After having been announced as a streaming series at Disney’s 2020 Investor Day presentation, it was recently revealed that the Don Cheadle vehicle Armor Wars was changing gears and being developed as a feature film. Other than the idea that the events of Armor Wars will spin out of the 2023 streaming series Secret Invasion, Marvel Studios hasn’t let much slip about what to expect from the project. However, in an interview with Matt Belloni, Marvel Studios Executive Producer and Parliament member Nate Moore gave some insight into how its development involved and what fans can expect.
First and foremost, Moore made it clear that the series became “too big” of a project for the streaming service.
“Yeah, I mean in that case, there were some great ideas that were coming out for that show but that, to be quite honest, felt too big for that show.”
Nate Moore
When asked if “too big” referred to budget constraints or the scope of the story, Moore elaborated.
Kind of both. Kind of conceptually and from a… Our Disney+ shows are awesome and we love them, but the budgets are not the same as the features, that’s not secret. And when you’re talking about a show that wants to be about seeing all the cool armors, and Don Cheadle interacting with all these armors, and the legacy of Tony Stark, that became cost-prohibitive to do as a show.
Nate Moore
Moore went on to explain that the large role Armor Wars is set to play in the future of the MCU also weighed heavily into the decision to shift the story to the big screen.
And we realized as a feature, not only can we get into some of the beautiful imagery that is from publishing and there’s certainly an Armor Wars run, but also there’s ways then to leverage the ideas of that movie that affect other movies down the line. So it becomes a multiplication really of, once you figure out what is cool about something…
Nate Moore
Given Marvel Studios’ theatrical slate is pretty full for the next several years, it’s not clear exactly when Armor Wars will make its way onto it, though with the story seeming to serve as a follow-up to Secret Invasion and a bridge to projects beyond it, it would seem Marvel Studios wouldn’t want to wait too long.
Ever since it was officially announced, fans have eagerly been awaiting news regarding Marvel Studios’ Armor Wars. The project was to be made into a Disney+ series, however, outside of Yassir Lester being announced as the head writer, very little news seemed to surface regarding the project. Lester and leading man, Don Cheadle, assured fans it was coming, though, and now it appears we might have a reason as to why the project is moving so slowly.
The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Marvel Studios is developing Armor Wars as a feature film instead of a Disney+ series. Both Lester and Cheadle remain on board the project. The project is being redeveloped into a feature film, which is more than likely why Armor Wars still lacked a release window during Marvel Studios’ D23 presentation. The decision was made as Marvel felt the best way to tell the story was through a feature film rather than a television series. Production on the six-episode series was expected to begin in early 2023, however, crew members were said to be notified today that is no longer happening.
The title of the series was inspirited by a storyline in the Iron Man comics from 1987 and 1988 by writers David Michelinie and Bob Layton and artist Mark Bright. It focused on the highly advanced technology of Iron Man falling into the wrong hands.
As of now, Armor Wars does not have a release date or director attached to the project.
When Don Cheadle took the stage to talk about Secret Invasion at D23 Expo 2022, Kevin Feige mentioned that it wasn’t the series he was there to discuss. To that end, Cheadle and Feige gave an update on the Disney Plus streaming series Armor Wars, a project that fans have begun to wonder quite a bit about over the past few months.
Feige and Cheadle assured fans that not only was the project still in the works but that it is on track to go into production next year and would connect directly to the events of Secret Invasion. With Secret Invasion set to explore an MCU where Skrulls have infiltrated every corner and with Rhodey set to play such a key role, one has to wonder if he’s been simmed himself, which would put one of the MCU’s most senior members in a very tough and surprising spot.
In an interview with Phase Zero, Cheadle walked on eggshells while describing where Rhodey will be when Armor Wars kicks off, but left just enough room to make everyone unsure of his fate in Secret Invasion.
At a very different place and in a way that is something I can’t really talk about but it’s going to be very surprising to a lot of people. And the great thing is that there’s going to be so much opportunity to learn about him and for him to learn about himself and for us, hopefully, to really be able to get behind what makes him tick.
Don Cheadle
With Secret Invasion being adapted to the MCU, it’s long been assumed that at least some of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes would be Skrulls in disguise. With a small number of Avengers set to turn up in the series, unlike the comic event which involved all of Marvel’s heavy hitters, Rhodey is as good a bet as any to be an alien infiltrator. How long could it have been? And would he even be aware of his status as a Skrull spy (in the comics, many of the Skrulls are so deeply embedded in their infiltration that they don’t even know they aren’t the people they are swimming)? We’ll find out soon as Secret Invasion should hit Disney Plus early in 2023.
