At 70 years old, John Malkovich has shown no interest in pumping the brakes on what has been a prodigious acting career. With a film career that began in earnest 40 years and over 70 projects ago on his resume, the actor has remained as busy as ever, starring in 14 movies in the 2020s as well as taking on recurring roles in 4 streaming series including The NewPope, Space Force and Billions. However, despite his very full plate, the eccentric actor made the decision to jump into one of Hollywood’s most popular franchises.
This week, I heard that Malkovich is playing Marvel Comics’ villain and twisted genius Ivan Kragoff. First introduced in January 1963’s Fantastic Four #13, Kragoff is better known as the Red Ghost, a recurring foe of Marvel’s First Family who often used his army of Super-Apes to aid him in his plans.
A brilliant Russian scientist, Kragoff was fascinated with Cosmic Rays and, following the exposure of the Fantastic Four to them built his own spacecraft, loaded it up with primates and intentionally exposed himself to Cosmic Rays as well. He and his simian sidekicks were all mutated by the exposure and took on the Fantastic Four on the Blue Area of the Moon. Malkovich has a famously horrible Russian accent which he has shown off in both Rounders and Billions and given how sharp director Matt Shakman is, that’s almost certainly part of the reason Malkovich is playing Red Ghost.
As speculated back in February, given that The Fantastic Four: First Steps is set in the 1960s and that Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben’s mission to space will be part of the film, the Space Race may well be included. If so, Malkovich’s role as Kragoff makes sense as he both fits the mold of many Marvel Studios villains in that his origins as a villain are uniquely tied to the heroes and he also has enough ties to other characters and potential storylines that he could be kept around and used again down the road.
Following Marvel Studios summer convention circuit, which was laser-focused on the 2025 slate, it’s become clear that the studio has now turned its attention to 2026. In a relatively short amount of time, plans for two films, Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man 4, began to crystalize. However, as it stands now, there are still 2 untitled Marvel Studios films on the release schedule for 2026 which means if the studio hopes to make their respective release dates, they’ll need to make decisions in short order.
The two untitled projects are set to serve as bookends to Doomsday and Spidey 4 which will both arrive in Summer 2026. With one untitled movie dated for February 13th, 2026, time is running out for the studio to get a project up and running if they hope to have something in theaters that day. Typically, Marvel would prefer to give a director about one year of lead time headed into production, meaning they’d typically have had a director on board for the February 2026 film nine months ago. However, despite that not being the case, a new report from a trusted insider points toward one troubled Marvel Studios’ movie potentially making into theaters for that date.
According to Daniel RPK, Marvel’s long-gestating Blade film starring Mahershala Ali stands as the best bet to join Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man 4 on the 2026 theatrical release schedule.
The insider’s report does come with one interesting caveat, however: he believes that the studio will eventually abandon the February date and try to have Blade ready for theaters in time to make the November 6, 2026 date they have staked out for an untitled film.
Unless they get something into production quickly next year even the February 2026 movie might be off the table.
As for right now best bet is they remove the Feb 2026 spot and put Blade in that Nov spot
Of course meeting any 2026 release date is contingent on finding a director for the film. Since it was announced in 2019, Blade has already lost original director Bassam Tariq and his replacement, Yann Demange. Fortunately, according to Daniel RPK, things may be headed in a positive direction as the project may be “close to finding a director.”
Yes, Ali likes the new draft and they're close to finding a director. It's the MCU film most likely to go into production next year with nothing else as close. So aside from the ones we already have (Cap 4, Thunderbolts, F4) it seems like Spidey and Blade are all that's left for… https://t.co/VMtKFjTy7f
Should the studio choose to move Blade into November 2026, that would cut the number of Marvel films on Disney’s recently updated 2026 release schedule by one. While that may be the most realistic option at this time, it’s not the only one. If the powers that be that make up the Marvel Parliament believe they can get Blade and another film in theaters for 2026, there’s no reason they can’t kick the February date down the road while also releasing a fourth film in November.
After three years of reports, rumors and flat-out bullshit about Tom Holland‘s next steps as the MCU’s Spider-Man, a fourth installment in Sony and Marvel Studios’ franchise is finally gearing up for a 2025 start of production and a summer 2026 release. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the new film looks poised to play a pivotal role in the final arc of the Multiverse Saga though at this point in time, it remains unclear what story Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers have cooked up for Holland‘s Parker who is now set to face whatever comes his way without the support system that kept him up and running through the first three films.
