The shifting release dates amid the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes continues as The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Marvel has pushed back several of the studio’s upcoming Disney+ series including Agatha: Darkhold Diaries, Echo and the second season of What If…?.
Marvel has already delayed many of its films in Phase 5 and Phase 6 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but now the Disney+ shows are being affected as well. This is largely due to how the dual strikes have impacted Marvel’s ability to produce the series on their previous schedule, but as THR also notes the studio’s apparent new strategy is spreading out its series to make each title seem like an “event”. When Marvel first revealed Phase 5 and 6, this year and 2024 were particularly packed with films and series, giving little time for fans to fully enjoy one before the next film or series dropped. This strategy may even be due to combating “superhero fatigue” given how much the film market has become saturated with both Marvel and DC films as well as how much recent MCU films like Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania have underperformed both financially and critically.
The second season of Loki will still premiere on October 6th, being the only series to retain its date, followed by the second season of the animated series What If…? which looks at alternate worlds in Marvel’s multiverse and how events could have played out had one thing been changed. While no premiere date has been given, expect it to premiere on Disney+ around Christmas this year.
Echo, a spin-off of Hawkeye which will follow Alaqua Cox’s character, was set to premiere November 29th but will instead become 2024’s first MCU addition in January. The series will see Echo return to her hometown in Oklahoma to come to terms with her past. Unlike the majority of MCU series, all six episodes of Echo will be available on its premiere day instead of a weekly release. The series will also reportedly see Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio reprise their fan-favourite roles as Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin.
X-Men ’97, a continuation of the beloved X-Men: The Animated Series and separate from the MCU, was originally to premiere this fall, but has now been pushed back to early 2024. X-Men ’97 will pick up right where the original series ended and will see original voice actors Cal Dodd, Lenore Zann, George Buza, Adrian Hough, Christopher Britton, Catherine Disher, Chris Potter, Alison Sealy-Smith and Alyson Court reprising their classic roles with Jennifer Hale, Anniwaa Buachie, Ray Chase, Matthew Waterson, JP Karliak, Holly Chou, Jeff Bennett and AJ LoCascio also starring in the anticipated series.
Marvel’s Agatha has not only undergone a new date but yet another title change. First introduced as Agatha: House of Harkness before being changed to Agatha: Coven of Chaos, the new title has been revealed to be Agatha: Darkhold Diaries. Spinning out of WandaVision, the series will follow Katheryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness as she tries to regain her power after Wanda brainwashed her back into her TV-life personality.
Ironheart was expected to premiere this fall, but has been taken off the schedule with no new premiere window. The series will follow Riri Williams, played by Dominique Thorne, after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as she invents new suits of armour to help protect the world.
One of Marvel’s most anticipated series is Daredevil: Born Again, which will see Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio fully reprise their roles rather than guest star or cameo as they did in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Hawkeye and She-Hulk with Jon Bernthal also returning as Frank Castle/The Punisher, though it does not seem like it is connected to the previous Daredevil series as none of the other cast from the Netflix series is returning. Unlike other Marvel series, Daredevil: Born Again is set to run for 18 episodes as opposed to the usual six or eight. The series was in production this spring and summer with an expected Spring 2024 premiere, but had to stop due to the strikes.
Likewise, Wonder Man starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II halted production when the strikes began and since both series are in mid-production they have been taken off the release calendar until the strikes are over and filming has completed.
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