Marvel Studios has built up a reputation at this point for taking the iconic comics and giving them a unique spin. No matter where one lands if that works for them, it still gave them an opportunity to adapt iconic storylines to the recurrent timeline they’ve built over the years while also making it unique for new viewers. If Don Cheadle is anything to go by, they are going to keep this tradition with his upcoming Disney+ series Armor Wars.
While he doesn’t give away any details, he does confirm that it’ll take inspiration from the original comic storyline in which Tony Stark’s technology lands in the wrong hands, and this time around forces his friend Rhodey to once again don his War Machine armor to ensure this doesn’t become a bigger issue. In an interview with ComicBook.com’s Brandon Davis, he does highlight though that Marvel will still “tip it on its head.”
As Marvel does, it’s also an opportunity to take the mythology and tip it on its head a little bit and come up with different ways to tell the story. So, it’s doing that and doing that in spades.
Don Cheadle
Armor Wars was announced quite a while ago but seemingly got pushed back for some time. Cheadle teases that Rhodey is going to be at a very different place that he can’t reveal but hints that it’s “going to be very surprising.” He has a role in Secret Invasions as revealed in the Disney+ series trailer and it’ll be interesting to see how it ties into the bigger mythology.
Long have we discussed what exactly is happening with Armor Wars but during the D23 Expo they confirmed that it is definitely in development and will start production next year Notonly that but it’ll act as a follow-up from Secret Invasion and will be another 6-episode series for Disney+.
Kevin Feige once said that Marvel Studios would not appear at San Diego Comic-Con unless they could overdeliver, and this year’s event proved he wasn’t kidding. Through two major panels, one for animation and the other for live-action, the entertainment giant landed punch after punch of exciting news. Those in attendance were treated to countless announcements at a rapid fire pace, and information drops were used to both expand on known projects and reveal entirely new ones. If any fans felt left in the dark after 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, they should have a pretty good idea as to what the future holds now.
That being said, there were still quite a few titles missing from the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline shown at the end of the company’s Hall H presentation. Despite all the thrilling surprises, it’s hard not to wonder what might be going on with the shows and movies Feige didn’t talk about over the weekend. As such, it feels right to round up every single MCU project that’s definitely in development but somehow still on the downlow. Let’s dig in:
This was the biggest question mark coming out of Marvel’s Hall H. Armor Wars, an upcoming Disney+ series based on the comic arc of the same name was officially announced during a Disney Investor Day presentation in 2020. It’s probably the longest-standing MCU project yet to score a release window, despite a promising premise and a genuine leading man in Don Cheadle‘s War Machine. Actor, writer, and comedian Yassir Lester was brought on to serve as the series head writer almost a full year ago, and that was more or less the last time fans heard of any progress behind-the-scenes. The fact that Armor Wars wasn’t even mentioned during this year’s Comic-Con initially caused a bit of panic that the series might have been quietly canceled, until Lester took to social media and confirmed it’s still planned to release.
As history has shown, Marvel Studios is not above shifting its calendar to accommodate new things. It’s very likely that Armor Wars is simply still in its early development stages, and will be slipped into the release schedule when the company and the creatives feel everything is ready to go. It’s also possible the show’s story fits better later in the MCU timeline, and Feige just revealed its existence earlier than he ended up needing to. Until more is known, fans will just have to settle for seeing Cheadle‘s James Rhodes in Secret Invasion instead.
It really felt like this one was coming, and it’s still kind of shocking that it never did. Deadpool 3 has been in various stages of production since 2018, with its creative process being understandably delayed by Disney’s acquisition of former parent company 20th Century Fox. Since then, it’s been confirmed by the likes of Feige and star Ryan Reynolds that another film is indeed on the way. If that wasn’t enough, they’ve also revealed that this threequel will finally transition its R-rated antihero into the MCU proper.
The lead-up to this year’s convention saw Disney put both previous Deadpool films on their previously-kid-friendly streaming service, and the convention grounds themselves had the Merc with a Mouth handing out free chimichangas to promote the big additions. Nothing has ever felt like more of a sign that Marvel might announce the new entry during their Hall H panel. Alas, no Deadpool 3 was found on the timeline. At least fans can rest easy knowing Reynolds, along with franchise writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, are currently hard at work preparing Wade Wilson for his next cinematic adventure.
