‘Blade’, ‘Deadpool 3’, ‘Fantastic Four’, ‘Secret Wars’ and more Marvel films delayed

Los Angeles, Oct. 12 (IANS): Disney has paused its film schedule, delaying the releases of ‘Blade’, ‘Deadpool 3’, ‘Fantastic Four’ and other major Marvel properties.

As part of the shuffle, ‘Blade’ has moved from November 3, 2023, to September 6, 2024.

‘Deadpool 3’ has relocated from September 6, 2024, to November 8, 2024; ‘Fantastic Four’ has shifted from November 8, 2024, to February 14, 2025; an untitled Marvel film has been pushed from February 14, 2025, to November 7, 2025; ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ has been delayed from November 7, 2025, to May 1, 2026; and another untitled Marvel film set for May 1, 2026 has been removed from Disney’s calendar, reports ‘Variety’.

In non-comic book news, Searchlight’s historical drama ‘Chevalier’, starring Kelvin Harrison Jr. as the musician Chevalier de Saint-Georges, will open in theaters on April 7, 2023; ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ is set for May 24, 2024; and ‘A Haunting in Venice’ is dated for September 15, 2023.

In the case of ‘Blade’, the yearlong postponement is unsurprising, given the recent news that Bassam Tariq exited the project, leaving the film without a director.

Marvel has paused the production — starring Mahershala Ali as the title vampire slayer — as the studio looks to hire a new helmer.

Given the interconnected storylines in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the substantial delay for ‘Blade’ reverberated on the rest of the films in development.

The next Marvel movie to hit the big screen will be November’s ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, which marks the end of Phase Four of the MCU.

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige announced in July at San Diego Comic-Con that ‘Fantastic Four’ will kick off Phase Six, making ‘Blade’ and ‘Deadpool 3’ the final two films to round out Phase Five.

(IANS)