due to the shutdowns across the globe, every single one of them has been in placed limbo. 

Let’s take a look at each project, and see what the latest updates on them have been, and when they may start back up again. 

Falcon & The Winter Soldier

• In a recent interview with Hollywood Reporter, Sebastian Stan mentions that the project was nearly complete, and had maybe two or three weeks left of filming left to do. Anthony Mackie echoed the same statements in a recent interview.
• Anthony Macky also recently mentioned that the show will feel like “a six or eight-hour movie.” Does this hint at the possibility of more than six episodes?
• As everything was shutting down, the production had to be pulled from The Czech Republic. Well now, the Czech Republic has started productions (or at least allowed them to do so) under strict Coronavirus guidelines. 
• Recently the European Union announced a ban on U.S. citizens once borders reopen up due to America’s current state when it comes to COVID-19 and the pandemic. One could reasonably worry about what this would mean about US based productions getting back to work, especially when it comes to the just mentioned shooting for Falcon & The Winter Soldier. Variety is reporting that at least for the Czech Republic production sector, U.S. cast and crew will be exempt from the ban. In fact the show seems set for nine-day shoot there.
• On top of their shoot in Czech Republic, the show will also have some filming left to do in Atlanta. Hollywood Reporter reports that both Falcon & The Winter Soldier and Loki aim to begin pre-production this month, and hope to start filming as early as August.
• It’s highly unlikely (near impossible really) that the show will make its original August premiere date. Hopefully though, it won’t be delayed that much further down the road. 

Black Widow

• With the state of Movie Theaters in the U.S. (and worldwide), movies have been being delayed left and right–sometimes multiple times. When it comes to Black Widow, the film has only faced one delay. It’s new release date is now November 6th, 2020 (a spot previously held by The Eternals). There are no indications that Marvel and/or Disney are considering premiering the film on Disney+. While it’s highly unlikely, I personally wouldn’t consider it an impossibility. 
• According to an insider spoken to by Variety, “Pushing Black Widow affects nothing on the MCU timeline.”

WandaVision

• WandaVision will be nine episodes instead of the six that were originally announced with the series.
• Evan Peters has been rumored to appear. The role in question is still very much unknown.
• Filming seems set to resume in July, thanks to a posting by Tampa Bay Comic Convention. The posting announces to their fans that Paul Bettany had to cancel his appearance due to being called back by Disney for further filming (taking place in LA) for WandaVision in July. Rumor has it that the show was nearly complete, with post-production continuing remotely during the shutdown. All of this is sounding like the show may still be able to make its original December 2020 release date.
• Kathryn Hahn also teased her return for further filming happening soon.

The Eternals

• The film has received a new release date of February 12th, 2021.
• It’s not entirely clear on how progress has been on the film during the shutdown. A rumor from MSUCosmic details a possible rushed production for the film, alongside confusion on if VFX work is actually being done during the shutdown. Personally I find it very difficult to believe that no work is being done remotely–that doesn’t seem very logical given how the entirety of the movie (sans reshoots) has been filmed.
• Salma Hayek recently posted on instagram teasing possible Eternals reshoots on the horizon. 

Loki

• There’s been a lot less talk about Loki’s production, but this rumor (and this one!) indicates that it may start back up alongside Falcon & The Winter Soldier and WandaVision. The show hasn’t had a firm release date announced, but for all we know it is still posed to arrive sometime in 2021. 
• Some additional fun rumors surrounding the show include possible appearances from The Enchantress, the Squadron Supreme, and maybe even a second season. 

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

• Shang-Chi’s new release date is May 7th, 2021.
• According to Deadline, Marvel is prepping to restart production in Australia by the end of July.
• A fun rumor for this project? We may finally get to see Fin Fang Foom. 

 

 

Ms. Marvel

• According to Project Casting (not the most reliable source), Marvel aims to start production in August or September of this year. Originally, the show was set to begin filming in April, but was unable to start due to the shutdown. 
• The casting for Ms. Marvel has potentially started back up again. It’s not known if the process is being done remotely or in person.  
• According to Disney+ France, the only shows set for 2021 are Loki and What If?. Ms. Marvel is seemingly set for 2022, alongside She-Hulk, Hawkeye, and Moonknight. It seems strange to me that there would only be two shows for 2021, so I would put money on this information either changing or being inaccurate. Though, with everything going on in the world, who knows where everything will end up. 