Marvel’s Hall H presentation was surprisingly Avengers-heavy for a franchise with so many new toys to play with. As stated before, the MCU can now legally include mutants, and more specifically, the X-Men, in their theatrical projects. Patrick Stewart became the first mutant in the MCU earlier this year when he reprised his iconic role as Professor Charles Xavier for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Iman Vellani took the reigns as part of a huge twist ending when Kamala Khan turned out to be a mutant in Ms. Marvel‘s finale episode. Now seemed like the perfect time for Marvel to announce exactly when to expect the X-Men’s return to cinemas, in a film Feige continues referring to as The Mutants, but no such confirmation ever came. Not even a peep about a potential creative team.
It’s worth noting the X-Men did have a presence at the convention, however, in the form of the animated X-Men ’97 series coming to Disney+ in fall 2023. It’s very possible Marvel held back on revealing The Mutants so that show would have time to shine, and besides, there were still about eight empty slots on that Phase 6 slide. It wouldn’t be shocking if Marvel’s Merry Mutants found themselves occupying one in the very near future.
It’s actually pretty strange that this one didn’t make the cut. It’s an incredibly open secret that Marvel Studios is developing an untitled Disney+ Halloween special centered on Werewolf by Night, but the transparency behind the project isn’t what makes its lack of attention at San Diego Comic-Con so weird. Not only does this one-hour special have a director in longtime composer Michael Giacchino, a runtime, and a full-blown cast in Gael García Bernal and Laura Donnelly, it’s actually already completed filming and is supposedly set to release in October of this year. It seems like, by this point, it should at least have an official title. Yet, the elongated Marvel One-Shot, or whatever it may be, was not even included in the MCU’s Phase 4 when Feige discussed the future timeline with fans, despite coming out before the Phase ends with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
It’s starting to look like Marvel Studios doesn’t consider holiday-themed specials as part of their actual Phase plan. Much like the still-untitled Halloween special, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is all filmed and rearing to go for this December season. Set photos, promotional merchandise, and a lot of updates from director James Gunn have kept fans satiated for the past year, but an official release date would be a nicer present for under the tree.
It wasn’t that long ago fans learned Simon Williams would be coming to the MCU. It was just last month The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton and Community writer Andrew Guest would create a Wonder Man series for Disney+. The article mentioned that cameras could begin rolling on the show as soon as 2023, so many fans felt that an official announcement from Marvel might come out of Hall H. Sadly, Feige‘s presentation ended without any sort of Phase placement or casting reveal for Wonder Man. Perhaps supporters of the longtime Avenger will have better luck at D23.
Nova is maybe the most elusive MCU project in the company’s history. The character has been rumored to appear in a number of projects since it seems, the beginning of the company’s history. It was once confirmed that Richard Rider, the last of the Nova Corps, was intended to appear in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, but was cut for the sake of trimming story fat. All hope seemed lost until news dropped in March that a Disney+ series focusing on the character was in development from Moon Knight scribe Sabir Pirzada. Of course, this led many to believe Marvel would finally make the project official at Comic-Con, putting an end to the cult-like social media campaign to bring Nova to live-action. Maybe Marvel likes all the begging because that obviously didn’t happen.
Black Panther Spin-Offs
Early last year, it was reported by Deadline that Marvel Studios had put two Black Panther spin-off series into development at Disney+. One was said to revolve around Danai Gurira‘s Okoye, while the other would be Wakanda-centric and produced by director Ryan Coogler. Not much has been heard about either show since then, even if many expected at least one to be announced alongside Wakanda Forever‘s portion of the night’s program. Much like the mutant situation before it, this could be due to the fact Marvel wanted its highly-anticipated sequel to get every bit of the attention.
Not long after Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings became a massive success, it was announced that director Cretton and star Simu Liu would return for another go-around. It wasn’t likely that Marvel would make a big fuss about the future project with so much else to cover, but it did seem logical that a title reveal or release date could come with the outlining of Phases 4-6. While this didn’t pan out, fans can still be excited to see Cretton come back for Disney+’s Wonder Man, which as previously mentioned, also wasn’t discussed at Comic-Con.
Marvel Studios brought their very best to yesterday’s Hall H panel, but for some, it still wasn’t enough. Company President Kevin Feige took the stage to reveal the next three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, complete with titles both old and new. Unfortunately, there were some previously announced projects left out of the mix, causing fans to worry that certain releases may never be coming. Armor Wars, a Disney+ series announced way back in 2020, is chief among them.