Originally rumored as an adaptation of Marvel Comics Devil’s Reign that would feature Spidey teaming up with Daredevil to take on Wilson Fisk in a “street-level Civil War”, more recent buzz had the film evolving into an unprecedented high-stakes crossover event that would feature Sony’s latest Venom villain, Knull, the King in Black. While both of those potential plots certainly have their charms, a new production listing for the film has the film headed in an entirely different direction that would see Parker encounter a familiar face…sort of.
Production Weekly is reporting that the new film, titled Spider-Man: Brand New Day, will spin out of the events of Avengers: Doomsday and feature Robert Downey Jr.‘s Doctor Doom.
Following the events of Doomsday, Peter Parker is determined to lead a normal life and focus on college, stepping back from his responsibilities as Spider-Man. However, peace is short-lived when a deadly new threat emerges, endangering his friends and forcing Peter to reconsider his promise.With stakes higher than ever, Peter reluctantly returns to his Spider-Man identity and finds himself teaming up with an unlikely ally to protect those he loves.
-Reported synopsis of Spider-Man: Brand New Day via Prodcution Weekly
Reading between the lines, if the rumored subtitle and synopsis are correct, it would seem the studio is adapting Dan Slott’s post-Civil War run on The Amazing Spider-Man.
The listing also indicates that Michael Keaton and Andrew Garfield are on board to return as Peter 3 and Adrian Toomes, respectively. While it’s all very interesting and could lead to some fun and unexpected turns for the character, it’s too early to get too excited.
Spider-Man 4 will swing into theaters on July 24, 2026.
However, further extrapolation of the latest news could also lead one to believe that while Blade was not going to be ready for its November 7, 2025 release date, the studio had not abandoned the project. In fact, the lack of recent movement on any other Marvel Studios films was rather an indicator that Kevin Feige and the Parliament (didn’t they chart in the ’60s?) still hoped to get Blade up and running as soon as possible, potentially with an eye on making it into theaters on February 13, 2026. Now, a new report from a reliable Marvel Studios insider gives some credence to that possibility.
As Marvel Studios focuses on finalizing its 2026 theatrical slate, Daniel RPK has reported that work continues on a new script for Blade with an eye on principal photographygetting underway in the UK next year.
Though the new report does not indicate whether Pearson is still on board the project, RPK also reports that the studio is still developing Blade as a dark, R-rated film, although now with a smaller, more reasonable budget than some of its previous projects.
As the studio heads down the home stretch of the Multiverse Saga, tentatively slotting Blade into the first open 2026 release date would leave the powers that be at Marvel with just one more film to pull together and have in theaters on November 6, 2026. Even if Blade continues to face challenges in its development, Marvel could easily vacate the February 13th date and choose to either move it to one of Disney’s four open dates that year or shoot for a November 2026 release and bump whatever unknown project they have slotted in for that date into early 2027, ahead of Avengers: Secret Wars. Whatever the case, it seems as though fans shouldn’t put a stake in the heart of their hopes to see Mahershala Ali‘s Daywalker just yet.
Coming out of the 2024 summer convention circuit, Marvel Studios’ plans for 2026 were almost a complete mystery. Short of Avengers: Doomsday being slotted in for a May 1st release, the studio’s schedule was mostly the subject of speculation. However, over the course of a few hours, that’s all changed as a pair of projects have been tabbed by the trades as having been slated for release in 2026.
Shortly after the news that Sony set Spider-Man 4 for a July 24th release, a trade report indicated that another Avenger is set to join the fray with a solo project in 2026. According to THR, Paul Bettany‘s untitled Vision streaming series is “reportedly set to arrive on Disney + in 2026.”
While at the premiere of his new film Here, Bettany was asked about the Vision series, which will see him return to the role for the first time since 2021’s WandaVision. “We’re cooking up something that I’m really excited about,” said Bettany before adding that “snitches end up in ditches” and refusing further comment.
Marvel’s 2026 Theatrical Slate
As it stands, there will be four MCU-set films in theaters in 2026. However, at this time only Avengers: Doomsday and the Untitled Sony/Marvel Studios Spidey collaboration have been identified. Marvel Studios still has stakes placed in the ground on February 13th and November 6th although it’s unclear what projects will occupy those dates.
Our most recent best guess was that the studio would continue to try to have Blade ready to get in front of cameras early in 2025 and in theaters for February 2026. That said, it’s easy for Disney to continue to kick that can down the road until the project is ready and eventually choose another date.