What If?

• As mentioned above (via Disney+ France), the show will have a rumored 2021 date.

• According to the show’s head of animation, work on the production has continued remotely. 

Hawkeye

• There isn’t much new on Hawkeye, but according to Jeremy Conrad (Who runs MCUCosmic, and has been shown to be fairly reliable when it comes to this stuff) Hawkeye is set to start up not too long after the other Marvel shows resume. 
• As mentioned above (via Disney+ France), the show will have a rumored 2022 date.
• The working title for the show will be “Anchor Point”.

She-Hulk

• As mentioned above (via Disney+ France), the show will have a rumored 2022 date.
• Mark Ruffalo has had preliminary talks to play some role in the show. It’s worth noting that this news came from before all of the shutdowns. However, Mark Ruffalo did provide a small update as of April confirming that nothing was a done deal yet. 
• She-Hulk was originally set to start filming in July. While there has been no official word on a delay, I can’t imagine that it will meet that original timeframe.

Spider-Man 3

• The new release date for the untitled Spider-Man sequel is November 5th, 2021. 
• A new report from ComicBook.com (which cites a casting grid for its information) states that not including any potential new issues or delays, the highly anticipated Spider-Man: Far From Home sequel is set to start shooting this September. Not much is known about the sequel, but there have been plenty of rumors pointing to Kraven The Hunter being the main antagonist hunting down The Spider who is now on the run after Mysterio’s last trick.
• Despite persistent rumors, it doesn’t seem like we will be seeing Daredevil in this Spidey adventure–or at least not Charlie Cox’s version. 
• J.K. Simmons is signed on for multiple sequels, and has in fact already shot his next appearance as J. Jonah Jameson. The question at hand is whether that appearance is for an already filmed Marvel Studios project, or is it for one of the Sony films (either Morbius or Venom: Let There Be Carnage). 

Thor: Love and Thunder

• The new release date is February 11th, 2022.
•  Word on the production itself has been rather quiet. However, Taika Waititi held a livestream in early April where he revealed that an Alien race from the X-Men comics (The Starsharks/Space Sharks/Acanti)  will be making an appearance.  He also laid to rest any rumors of the Silver Surfer showing up. 
• Chris Hemsworth praised the ‘Insane’ script as the best he’s read in years.
• In case you missed it, Vin Diesel may have confirmed that The Guardians of the Galaxy will show up in some form for the film. That said, Vin Diesel says a lot of things–so I wouldn’t take it as fact just yet.

Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness

• The new release date is March 25th, 2022. This is notable because not only is it now the final movie in Phase 4, but it is also coming out just one month after Thor: Love & Thunder.
• Sam Raimi is indeed directing the sequel.
• Pre-Production has continued remotely. The source mentions that they still aim for a June 2020 filming start date, but clearly that didn’t work out for them. 
• Chiwetel Ejiofor is indeed returning for the film, with hopes to start filming soon. 

Ant-Man 3

• It’s still happening! Or at least, that’s the idea according to Paul Rudd. Personally, my dream Ant-Man 3 would be called Ant-Man,. The Wasp, & The Stinger–and it would center around an entirely reimagined and more comic accurate AIM led by MODOK. Wouldn’t that be great?

Moon Knight

• As mentioned above (via Disney+ France), the show will have a rumored 2022 date.
• Besides the possible release date time frame of 2022, the only update we have on the production is that it reportedly is set to start filming around November 16 for 26 weeks, under the working title of “Good Faith”.

Bonus! Deadpool 3

• Morena Baccarin believes that the film is still being written–as in it exists!

Just typing all of this up reminded me of the utterly MASSIVE slate of projects that we have to look forward to. I for one cannot wait for things to get off the ground once again. Here’s to hoping we still can get at least one MCU project launched in 2020.