Marvel has hit a rough patch. There's been some good buzz lately with the 'The Fantastic Four' casting announcement. But "The Marvels" did poorly with critics and at the box office. Most crucially, Jonathan Majors created a veritable "Kangtastrophe" when he was accused of and subsequently found guilty of reckless assault in the third degree and guilty of harassment.
Marvel immediately fired Majors after the guilty verdict, but the loss of its big villain for the next phase of the MCU is still being felt.
Well, at least that's the public perception. In a recent exposé, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Marvel had already begun a soft retool of the upcoming Marvel movie and TV shows once "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" bombed with critics and fans alike. Here are the three big takeaways from that shocking reveal and what you should expect from Marvel's retool of the MCU.
Marvel's MCU retool: 3 biggest takeaways
Kang has been conquered
According to the reporting done by Borys Kit and Aaron Couch at THR, Majors' conviction was either the straw that broke the camel's back, or maybe just the excuse Marvel needed to move on from Majors ... and Kang. Insiders told them that Marvel had already been working to minimize the character after "Quantumania" failed to meet expectations.
I wrote in the immediate aftermath of Majors's dismissal from the MCU, that the best course that Marvel can take is to move on from the character entirely and shift towards other storylines. Based on this reporting — and the absence from Kang in the upcoming Marvel slate — it seems that's exactly what Marvel plans to do.
And if you've watched "Loki" season 2 ... well, you'd certainly believe those insiders. The second season of the show features two variants of Kang the Conqueror, but both (spoiler alert) end the season in a position where they never need to return to the MCU. Additionally, only the variant He Who Remains really worked on a critical level, and in retrospect, it's possible that the writing of that character is what made it such a hit in season 1 more than anything else.
Now, it seems likely that Marvel is shelving the character entirely. I wrote in the immediate aftermath of Majors's dismissal from the MCU, that the best course that Marvel can take is to move on from the character entirely and shift towards other storylines. Based on this reporting — and the absence from Kang in the upcoming Marvel slate — it seems that's exactly what Marvel plans to do.
Showrunners may start running the show at Marvel
As reported in the THR article, Disney CEO Bob Iger said that "some of our studios lost a little focus." This appears to be directly referencing the fact that Marvel just started pumping out TV shows and movies for Disney Plus in the years following "Avengers: Endgame" and most of them left something to be desired.
However, the clear nadir seems to have been last year's "Secret Invasion." According to insiders, the expensive failure was a major wake-up call for Marvel Studios and is at least partially being blamed on the sidelining of executive producer Kyle Bradstreet.
This isn't the first reporting Kit has done of the behind-the-scenes shift Marvel has done regarding its TV shows. Back in October, Kit reported that Marvel's desire to not conform to traditional TV making has caused serious issues. Multiple projects that went on to produce middling results had show creators replaced part way through production — specifically "Moon Knight" and "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law."
Now though, it seems that Marvel plans to allow show creators greater control. And to ensure those showrunners can execute their plan properly, there may be some delays to give creatives as much time as possible to get things right.
'Blade' likely just one of many delays to come
Speaking of delays, Marvel fans should expect plenty of them in the coming year or so. Per Kit and Couch's reporting, there's mounting speculation that "Blade" will be moved out of its November 2025 release window and likely moved out of 2025 entirely.
This could be in no small part due to Iger's desire for the studio to focus on the shows and movies it releases. Marvel has only one movie coming out in its 2024 slate — "Deadpool & Wolverine" — but a whopping four movies on the books for 2025. Given Disney no longer wants to flood audiences with content, Blade seems likely to be the one getting pushed back to allow the other three movies to breathe.
This reshuffling and delaying tactic is not likely to be limited to movies either. Despite several series like "Ironheart" already being filmed, only "X-Men '97" and "Agatha: Darkhold diaries have official release dates/windows for 2024. If that doesn't change soon, it could be a sign that Marvel is intentionally holding off on TV shows as well.
