Marvel’s been having a pretty quiet time at the box office as of late, as it prepares to head into a new Avengers duology to cap off its latest, up-and-down era in a pretty subdued manner. 2025 may have 3 MCU movies to its name (and a host of TV projects), but after Fantastic Four: First Steps, just four movies will release across 2026 and 2027. But once the dust settles on Secret Wars? Marvel Studios is cranking things back up.
Variety reports that Disney has now dated a fourth untitled Marvel theatrical release to its 2028 slate, slotting in at December 15, 2028, and joining untitled projects already set for February, May, and November of that year. As much as 2028 already doesn’t feel like a real year at this point, a year with four films that don’t have titles or even franchises attached to them yet feels even faker.
But at the very least the commitment in the here and now suggests that, after spending a few years acknowledging that Marvel may have faltered by trying to pump out so many series and films in the wake of Infinity War, the studio wants to do exactly that once more once Avengers: Secret Wars rolls out in December 2027 and the seventh “phase” of the MCU kicks off in earnest.
We’re still going to be in that quieter phase for the next few years though. Once First Steps releases next month, the next Marvel movie will arrive in the form of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, currently set for a July 2026 slot, followed by Avengers: Doomsday in December that same year. 2027 is currently slated similarly, with a currently untitled project set for July, and the aforementioned Secret Wars in December. That is, of course, not counting any potential streaming TV projects that are currently in the works, like more seasons of X-Men ’97, Daredevil: Born Again, and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, as well as series like Wonder Man, Eyes of Wakanda, Marvel Zombies, and Vision Quest. There’s still going to be a lot of Marvel, it’s just that not much of it will be on the big screen.
As to what those 2028 films might end up being, it’s perhaps not too out of the realm of possibility to suspect that one of them might be the MCU’s long-awaited debut of the X-Men, with Thunderbolts‘ Jake Schreier currently tapped to bring mutantkind to the big screen once more. We know Black Panther 3 is in the works, so that might not be out of the question, and Variety’s report also casually makes note that a sequel to Fantastic Four: First Steps is also now in development, so it’s possible we could see Marvel’s first family return in 2028 too.
Hell, maybe one of them might end up being Blade. Mahershala Ali can dream, right?
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
English (US) ·