The show was initially revealed as part of Disney’s 2020 Investor Day meeting, alongside Secret Invasion and Ironheart. Those other two projects were included in this year’s Comic-Con presentation, but very little has been heard about Armor Wars since it’s conception. One thing that is for sure, however, is that The Carmichael Show’s Yassir Lester will serve as the series’ head writer. Following Marvel’s big panel, Lester seemingly took to his Instagram to reassure fans that Armor Wars would still happen at some point:
Armor Wars is set to star Don Cheadle as Col. James Rhodes, a.k.a. War Machine, in an adaptation of the famous 1987-1988 comic arc. Written by Bob Layton, the story concerns Stark rival Justin Hammer stealing Tony’s tech and distributing it to a variety of villains across the world. In the book, Iron Man goes on a rampage to get his tech back, but since the hero died in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, the MCU’s take will instead have War Machine protecting his deceased friend’s legacy. As stated before, there is currently no release window for the project.
Once upon a time, this looked like it might be headed for a 2022 release. But with reshoots having to be spread out over several months due to actor availability, it’s clearly not going to be ready. It should, however, be ready to roll out in early 2023 and with principal photography done and finishing touches left to go, expect Secret Invasion to be the first Marvel Studios project of 2023.
This one has bounced around a bit in terms of release date, but it is absolutely the furthest along of the 2023 films. This time around, expect BIG action and stakes as the Ant-family takes on Jonathan Majors‘ Kang and Corey Stoll’s MODOK (who we hear looks absolutely fabulous). Marvel Studios may let the hype train out of the station earlier than normal on this one.
One of at least two animated series headed to Disney Plus in 2023, the X-Men revival already has a ton of buzz around it. Work was being done on the episodes long before anyone knew it existed, so its ten episodes could be ready to roll out on D+ sometime late in the first quarter of 2023.
Currently cruising through production, the Hawkeye spinoff will definitely be ready for a late-Spring/early-Summer release unless the wheels fall off. Not only will this bring Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock and Vincent D’Onofrio‘s Kingpin back, but it’s also set to really explore Native American culture
James Gunn‘s last go-around with the team he made famous in 2014, Vol. 3 has quite the cast and could end up being one of the MCU’s biggest tearjerkers. It’s also going to be full of surprises (will Cosmo have a voice?) and while it’s the end for Gunn and some of the cast, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the end for everyone.
With production well underway in the UK, Loki’s second season will have no problem making it to D+ for the Summer of 2023. Interestingly, it could come out just about 2 years to the day after the first season, which is cool but way too long to wait after that Season 1 cliffhanger!
The Nia DaCosta led sequel to Captain Marvel moved back to mid-Summer and after Carol Danvers’ mid-credit appearance in the Ms. Marvel finale, fans finally have an inkling of what this one is all about. In every way possible, this film is a huge shift from the original and should be an action-packed reinvention of the franchise in the way The Winter Solider was for the MCU’s other Captain.
Production is underway on Ironheart and by the time this one hits Disney Plus, fans will have already gotten to know the lead from her time in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. It looks like this one will also feature The Hood, one of Marvel Comics coolest baddies yet to make the jump to the MCU.
Set to debut in 2023, it would make sense to start the animated series in time for it to play during peak Spooky Season. With a full-length Marvel Studios Animation panel at SDCC, it seems like a first look at this is pretty likely, giving fans an idea of its connectivity to the Zombie reality seen in Season 1 of What If…?.
Blade is finally set to get production underway in September of 2022, giving the studio plenty of time to turn it around for November of 2023. Marvel Studios has been known to slide release dates up a week or so in the past; it would be smart of them to do so here to capitalize on the urge for fans to watch horror films in October.
The project on this list about which the least is known. It is supposed to film in the Fall of 2022 so a late 2023 release date makes sense. However, Marvel Studios production dates are more fluid now than ever, so don’t etch this one into your stone calendar just yet.
The future slate of Marvel Studios is more fluid now than it’s ever been. With the industry STILL being impacted by COVID to some degree, a backlog of projects that could be shuffled in and out of any date at any time, and the interesting lack of a 2022 press preview kit from Disney, fans are left frivolously hypothesize, predict and speculate when to expect their most anticipated MCU projects. And we’re here to help you with your favorite addiction. This isn’t our first attempt to pin down 2023’s projects; you can check out V1 here and V2 here to compare notes.
