Be honest with yourself: do you truly know the rules of Marvel Studios’ Multiverse? If the answer is yes, good for you; however, the vast majority of fans tuning in to watch the latest streaming series or heading into theaters for the next big MCU film don’t know a Nexus Point from a Jump Point. So while hardcore fans might love to debate what should or should not be counted as canon or what projects should be on the Sacred Timeline, it’s really not that big of a deal to most fans. However, according to Emi Yonemura, who directed two episodes of Marvel Animation’s X-Men ’97, Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, almost made a change so big it would have grabbed everyone’s attention.
In an interview with Inverse, Yonemura revealed that Feige considered setting the events of X-Men ’97 firmly within the MCU’s Sacred Timeline. “That has always been something we know was on Kevin Feige’s mind, do we make this part of the MCU? Do we not make this part of the MCU?” said Yonemura. “It’s actually gone back and forth quite a few times, and I think we did land in a smart place because [X-Men: The Animated Series] was its own thing, and I think that to continue it we needed to be our own thing.“
While it’s not entirely clear how X-Men ’97–or its predecessor, X-Men: The Animated Series–would have fit within the current parameters of the Sacred Timeline, another member of ’97s creative team is glad the decision was made to keep it separate. “We’re getting the X-Men in this format and we’re doing it justice not just by ourselves, but also other fans as well, and we’re starting to get a resurgence of the X-Men in film again,” said director Jake Castorena. “I love that. And I think it’s great that we can have different things, let them be different.”
According to Castorena, “it’s all connected” actually presents its own set of problems. “If you try to connect things like that, it may or may not, I dare not say hinder storytelling, but let them do their stories,” Castorena continued. “Let us do our stories and let the rest of the world eat it up, man.” With a Multiverse full of possibilities and hundreds of great X-Men stories that have yet to be told through animation or live-action, there should be plenty for the world to eat up for the foreseeable future.
In an interview with Deadline, Holland explained that while there’s still work to do on getting the fourth installment in the franchise up and running, he will “I’ll always want to do Spider-Man films.”
“The simple answer is that I’ll always want to do Spider-Man films,” Holland explained to Deadline when asked if he planned to return to the dual roles of Peter Parker and Spider-Man. “I owe my life and career to Spider-Man. So the simple answer is yes. I’ll always want to do more.” And while those comments will certainly relieve any anxiety fans have about seeing the character return to action in the MCU, Holland once again shared that his return for a follow-up to Spider-Man: No Way Home is dependent on a story that does the character justice.
“We have the best in the business working toward whatever the story might be. But until we’ve cracked it, we have a legacy to protect,” said Holland. “The third movie was so special in so many ways that we need to make sure we do the right thing.” The actor then revealed that he’s working behind the scenes with the creative team to ensure the right thing is done. “This is the first time in this process that I’ve been part of the creative so early. It’s just a process where I’m watching and learning. It’s just a really fun stage for me. Like I said, everyone wants it to happen. But we want to make sure we’re not overdoing the same things.”
Marvel Studios’ only theatrical release of 2024, Deadpool and Wolverine, is due out in just about 12 weeks which means it’s time for the big wheel of promotion to start rolling in earnest. To that end, with a new trailer due out tomorrow, the studio has pushed out a teaser on social media along with a new poster for the film.
The poster gives a great look at the detail of the arm of Hugh Jackman’s comic-accurate suit.
The teaser itself doesn’t seem to give anything away, though it does spend a lot of its runtime on the death of Wolverine as seen in 2018’s Logan.
2023 was a tough year for Marvel Studios. Between the poor performance of a poor movie (Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania), the poor performance of a better movie (The Marvels) and an abomination of a streaming series that doesn’t seem to have any redeeming qualities (Secret Invasion), the studio’s once sterling reputation for churning out quality projects took a hit. With the ground beneath their Multiverse Saga already a bit shaky, news broke that Jonathan Majors, who had signed on as the saga’s big bad, was accused of assault and harassment of his girlfriend. Majors was later convicted of those charges and fired by the studio. Publicly, 2023 was an all-around bad look for the studio.
Things weren’t much better behind the scenes either. Several projects in development came under intense scrutiny as the aforementioned projects didn’t land with the usual fanfare. Notably, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty lost its writer, Jeff Loveness, its director, Destin Daniel Cretton, and its subtitle. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron, who was already working on Avengers: Secret Wars, took over writing duties on Avengers 5 but as nonword emerged on a mew director, fama began to wonder just how big of a mess there was to clean up and if the film would make its 2026 release date. 2023 was a rough year but as the spring of 2024 arrives, so does some hope for the project.