February 13, 2026 (Untitled Marvel Studios)
May 1, 2026 (Avengers: Doomsday)
July 24, 2026 (Untitled Sony/Marvel Studios Spider-Man sequel)
November 6, 2026 (Untitled Marvel Studios)
Marvel’s 2026 Streaming Slate
Since debuting on the streaming service in 2021 with WandaVision, Marvel Studios has been notoriously stingy with details about release dates for Disney Plus projects. At this time, the only known release date for an upcoming project is Daredevil: Born Again‘s planned March 4, 2025 premiere which was just revealed. Ironheart, which has been in the can for some time, is expected to join Born Again on the 2025 release slate though Disney has not officially confirmed a release window. Keeping all that in mind, it’s hardly surprising that there’s no official word about what projects will stream in 2026 but it’s not incredibly difficult to take some educated guesses.
Though it has yet to be included in any of Marvel Studios’ presentations, Wonder Man completed production some time ago and with the studio slowing the rate at which its streaming series release, it’s likely to be the first live-action series on Disney Plus in 2026. With Bettany confirming that production on Vision is set to get underway next year (earlier reports have indicated that it should kick off in the UK in July) it’s possible it will be ready for release in late 2026.
First half of 2026 (Wonder Man)
Second half of 2026 (Untitled Vision series)
Obviously this does not include any of a number of animated series being developed at the studio. In the case of those projects, any sort of predictions feel unsafe given thattwo series set for release by Disney in 2024 are apparently no longer on the docket.
A recent interview with Don Cheadle seemed to confirm what most fans had already come to understand: Marvel Studios’ original plans for Phase 6 have been significantly refigured. During SDCC ’22, the studio’s head honcho, Kevin Feige, showed off an impressive plan for the final phase of the Multiverse Saga that included 11 total projects. At the time, the plan was for Fantastic Four to kick off Phase 6 on November 8, 2024 and for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars to hit theaters only 6 months apart on May 2nd, 2025 and November 7, 2025, respectively. For a multitude of reasons, nothing on that slate made its scheduled release and many of the projects will never come to fruition at all.
Though the nature of the other eight projects may never be disclosed, at least two more of them were likely destined to be films which would mean the other six were planned as streaming series. Given what the studio’s plans looked like at the time, that’s probably how it was meant to shape up.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
Following the dismal reception of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, a confluence of events led to the plans for the fifth installment in the Avengers franchise to be scrapped. The plans put in place, presumably, in the Quantumania stinger and in Season 2 of Loki were ditched following star Jonathan Majors‘ legal troubles. But what were those plans?
The earliest rumors indicated that Sam Wilson, Shang-Chi and Shuri were set to take on Kang though they were destined to fail. Interestingly enough, that information matched a recent report that indicated the scrapped sequel would have had a heavy focus on Simu Liu‘s hero.
In the original plan for Avengers 5, then called Kang Dynasty, Shang-Chi would’ve been one of the film’s main leads. A lot’s changed since then; Avengers 5 was meant to focus on Kang the Conqueror, but Marvel has since completely retooled the film to introduce Victor Von Doom.
Whether or not “Wreckage or Time” was indeed meant to be the subtitle of the sequel to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, a sequel was most certainly in development. Even as the first film was being made, the wheels inside Destin Daniel Cretton’s mind were hard at work on the sequel. It’s unclear if some of those ideas would ultimately have been included in The Kang Dynasty, which was reportedly a sort of surprise Shang-Chi sequel, but it is clear that Shang-Chi was originally intended to play a major role in Phase 6 and now, with Cretton taking on Spider-Man 4, it would seem his role has been greatly reduced.
Armor Wars
First announced during Disney’s 2020 Investor Day presentation, Armor Wars will go down as one of the most curious projects in the history of the MCU. Originally developed as a Disney Plus streaming series, the studio made the decision to switch gears on Rhodey’s solo project, choosing to overhaul it for theaters. According to EP Nate Moore, the ideas the studio has were deemed to be “too big” for a D+ series.
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.
The only project in this list that was never officially announced by Marvel Studios or revealed by a Hollywood trade, the Silver Surfer Special Presentation may or may not have ever been in development; however, if it ever was, it certainly does not seem to be at this point.
Originally rumored to be set to hit Disney Plus ahead of the theatrical release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the Silver Surfer project was said to be required reading for the film. Problematically, the rumored plot was said to follow Norrin Radd out and about in the cosmos while serving as the Herald of Galactus despite the fact that Marvel Studios cast Julia Garner as an all+new, all-different Shalla Bal version of the character.
