Marvel’s Next Phase Of Movies In Trouble?
According to a new report, you should take everything you think you know about the rollouts of Marvel’s Phase 5 and 6 with a big ol’ grain of salt. The Cosmic Circus claims Disney isn’t happy with the performance of Phase 4 and that the parent company could be stepping in to make sure the next two phases perform better. One of the issues that oversight is reportedly targeting is over saturation, which could mean the delay or cancellation of some of the already announced Marvel projects like Blade or Fantastic Four.
The report, which remains unconfirmed, says that the oversight will mostly be looking at projects in pre-production. Presumably that means films already in the can with announced release dates like next year’s Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and The Marvels are all safe. Marvel fans might be a little bit more concerned about later films however, particularly in terms of those that have already experienced some behind the scenes drama.
When it comes to Phase 5 projects, arguably the very first project to be worried about is the reboot of Blade, led by Mahershala Ali (Green Card). Production shut down on the film in October after director Bassam Tariq (Mogul Mowgli) left the project. Unconfirmed reports have suggested that both Tariq and Ali were unhappy with the script, which apparently would have included very little action.
By the end of November Marvel recruited Yann Demange (Lovecraft Country) to replace Tariq, but according to Cosmic Circus’ report the project could face a new problem. The site claims Disney is taking a special look at projects without obvious ties to Multiverse saga. While we don’t know the precise plot of the Blade reboot, it isn’t the kind of property that would traditionally lend itself well to Multiverse stories.
Another movie that Disney’s oversight might see as a problem child is Fantastic Four. On one hand the project already lost its first director Jon Watts; and both Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer and the 2015 reboot crashed and burned, which may not put a lot of confidence in the property. On the other hand considering the very nature of the titular team’s adventures and the fact that in the source material they’re integral to how Secret Wars is resolved, it’s a sure bet that Kevin Feige’s plans for the film tie directly into the Multiverse saga.
The report doesn’t say that Disney will outright cancel projects except as a last resort, but one option the company is reportedly considering is getting much more use out of its–so far popular–“Special Presentation” format on Disney+. Both such Marvel projects released this year–Werewolf by Night and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special–have proven successful.
