One MCU mystery movie was not included in Marvel Studios’ Phase 5 unveiling; has it been canceled or will it be a future surprise?
According to previous Marvel Cinematic Universe updates, one mysterious MCU Phase 5 movie is missing from the Marvel’s Multiverse Saga announcement. When Marvel Studios announced the whole Phase 3 slate in 2014, a vast slate of projects started to seem a little like a hallmark for the MCU. Marvel and Disney continued to claim release dates for years in the future for the mysterious MCU movies, even after San Diego Comic-Con 2019 saw the full Phase 4 revelation. The most of them were addressed in the Multiverse Saga announcement, which also included confirming a few other Marvel publication dates.
Disney and Marvel have already revealed four unnamed Marvel films for 2024, according to information on the MCU release schedule that was publicly available before SDCC 2022. Release dates for that year were February 16, May 3, July 26, and November 8. Captain America: New World Order will be released in May 2024, according to Marvel’s Phase 5 and Phase 6 unveilings. Phase 5 will come to a close with the release of Thunderbolts in July 2024. Additionally, it was revealed that the publication of Fantastic Four in November 2024 marks the start of Phase 6. The only movies presently scheduled to release in 2024 are these three.
The fact that Marvel Studios skipped the February 16, 2024 release date was overlooked in the euphoria surrounding these announcements. The February 2024 Marvel movie date was not included in the new MCU movie schedule released following SDCC 2022, but its full omission from the Phase 5 schedule is also odd. It raises the idea that Marvel Studios is holding off on making its February 2024 movie announcement or just forgot to say that they would no longer be using that date. Based on Marvel’s history, the former appears more plausible, suggesting that Phase 5 will eventually get a second MCU film.
What the February 2024 Phase 5 Marvel film would include
In light of the MCU films now in production that were not included in the Marvel’s Multiverse Saga announcements, Deadpool 3 emerges as the undisputed front-runner to be the mystery film debuting in February 2024. For a few years now, Ryan Reynolds and Marvel Studios have been collaborating on bringing Deadpool to the MCU in a third standalone film. Deadpool 3 would have no trouble being ready for a 2024 release due to the appointment of director Shawn Levy and plans for filming to start in 2023. With Deadpool 3 arriving in the same timeframe eight years after audiences initially fell in love with Reynolds’ R-rated superhero over Valentine’s Day weekend in 2016, Marvel Studios might attempt to replicate that success.
There aren’t many other options if Marvel’s unnamed February 2024 Phase 5 film isn’t Deadpool 3. There have been rumors that the production of a World War Hulk movie may start in 2022, but Marvel Studios has not yet given the project an official discussion or assigned a director or writer. Deadpool 3 is your best hope either Shang-Chi 2 comes out much sooner than anticipated (which seems doubtful given the director of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty announcement) or Marvel has made significant work on a secret movie. Naturally, Marvel Studios has the option to change the Phase 5 MCU release date. However, having just three films released in 2024 would seem strange after returning to four films year in 2023 and 2025.
