Marvel’s Blade Delay Is Good News for the MCU’s Fantastic Four

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• The Fantastic Four: First Steps Is Moving Along Nicely

• Marvel Has Faith That The Fantastic Four Can Hold Its Own During the Summer

• What Happens to the MCU’s Blade?

As a die-hard Marvel fan with a lifetime of comic book adventures under my belt, I can’t help but feel both excited and impatient about the upcoming Marvel Studios releases. The schedule is packed with intriguing titles, from Captain America: Brave New World to Avengers: Secret Wars.

Marvel Studios announced a surprising change in their schedule, stating that the film “Blade” has been taken off the Disney release lineup, originally scheduled for November 7, 2025. Due to Blade’s turbulent production journey marked by numerous changes in writers and directors, fans have had doubts about its timely release since Comic-Con at San Diego. It is anticipated that “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”, initially set for a July 25, 2025 release, might be postponed to the November date previously assigned to “Blade”.

Contrary to expectations, Disney didn’t stick with the planned release date for Predator: Badlands. Instead, they chose to utilize the original release date for Blade, which has now been assigned to The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Amidst speculations that The Fantastic Four: First Steps might not make its scheduled end-of-the-year July release due to starting filming only in July 2024, Disney and Marvel Studios express optimism about the project’s readiness. In fact, they are investing a great deal of trust in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, as it will be going head-to-head with a new Superman film and a fresh Jurassic World production. This move by Marvel to postpone Blade could prove beneficial for the future of The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps Is Moving Along Nicely

Filming of “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” commenced on July 30, 2024, merely three days after the film’s cast made their appearance at San Diego Comic-Con. There, viewers got a sneak peek of a promotional video for the movie. Given that filming started only about eleven months before the scheduled release date of July 25, 2025, some fans expressed concern over whether the production could meet its deadline.

The apprehension surrounding the release of Superman, which started filming on Leap Day in 2024 and wrapped up production on the same day The Fantastic Four: First Steps began shooting, was emphasized due to this timing. James Gunn mentioned that the extended post-production period for Superman was necessary to ensure high-quality VFX work, as Marvel Studios has a history of mistreating VFX artists, causing worry about The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Delaying the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps until November 2025 would have provided them with a similar extended production timeline that Superman currently enjoys.

The initial buzz about the upcoming movie, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” has been positive, and it’s said that the production is progressing as planned. If reports are correct, the filming will wrap up in November 2025, with additional shoots scheduled to follow later. Remarkably, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is poised to have one of the smallest timeframes between filming and release among Marvel productions. At present, both “The Incredible Hulk” and “Ant-Man” hold this title, having been released just eleven months after they started shooting. This means that “Fantastic Four: First Steps” will boast an extra month compared to these films.

It’s worth noting that, similar to “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” production on “Captain America: The First Avenger” had a swift timeline from its start date to release, with only about three weeks of filming completed before the first sneak peek was shown at Comic-Con in 2010, leaving a 13-month gap. Both films share this tight production schedule and are superhero period pieces as well.

Since the production of Captain America: The First Avenger was completed later, its trailer didn’t come out until February 2011, half a year before the movie hit theaters. Given this timeline for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, it’s likely that their first trailer will be unveiled in February 2025, which aligns with the release of Captain America: Brave New World. The pace at which The Fantastic Four: First Steps is being developed seems satisfactory to Marvel Studios and Disney for a busy summer season launch.

Marvel Has Faith That The Fantastic Four Can Hold Its Own During the Summer

Instead of pushing back “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” to November 2025, Disney and Marvel Studios are choosing to release it during the summer season. This is despite potential competition from “Wicked – Part Two” and “Zootpoia 2”. The reason for this decision lies in their confidence that “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” will have a strong opening weekend, even on the same weekend as the initial release of “Deadpool & Wolverine” this year. Although the upcoming MCU film may not open to the same level as the third “Deadpool” movie, Disney believes that “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” has the potential to maintain a steady box office performance and contribute positively to their annual earnings in the following year.

The upcoming film “Jurassic World: Rebirth,” set for release on July 2, 2025, over the Fourth of July weekend, appears quite promising due to the impressive box office performance of its predecessors. With a strong chance of success, it seems poised to shine amidst the competitive July lineup.

In essence, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” could face an uphill battle due to numerous challenges. Although Superman has been a consistently popular character with proven success on screen, the public often links The Fantastic Four with underwhelming superhero films. To rekindle audience curiosity and demonstrate that this franchise merits another chance, a strategic marketing campaign is crucial. Even with the support of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the brand’s former level of audience devotion has diminished over time.

Disney and Marvel Studios seem quite optimistic about “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” believing it will outshine both “Superman” and “Jurassic World: Rebirth” and maintain its position into August. This strategy worked for “Deadpool & Wolverine” as the film topped the box office charts for five weeks, ruling almost every weekend in August except one when it was dethroned by “Alien: Romulus,” but quickly regained the top spot afterward.

A strategy that proved successful with “Guardians of the Galaxy” was employed again, as the movie premiered on August 1, 2014. Debuting at the top of the box office, it briefly lost the leading position to “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” for two weeks, but regained the number one spot for another three weeks. The film continued to stay in the top 10 for a total of 10 weeks. Essentially, Marvel Studios is hoping that “The Fantastic Four” will become the new “Guardians of the Galaxy” in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and given the test footage shown at Comic-Con, it seems to have the capability to do so.

What Happens to the MCU’s Blade?

It’s clear that Marvel Studios is optimistic about “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” but the same can’t be said for “Blade.” The film was initially revealed at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2019, and since then, it has encountered more production hurdles behind the scenes than any other Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) project. In stark contrast, Marvel Studios appeared to have few to no issues when launching movies like “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Doctor Strange,” or “The Eternals.” However, despite New Line Cinema successfully producing three “Blade” films from 1998 to 2004, it seems that “Blade” still presents numerous challenges for Marvel Studios.

The production of Blade has been postponed indefinitely by Marvel Studios, who prefer to wait until they deem it fully prepared. This decision is beneficial as it prevents the potential issue of releasing films too quickly to meet a deadline or quota. However, it can be aggravating for a film that appears straightforward to produce. Nonetheless, let’s examine the release dates Marvel Studios has reserved and the titles we are aware of that will be distributed:

The date on February 13, 2026 marks the final release before “Avengers: Doomsday” premieres. Additionally, there’s a November 2026 release date between “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Avengers: Secret Wars.” Marvel Studios has numerous potential projects that could fill these slots, such as “Shang-Chi 2,” “Armor Wars,” a “Young Avengers” film, and “Doctor Strange 3.” Given the supernatural nature of Blade, it’s highly probable that Marvel Studios will not release him before “Avengers: Doomsday” or “Avengers: Secret Wars” to ensure his involvement in these films. If Blade does appear in the epic “Avengers” crossover, it may feature Wesley Snipes following his role in “Deadpool & Wolverine.

As a passionate Marvel fan, I was bummed out when they postponed Blade and handed over its release date to Predator: Badlands. But here’s the silver lining – Marvel has secured three release dates in 2028 for undisclosed titles! These are set for February 18, May 5, and November 10. With Avengers: Doomsday scheduled before these, it looks like they could be part of the MCU’s next major phase, possibly focusing on the X-Men.

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2024-10-24 00:03