Changes are in store for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but not in the way you think. There was a time when Disney was all-in on releasing Marvel content, and you can’t really blame the company. The Marvel brand has been a guaranteed moneymaker at the box office, and the response to Marvel’s streaming shows on Disney+ started off positively. However, things started to shift over the last few years with projects underperforming, and Disney decided to scale back on how much content it was releasing in theaters and on streaming.
The biggest example of this is Deadpool & Wolverine, the only Marvel Studios film to release in theaters this year. This appears to have been the right move, with Deadpool & Wolverine being the unquestioned hit of 2024. On the streaming side, we’ve had the much-anticipated X-Men ’97, Echo (also available on Hulu), and Agatha All Along, which concludes its season Wednesday night. After Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels, and Secret Invasion all failed to land with fans and critics, along with the legal troubles of Kang the Conqueror actor Jonathan Majors, a retooling of the MCU was in order. As we mentioned, so far so good on that front. Instead of forcing projects out, the slower speed allows for overall better quality, and creators (especially animators) aren’t rushing to hit deadlines. But are we already heading back to the old normal come next year?
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Marvel is back to releasing a lot of content in 2025
By our count, there are three Marvel movies and a whopping seven Marvel shows scheduled for Disney+ in 2025. This is a stark contrast to the one movie (Deadpool & Wolverine) and three Disney+ shows we listed earlier. A recent Disney listing revealed possible release dates for several Marvel series on Disney+ next year, and then Marvel confirmed all the dates with a “Coming Soon to Disney+” trailer.
On the small screen, there’s What If.. ? Season 3 on December 22nd, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on January 29, 2025; Daredevil: Born Again on March 4, 2025, Ironheart on June 24th, Eyes of Wakanda on August 6, 2025; Marvel Zombies in October 2025, and Wonder Man in December 2025. Four of these are animated series, with the other three live-action. There’s also the Disney+ debut of Deadpool & Wolverine on November 12th.
On the big screen, we are back to three Marvel movies landing in theaters in 2025: Captain America: Brave New World on February 14, 2025; Thunderbolts* on May 2, 2025; and The Fantastic Four: First Steps on July 25, 2025. This year must have been the outlier year with only one film making it to theaters, and now we’re back to where we left off when Marvel decided to pump the brakes.
The MCU’s biggest change is already being undone
The decision to scale back the amount of content released under the Marvel Studios banner was a fundamental change to the MCU. Fans had grown accustomed to expecting a certain amount of Marvel fanfare on their TV sets, digital devices, and in theaters, and to lessen that number is a fundamental change. This new strategy comes as DC Studios is looking to reboot its own cinematic universe next year with James Gunn’s Superman, as well as the release of the adult-animated Creature Commandos on Max in December.
The fact is the MCU grew too much too fast, and with the departure of iconic heroes like Chris Evans’ Captain America, Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, and Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, this new crop of Marvel heroes is having a tough time taking their place. We’ve been introduced to the likes of Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk on the Disney+ front, with the movies retreading somewhat familiar old ground with sequels to Captain Marvel, Thor, Ant-Man, and the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Not everything was a miss — we’re looking at you Ms. Marvel and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — but the majority of projects left fans reminiscing for the old days. Marvel also started receiving negative feedback for pushing visual animators to keep up with the sheer volume of projects, which proved to be an unattainable feat if they didn’t want the quality to suffer. So less MCU content appeared to be going well, and now it’s all being undone. However, there could be a few reasons why changes are being made.
Reasons why Marvel’s output is on the rise again
Let’s see if we can uncover why Marvel is back to putting out so many movies and TV shows in 2025. “Some of our studios lost a little focus. So the first step that we’ve taken is that we’ve reduced volume,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said on an earnings call in February. “We’ve reduced output, particularly at Marvel,” in order to ensure “the films you’re making can be even better.”
The reduction of Marvel output already happened, and the arrow is pointing up as we move into the new year. One cause for the increase in output may be because of delays caused by the writers’ and actors’ strikes of 2024. Release dates for Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps were all pushed back, so it may be a matter of playing catchup.
The same can be said for streaming shows. Daredevil: Born Again and Ironheart have been in the pipeline for a while, and Daredevil was part of the “retooling” that took place as new dircetors and writers were brought in to overhaul the series. Animation takes more time to produce, so, understandably, something like Marvel Zombies took longer to create.
We also don’t know if the decision to pivot away from Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror to Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom as the Big Bad of the Multiverse Saga plays a role in how projects are scheduled. Marvel may need to quickly move away from anything Kang-related to start setting up Doctor Doom. In the long run, it may not matter how much content Marvel puts out at any given time. As long as the quality remains A+, fans won’t have any objections to as little or as much Marvel content is available.