According to reliable scoopers Jeff “The In” Sneider and Daniel RPK, Marvel Studios is currently searching for a director for Avengers 5. More promising is that the studio is reportedly planning to start principal photography on the project in early 2025 with an eye on making the May 1, 2026 release date.
While no names were shared by either insider, Sneider’s report came with the addendum that he’s heard the studio is seeking a director with whom they haven’t worked before. If accurate, that means names like Ryan Coogler, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead, or even Sam Raimi, aren’t going to land the gig. It also means Joe and Anthony Russo, who sheparded the studio through the back half of the Infinity Saga, probably aren’t coming back to save the day.
Even without a solid idea of who might be helming the film, moving ahead with the search likely means Waldron’s work on the script for Avengers 5 has been progressing well. If so, names of potential directors will certainly begin to emerge over the weeks and months ahead as the studio will look to pair Waldron with someone with a similar creative vision, allowing them to get to work on revising the script and preparing for production.
John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein carry some heavy nerd cred. Having earned writing credits for Spider-Man: Homecoming , Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves–which they also directed–and The Flash, the creative duo has established themselves as a key player in the modern push to bring comics and gaming to the big screen. According to a new rumor, their recent resume has put them in contention to take charge of one of Marvel Studios’ most important projects.
According to reliable MCU insider Daniel RPK, Daley and Goldstein are among the pool of talent being considered to direct Spider-Man 4.
According to RPK, directors Justin Lin and Drew Goddard, who were once rumored to be in the pool of directors considered for the film, are no longer in the mix. The still untitled fourth film in the franchise has been rumored to head into production later this year.
First announced at SDCC ’19, Marvel Studios’ Blade has become something of an enigma. Constant changes to the project’s creative team and the 2023 Hollywood strikes delayed the film so many times that fans began to believe the Daywalker would never make it back to the big screen. However, although the film was left out of Kevin Feige’s CinemaCon presentation of Marvel Studios’ 2025 films, Blade is still making its way down the production pipeline and the studio has every intention of bringing Mahershala Ali‘s passion project to theaters.
In January 2024, rumors of the latest version of the film’s script, written by Michael Green, surfaced and it sounded pretty badass. At that time, the film was said to be a period piece in which Mia Goth‘s villainous character was hunting for Blade’s daughter to use her blood to create an army of Daywalkers. Goth’s character was also rumored to be sporting the Ebony Blade, seen in the post-credit scene of Eternals to be in the home of Kit Harrington‘s Dane Whitman. While some or all of those things may still be part of the script, rumors of another revision to the project have surfaced as well as some information about when it may finally begin filming.
According to insider Daniel RPK, Blade will now be set in the MCU’s present day and will still feature Goth’s Lilith as the big bad. With a solid script now in place, production is scheduled to begin in the UK late in 2024.
Whether set in the past or the present, the film still has the potential to do a lot of heavy lifting for Marvel Studios as they continue to construct a corner of the MCU dedicated to monsters and legitimate horror projects. Werewolf By Night tested the waters in that regard and left fans hoping for more. It sounds as though Blade is not only the next step in that direction but also an important stepping stone itself as Daniel RPK also claims that the film will set up another project: Marvel Studios Midnight Sons. Midnight Sons is a term associated with a group of supernatural superheroes in Marvel Comics. They typically deal with occult threats and darker, supernatural elements within the Marvel Universe. The team has varied in its composition over the years but often includes characters like Ghost Rider, Blade, Doctor Strange, and others with connections to the supernatural or occult.
They gave me the R, which is so important.We are going to have fun because Mahershala is such a deep actor. I’m excited to show a kind of ruthlessness, a roughness he has, that allows him to walk the earth in a particular way. I love him for that. He’s got a dignity and integrity, but there is a ferocity there that he usually keeps under the surface. I want to unleash that and put it on the screen.
-Director Yann Demange on Blade’s R-rating
Though it has been delayed more times than anyone would like to count, it sounds as though Marvel Studios has taken the right approach in taking their time to put together a strong script for the R-rated adventure. With as long as they’ve spent crafting Blade, perhaps they’ve finally found the right mix behind the scenes to make the equal of a Hattori Hanzō.
