With the Coronavirus continuing to prevent film studios from undergoing production, studios have had to quickly adjust their calendars in order to plan their future. This has impacted every studio in the industry, including the incredibly meticulous Marvel Cinematic Universe ran by Disney. The House of Mouse has already re-adjusted their future calendar once, essentially pushing back the entire Phase 4 slate by a few months to adapt to the ever-changing circumstances. It appears Disney has a few more changes up their sleeve, now moving Doctor Strange 2 and Thor 4 back from their original release dates.
According to Variety, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder are both moving from their original release dates, with Doctor Strange moving from November 21, 2021 to March 25, 2022 while Thor is moving from February 18, 2022, to February 11, 2022. This means Marvel will have a big 2022 planned, with 4 titles (also including Black Panther and Captain Marvel sequels) hitting theaters.
These moves make sense on paper, with Doctor Strange likely taking an extra few months with Sam Raimi taking over for Scott Derrickson. As far as Thor: Love and Thunder moving up a week, this is a good call as gives these two titles a bit more space while positioning Thor to do well during President’s Day weekend. While it stinks there are going to be less frequent Marvel releases the next few years (last year had just as many MCU releases as all of 2020 and 2021), it makes sense given the grave circumstances across the globe.
Personally, I am intrigued to see what Raimi will bring to Doctor Strange 2, as the director is an icon for his stylistic verve and inventiveness. Derickson’s version of the film pushed for a supernatural/horror angle, which would be awesome to see Raimi explore as he began his career in the genre.
What do you think about these MCU moves? Let us know in the comments!