Fans would need to wait a little bit longer to see 'Doctor Strange', 'Thor', 'Black Panther' among other Marvel film franchises to return to the silver screens as the releases dates for these projects have been delayed by Disney.
According to Variety, the company has delayed release plans for several upcoming films, including 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' from March 25 to May 6, 'Thor: Love and Thunder' from May 6 to July 8 and 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' from July 8 to Nov. 11.
With the 'Black Panther' sequel shifting to November, 'The Marvels' release has been postponed to early 2023. As part of the rollback, 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' was bumped from February 17 to July 28, 2023.
Along with the deluge of Marvel delays, Disney has moved the fifth 'Indiana Jones' instalment back nearly a year. The still-untitled film, starring Harrison Ford as the fedora-wearing, swashbuckling archaeologist, will open on June 30, 2023, instead of July 29, 2022.
The major release date shuffle comes after Marvel's 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' cemented its place as a pandemic-era box office hit and ahead of 'Eternals', the MCU entry that is scheduled for November 5. The scheduling overhaul is related to production and not box office returns, according to sources at Disney.
The next 'Black Panther' entry, for one, is still filming in Atlanta. Since Marvel has become an interconnected and meticulously planned universe, which spans dozens of films and several new television series, any production delay causes a domino effect on the rest of the franchise.
Disney movies on schedule for the 2021 release will play exclusively in theatres for 45 days before moving to digital platforms, however, the company has not solidified plans for 2022 and beyond, as per Variety.
( With inputs from ANI )
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