Blade is currently slated to hit theaters on November 7, 2025.
Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson and Elizabeth Olsen have had plenty of rightful praise heaped upon them for their performances as their respective MCU characters. Those actors have indelibly put their marks on those roles and their characters were cornerstones of Marvel Studios’ success. One could, however, make the argument that Paul Bettany, whose Vision first appeared in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, could be added to that list.
Bettany brought life to the Synthezoid and by the time Avengers: Infinity War rolled out in 2018, Vision was at the center of everything, including one of the MCU’s most heartbreaking moments to date. Despite being destroyed, Vision made his way back to the Multiverse Saga in WandaVision where Bettany shined as both the Hex Vision and White Vision. As the series wrapped, White Vision declared himself THE Vision and flew off into the sunset leaving the door open for further adventures.
According to insider Daniel RPK, production on Vision Quest is expected to begin this October in the UK.
Jac Schaeffer, who served as the showrunner on WandaVision–and its 2024 sequel series, Agatha, was reported to be overseeing the project in 2022 and in 2023, Schaeffer brought Eileen Shim into the writer’s room. Outside of that, little is truly known about the series other than it will follow the White Vision as he seeks to regain his memories and humanity.
While multiple Marvel Studios involve flashbacks, no project has been primarily set prior to World War II. As a result, the epoch of the MCU’s timeline has remained the same since Captain America: The First Avenger debuted in 2011. And so while the Disney Plus MCU Complete Timeline changes as each new project hits the streaming service, the beginning of it has remained static since its debut. But that’s all about to change.
X-Men ’97 has been overwhelmingly successful for Marvel Studios and with its attention-grabbing action coming on the heels of a much more well-received second season of What If…?, audiences have been reminded of the power of telling stories through animation. With X-Men ’97 now into its back nine, another animated series has continued to generate some buzz as rumors and speculation about it circulate. And though it doesn’t have a release date just yet, Eyes of Wakanda will debut in 2024 and become the new jumping off point on the MCU Complete Timeline.
As seen in Black Panther, the history of Wakanda stretches back to 28,000 B.C. though the meteorite that brought Vibranium to Africa and the Atlantic Ocean fell from the sky much earlier in 2,500,000 B.C. While projects such as Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and each of the Thor films have included flashbacks that predate Captain America: The First Avenger‘s WWII setting–and even predate the flashbacks in Black Panther–they are primarily set in “the present” and, as such, are placed far further down the timeline than Cap’s first MCU adventure. This will not be the case with Eyes of Wakanda.
According to reports about the series, one of the four 30-minute episodes is set during the time of the Trojan War. While it seems historians are all over the place when trying to pin down exactly when the Trojan War took place–if at all–an episode set during it would likely take place in the 12th or 11th century B.C. If so, will the Disney Plus timeline change?
Of course, some narrative devices could prevent Eyes of Wakanda from being the new #1 on the timeline. The studio could choose to have the series told by someone in the present day–perhaps Shuri is telling her nephew, T’Challa, for example–making each episode a flashback. In that case, the series would end up tacked on later on the timeline after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. That decision has already been made, of course, by Coogler and director Todd Harris and ultimately where the series appears on the timeline plays no role at all in how the stories told within it shaped Wakanda, Talokan, and, as we might be about to find out, some other places in the 616 universe.
For the second time in just a few weeks, a reliable Marvel Studios’ insider has indicated that production on the studio’s fourth Spider-Man film–which will once again be made in collaboration with Sony– will get underway before the end of 2024. While that’s definitely an encouraging development for fans who have been waiting to find out when Tom Holland‘s Peter Parker will return to the screen, the rumored start date could point to some interesting possibilities for the film.
If production does indeed kick off in late 2024, it provides Sony with an opportunity to release Spider-Man 4 in 2025, something they have been reportedly hoping to achieve. Production on the previous three Spider-Man films have taken 3-4 months to complete; if the same timeline is followed in the fourth installment, principal photography should be complete by the end of January 2025. Could the film then be ready to hit theaters before the end of 2025?
The short answer is that it absolutely could be. Each of the last three MCU-set Spider-Man films hit theaters roughly eight months after they wrapped principal photography. Most recently, Spider-Man: No Way Home began production in October 2020, took a break for the holidays, resumed in January 2021 and concluded in late-March. No Way Home hit theaters in mid-December 2021.
