Marvel Phase 4 Is Already A Mess

Marvel Phase 4 Is Already A Mess

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Losing its Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness director is the latest in a string of problems for Phase 4 of the MCU.

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Marvel Phase 4 Is Already A Mess

Losing its Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness director is only the latest in a growing list of problems for Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel’s Phase 4 was already off to a bad start (before even getting fully underway) when James Gunn was fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in summer 2018, and complications for Marvel’s future have continued to crop up ever since, despite a fully booked slated of movies and TV shows releasing over the next few years.

Marvel’s Phase 3 ended on a fantastic note by having all three of its 2019 films reach $1 billion. Captain Marvel, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Avengers: Endgame were all massive hits for Marvel and Disney. (However, Spider-Man: Far From Home was a Sony Pictures movie, so they earned the money on it.) In fact, one of the three films, Avengers: Endgame, managed to pass James Cameron’s Avatar and become the highest grossing movie of all-time. Suffice to say, 2019 was a record-breaking year for Marvel. Since Avengers: Endgame isn’t something that Marvel plans to rival anytime soon, no one is expecting the studio to top its 2019’s earnings in 2020 or 2021. That being said, the bar has been set high for Phase 4, and it’s still expected to continue the success of the MCU.

Marvel has several films confirmed for Phase 4, beginning with Black Widow and Eternals in 2020. 2021 will be the most crowded yet with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Spider-Man: Homecoming 3, and Thor: Love and Thunder. Plus, Marvel Studios has eight MCU TV shows on their way to Disney+, beginning sometime this year. Never before has Marvel Studios tried to pack so much content into just two years. Though there’s plenty for fans to be excited about in Phase 4, there’s also been a great deal of bad news – and, in turn, it’s shown that Marvel Phase 4 is already a mess.

Guardians of the Galaxy Was Supposed To Launch Phase 4

Marvel Phase 4 Is Already A Mess

When Marvel was still in the midst of Phase 3, it was understood – though never officially announced – that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 would launch Phase 4. It was known to be in development long before Black Widow began to move forward, and even before a single thing had been reported about Shang-Chi and Eternals. This plan fell apart when its director, James Gunn, was fired over old, obscene tweets. Nearly a year later, Marvel reversed its decision and rehired Gunn, but that point, things had changed so much that it was impossible to get Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 going in time for its original release.

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Marvel had Gunn back, but its initial plan for Phase 4 had already been dismantled since the director had moved on and the date to begin filming in early 2020 had already passed. At that point, Gunn had been tapped to direct The Suicide Squad for DC, so there was no way that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 could release in Phase 4, much less 2020, which was its expected release date. The fact that Marvel had intended for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to release in 2020 is likely the reason why 2020 only has two MCU movies instead of three. This is the first time that’s happened since 2016. And perhaps to compensate for this, they are releasing four movies in 2021. But even then, there was an issue getting that fourth movie on the docket.

Marvel Studios Nearly Lost Spider-Man

Marvel Phase 4 Is Already A Mess

One of the biggest entertainment news stories of 2019 was the Spider-Man debacle and the Sony-Disney split. Following the success of Spider-Man: Far From Home, Sony and Disney had trouble coming to a new deal that would keep Spider-Man in the MCU. As a result, it was reported that Spider-Man’s time in the MCU was over, and any future movies starring Tom Holland as the wall-crawler would either be separate or in Sony’s own shared universe that they are developing (beginning with 2018’s Venom). The reports were both shocking and disappointing for fans. Some blamed Sony, while others felt that Disney was responsible.

Marvel fans breathed a sigh of relief when it was revealed that Disney and Sony resolved the issue in a way that would allow Marvel to use Spider-Man for one more solo movie and an additional appearance in an unspecified film, potentially a team-up film, though it’s unclear when that will be or if there’s a deadline for it to happen. The original Spider-Man deal between Sony and Disney worked wonderfully for both studios, and this new deal, while similar in many ways, changes some of the fine print to keep both sides happy. Considering how popular the MCU Spider-Man has been, this was a good decision, but there was a time that it wouldn’t have happened and arguably the number one Tony Stark successor wouldn’t have been around.

Doctor Strange 2 Is No Longer A Horror Movie (& Lost Its Director)

Marvel Phase 4 Is Already A Mess

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has received a considerable amount of buzz since it was announced at SDCC 2019. Much of that was due to its director Scott Derrickson, who helped make Doctor Strange a unique – and highly successful – addition to the MCU. Furthermore, Doctor Strange became a key player and fan-favorite character in Avengers: Infinity War, which boosted his potential for another solo film after the Thanos story arc had concluded. Plus, Doctor Strange performed well enough in 2016 to justify the decision to bring Derrickson back for a sequel, so things were starting to look up. Having Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch in the movie merely added to the excitement.

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Unfortunately, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness became less exciting when Derrickson announced that he stepped down as director due to creative differences with Marvel. It would seem that these “creative differences” are related to Derrickson, a director who has often dabbled in the horror genre, wanting to dive deeper into the horror elements for the sequel. Based on recent comments from Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, Marvel was hesitant to go that route with Doctor Strange 2. A horror film from Marvel Studios certainly would have been a different direction for the MCU – and that’s exactly why so many people were looking forward to it. Embracing different styles and genres has been a greatly beneficial approach for Marvel Studios thus far. Horror is merely one of these genres that they have yet to dive into, and it was one that people were excited to see.

WandaVision Is Releasing Earlier And Could Be Less Connected

When Disney+ launched, the plan was for the service to receive its first MCU TV show in late 2020 with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which was to be Marvel Studios’ only new series this year. This was a problem for Disney+, considering that the service had no high-profile original TV shows airing between The Mandalorian and late 2020, with only a handful of other shows debuting at various points in between. In what seemed to be an attempt to fix this issue, Disney moved WandaVision from 2021 to 2020. WandaVision was originally schedule to release in spring 2021, which would have put it close to Doctor Strange 2 and allow the series to tie and lead directly into the movie.

It’s been said that Marvel’s MCU shows are deeply intertwined with the movies, and the understanding was that WandaVision – a show that starred Doctor Strange 2’s Scarlet Witch – would set up Doctor Strange 2’s story. That can’t happen now, since Shang-Chi will be the first movie to release after WandaVision and the first movie of 2021. The connection between the two may still exist, but it won’t be as strongly felt with the two releasing several months apart. Major scheduling adjustments, losing directors, and the near loss of its biggest hero are making a mess of Marvel’s Phase 4, but how much of an impact these issues will actually have on Marvel at the box office remains to be seen. Everything seems to still be on target for their respective release dates, so at least there may not be much damage control for Marvel to do.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/marvel-phase-4-problems-changes-doctor-strange-guardians-galaxy-spiderman/

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