In what appears to be yet further confirmation that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is currently both directionless and in shambles, a recent update to the official Disney Plus website appears to indicate that Marvel is further delaying all of its streaming-exclusive content.
As per edits made by the House of Mouse on March 15th, where once the streaming service listed official tentative release windows for all of its upcoming Marvel series – Agatha: Coven of Chaos, Daredevil: Born Again, Echo, Ironheart, Loki Season 2, Secret Invasion, Spider-Man: Freshman Year, What If…? Season 2, and X-Men ’97 – it now asserts that each project is simply ‘Coming Soon’.
Most notable among these delays are the second seasons of Loki and What If…?, as not only were both previously on track to release in Summer 2023 and Early 2023, respectively, but they have also already seen significant marketing, with the former having had its upcoming season teased in the post-credits scene to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and the latter having unveiled a new original character, Kahhori, earlier this month.
This shake-up comes just a little over two months after Marvel boss Kevin Feige revealed to Entertainment Weekly that, in light of Disney announcing that they would be seeking to cut roughly $3 Billion in costs from their budget, “The pace at which we’re putting out the Disney+ shows will change so they can each get a chance to shine.”
Asked if the studio would seek to achieve this goal by spacing out their shows or putting out fewer per year, he responded, “Both, I think.”
“I think when we are doing about eight projects a year — and again, I said this is going to shift a little bit — they all have to be different,” he added. “They all have to stand apart and stand alone and be different from one another.”
According to alleged company insiders who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter, in service of this goal, Marvel had chosen to push back most of its planned 2023 releases – Agatha: Coven of Chaos, Echo, Ironheart – in favor of giving Loki and Secret Invasion their respective times in the spotlight.
However, whether or not this new line-wide delay has anything to do with Feige’s ‘quality-over-quantity’ vision of the MCU’s Disney Plus future remains to be seen, as of writing, neither Marvel nor Disney have publicly commented on their updated listings.
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