Being ready for theaters is one thing; finding a release date in an already jam-packed 2025 is something else entirely. Sony Pictures, not Marvel Studios, sets the dates for the releases of their Spider-Man collaborations. As of now, Sony has an Untitled Marvel Movie set for June 27, 2025. Even by Sony’s sometimes bewildering standards, 3 months in post-production surely can’t be enough. However, just because Sony sets the dates does not mean Marvel Studios, who produces the collaborations, won’t work with their partner in finding a suitable release date. And to that end, an interesting coincidence may point to a target date for Spider-Man 4.
Only a Fool Would Charge into Battle with a Dull Blade
With Marvel Studios still working on the back end of its Multiverse Saga, including the fifth Avengers film which is currently still slated for a May 1, 2026 release, its easy to imagine Blade being pushed to their open February 13, 2026 date even without Spider-Man 4 being taken into consideration. However, if Sony is keen on getting Holland’s Webhead into theaters in 2025, Disney could work with them on doing so since it benefits their MCU as well. While Sony likely covets a mid-December release for Spidey 4, James Cameron‘s Avatar 3–a sure billion dollar box office take for Disney–is set for December 19, 2025. Cameron recently claimed that Avatar 3 was on track for that date and if that’s true, there’s no way Disney budges from that date. However, they might happily move Blade into 2026 leaving a big opening for Spider-Man 4 to hit theaters on November 7, 2025.
Marvel Team-Up: The Wallcrawler and The Man Without Fear
After a lengthy delay in the production of Daredevil: Born Again which allowed Marvel Studios to retool the project, principal photography on the first nine episodes wrapped in early April 2024. With those episodes in the can, work on post-production to get the episodes ready for a 2025(?) release will take priority. With that work being done as well as continued work on the scripts for the next nine episodes, it was reported that the cast and crew won’t resume work on Daredevil: Born Again until November 2024. Isn’t that convenient…?
If work on Spider-Man 4 begins in September and production on Daredevil: Born Again doesn’t resume until November, there is ample opportunity for Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio and anyone else from the cast of the streaming series to film scenes for Spidey 4. Like Hannibal Smith, Feige loves it when a plan comes together.
To be sure, this is a big game of dominos and we’ve not even seen the first one fall just yet; however, should things line up with the schedules of directors (one is not yet in place for Spider-Man 4, though an offer was reportedly extended to someone), actors and studio availability, everyone could come out of a shit storm smelling like roses.
Kevin Feige‘s first trip to CinemaCon was impressive, revealing first look footage at Marvel Studios’ next two theatrical releases, Deadpool and Wolverine, out July 26th, and Captain America: Brave New World, slated for February 14, 2025. In addition to the footage, Feige talked about a pair of projects also set for 2025 releases, Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four. Notably absent from the panel, however, was another projected slated for 2025 that’s been the subject of fan concerns for some time.
Some Motherfuckers Are Always Trying to Ice-Skate Uphill
First announced at SDCC ’19, the development of Marvel Studios’ Mahershala Ali-led Blade reboot has been as nightmarish as Dominic Purcell‘s portrayal of Dracula in 2004’s Blade: Trinity. A new writer here (Michael Green is the sixth writer to work on the film’s script), a new director there and multiple delays to the start of production have led fans to wonder if the Daywalker will ever see the light of day.
Though recent rumors indicate the project is headed in the right direction–and it sounds like a pretty badass direction–fans are still hesitant to believe the film will hit theaters, much less make its current November7, 2025 release date. That concern was exacerbated when Feige failed to mention Blade at CinemaCon while every other 2025 film was given at least some level of attention.
The World You Live in Is Just a Sugar-Coated Topping
Is Blade cancelled? Has it been moved to 2026?
At this point, there’s been no indication that Blade won’t get made. In fact, as recently as March 2024, reliable sources indicated a late-2024 start of production in the UK was on the schedule. What’s more likely, especially with Bob Iger‘s return to Disney coming with a mandate to make sure projects don’t begin production until they’ve passed some quality checks, is that Disney isn’t sure if it will make its 2025 date or move into 2026.
And, at this point in time, that’s just fine. As the old adage goes,”a finely crafted blade will never meet as many blows on the battlefield as it did on the anvil.” With three films (Captain America: Breve New World, Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four) seemingly assured to release in 2025, Marvel Studios can comfortably take their time on the anvil to make sure their Blade is finely crafted.
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