While the studio has not officially indicated when the series might begin filming, Marvel TV head Brad Winderbaum did reveal that that Nova is being developed as “an amazing ensemble piece” before explaining that fans of the comics will know “how heated that Richard Rider kind of world can get.” Should the project get underway in 2025, there’s no reason to believe it will be included in Phase 6 which is expected to wrap up in May 2027 with Avengers: Secret Wars. At this point in time, it would seem that the studio’s Wonder Man and Vision Quest series will debut in 2026 and it’s unclear what role, if any, the Nova Corps would even have in the Multiverse Saga making the project a likely entry in the studio’s post-Multiverse Saga plans.
With Venom: The Last Dance opening in theaters and no word on another installment in Sony’s MCU-set Spider-Man franchise, it was increasingly likely that the studio would add to the buzz around Venom’s release by addressing its plans for Spider-Man 4. And with just a couple of days remaining before Tom Hardy‘s last go around as the lethal protector, Tom Holland did indeed let the cat out of the bag.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Holland confirmed plans to film the sequel in the summer of 2025. Should Marvel Studios stick to that schedule, it is likely that Sony will release the film in the summer of 2026 with the July 24th date recently abandoned by Marvel Studios being likely.
When asked by Fallon if he could confirm that he would be back as Spider-Man in Spider-Man 4, Holland played to the crowd a bit before saying,”It’s happening.” The star went to reveal a start date for the project, confirming recent reports. “Next summer, we start shooting. Everything’s good to go – we’re nearly there. Super exciting. Yeah, I can’t wait!“
Holland didn’t give anything more away but it is likely that Spider-Man 4 will join Avengers: Doomsday as MCU-set films releasing in 2026. Marvel Studios has an additional two dates set aside for currently untitled films.
Following Marvel Studios’ Hall H presentation at 2022’s San Diego Comic-Con, 2025 was poised to be the most consequential year for any studio in the history of motion pictures. The studio’s One Above All, Kevin Feige, revealed an incredibly ambitious release schedule that included five streaming series and four films including Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. By October, the 2025 slate had already begun to change in the first of a series of cascading moves by the studio that have continued over the past two years. For myriad reasons, projects have shuffled in, out and around in 2025 leaving fans uncertain of what to expect even as time runs out on 2024.
Avengers: Secret Wars was the first casualty, originally being moved to 2026 and then again to 2027. The Fantastic Four was moved from 2024 into 2025 and then moved later into 2025. Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, originally scheduled for a May 2, 2025 release was moved into 2026 before being scrapped and reimagined as Avengers: Doomsday. And after a semi-disastrous 2023 for Marvel Studios, a Disney-mandated cutback on streaming series jettisoned the plans to have new episodes of MCU-set series releasing nearly year-round. Now, as the studio seems to be settling in following some rethinking, rescheduling and rebranding, the 2025 theatrical release slate has come into focus.
Captain America: Brave New World-February 14, 2025
Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Brave New World stars Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Xosha Roquemore, Carl Lumbly, with Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford.
After meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, Sam finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red.
Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* stars Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, Wendell Edward Pierce, with David Harbour, with Hannah John-Kamen, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Marvel Studios and a crew of indie veterans who sold out present “Thunderbolts*,” an irreverent team-up featuring depressed assassin Yelena Belova alongside the MCU’s least anticipated band of misfits.
Marvel Studios The Fantastic Four: First Steps stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Julia Garner, Ralph Ineson, John Malkovich, Paul Walter-Hauser and Natasha Lyonne.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps sees Galactus and Silver Surfer target Earth for destruction.
With Venom: The Last Dance opening in theaters in just a few days, fans are preparing for what Sony has confirmed is the end of the franchise. However, even if The Last Dance is the the last dance for the Venom franchise, it is starting to seem as though Tom Hardy‘s symbiote may have a few more moves in the tank.
When asked how a Spidey and Venom brawl might play out, Hardy’s gave an answer that will absolutely have fans talking.
“Venom is just like a gorilla, isn’t he? He’ll do what he has to do. I think that would be good fun,” said Hardy who then added that if his Brock were to fight a Spidey, he knows exactly which one hed like it to be.
I think Tom Holland is the best Spider-Man that was ever played, so I’m really fond of him. I think he’s a great actor and a great kid. I’m an old man, but I’d like to work with him.
#Venom: Tom Hardy raves over Tom Holland as "best" Spider-Man and says he wouldn't necessarily met on himself in that fight! 😅👊 Plus, he says there's still "so much more" to do with Venom. #VenomTheLastDance@VenomMoviepic.twitter.com/eIXSRgIFsZ
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