As much as everybody wants to see the Samuel L. Jackson/Nicky Fury-led Secret Invasion, the 2022 schedule seems to be complete without it. While we still don’t know very much about the plot of either Secret Invasion or The Marvels, it does seem like the two could share some sort of narrative bridge that would be well-served by them debuting relatively close to one another.
By the time The Marvels hits theaters, it will have been in the can for nearly a year and a half. That’s part of the backlog of projects created by the pandemic, which really changed the well-established production paradigm that Marvel Studios had followed for well over a decade. That means a lot of time to breathe for the characters in between appearances which creates a lot of anticipation…and you know Marvel Studios likes that.
After a little bit of a delay to the start of its production, Echo looks like it’ll be up and running in Georgia in April of 2022 and permits have been filed around Atlanta for the month of May. Given the “grounded” nature of Maya and the types of characters being cast in supporting roles, it doesn’t sound like this one is going to be a VFX showcase, so it should be ready to stream on Disney Plus in March of 2023. Of course, the question on fans’ minds is how much will Daredevil and Kingpin be involved and how might this series dovetail into the Daredevil solo project in development at Marvel Studios. Here’s to hoping Maya remains the focus of this series as there’s plenty of room for Daredevil to explore on his own.
At some point in the first half of 2023, Ahsoka, a highly-anticipated, live-action Star Wars streaming series, will hit Disney Plus. We now know that Disney Plus is not opposed to streaming live-action Star Wars and Marvel Studios’ projects simultaneously, but if Ahsoka rolls out sometime in early May, X-Men ’97, which is on track for a 2023 release, could stream concurrently with that and fill the Marvel Studios streaming void until June, leaving some live-action stuff for later in the year.
James Gunn’sthird Guardians’ film might well be his last Marvel Studios’ project. By the time this comes out, it’ll have been over a decade since Gunn started work on Guardians of the Galaxy and as we’ve seen through his recent work on The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, he’s really on top of his game. This one sounds like it’ll be something really special and emotional, with Gunn saying goodbye not only to Marvel but to some characters he’s really grown to love.
With the production of Season 2 of Loki on track to begin in June of 2022, it should be ready to roll out in June of 2023. While it isn’t clear whether or not Secret Invasion provides a direct runway to the events of The Marvels, it seems VERY clear that Loki Season 2 and Ant-Manand The Wasp: Quantumania share a narrative canvas and that the former can easily hand off a storyline to the latter.
2023 could end up being the Summer of Kang. Jonathan Majors thrilled audiences with a tease of what to expect when the character returns, and it looks like when he does it’ll be a much heavier dose. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will feature some version(s) of the character fresh off of what’s expected to be a major role in Season 2 of Loki. Of course, Kang’s not the only villain fans can look forward to, as M.O.D.O.K. is also reportedly making his live-action debut, played by Corey Stoll. Should the schedule fall this way, it would represent a great example of the type of synergy Marvel Studios can pull off thanks to a parent company that has its own streaming service and total control over the release schedule.
While a lot of fans are expecting this to be tied into Armor Wars, all the early evidence suggests it is essentially a follow-up to Riri Williams adventures in Black Panther: WakandaForever. That’s not to say that Riri might not show up in Armor Wars or that the events of Ironheart might not lead into the Don Cheadle-led streamer, in fact it would make a lot of sense if she did, but Riri will be busy enough on her own following her huge role in Wakanda Forever.
When V2 of the 2023 Hypothetical Calendar was published, Agatha: House of Harknesshad only just been revealed by the trades a few days before and the official Disney Plus Day announcement was about a week away. Now, it really does look like it could make the 2023 release slate given the tentative October 2022 start of production. It seems like the perfect Spooky Season release for Marvel Studios, so slotting it here seems a no-brainer.
After a couple of production delays, Bladeis looking at a Fall 2022 start of principal photography, which makes it the best candidate for the currently unfilled November 3, 2023 release date, especially with production on Captain America 4 officially delayed until 2023. It doesn’t hurt, of course, that it’ll come out right around Halloween and feature a vampire hunter, and it wouldn’t be entirely surprising to see this date slide back a week earlier where nothing major is currently scheduled for any studio.
Armor Wars, like Agatha: House of Harkness, is on track for a late-2022 start of production. While a 2023 debut is by no means set in stone for Armor Wars, there is a nice end-of-the-year window for it, should it be completed and ready to stream. We know very little about the project, but Kevin Feige seems to enjoy playing with the idea of having some streaming series thematically tied to the seasons in which they are released, so maybe, like Hawkeye, Armor Wars could be set during the holidays. After all, is there any better present than Stilt-Man?
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