MCU fans may be in for a longer than expected wait between projects after Disney+ has appeared to delay several Marvel projects slated for 2023 releases. While no official word has come from either Disney or Marvel, updates to the Disney+ Originals site that the company uses to promote new releases has seen some changes in recent days. These delays seem to specifically effect What If…? season 2, Secret Invasion, Echo, and Loki season 2.
According to snapshots of the pages for these shows archived on the Wayback Machine, all of these Marvel projects had their “coming soon” descriptions edited some time after March 14th, 2023. What If…? season 2 was changed from “Early 2023” to “Coming Soon”. Secret Invasion similarly lost its “Spring 2023” release while Echo and season 2 of Loki were removed from “Summer 2023” and now have the generic “Coming Soon.”
Disney+ Marvel Delays Not a Huge Shock
These Disney+ Marvel delays may not come as a huge surprise to fans who have been paying attention to recent news from Disney and Marvel, even despite the slate announced just this past summer at San Diego Comic Con. Back in February, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige spoke to Entertainment Weekly about upcoming MCU releases.
“But we want Marvel Studios and the MCU projects to really stand out and stand above. So, people will see that as we get further into Phase 5 and 6. The pace at which we’re putting out the Disney+ shows will change so they can each get a chance to shine.” -Kevin Feige, to Entertainment Weekly
Even the MCU itself has poked at the fast pace of releases recently. In the final episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, K.E.V.I.N. the supposed A.I. running Marvel Studios asks Jen to transform back into her human form to save on special effects. The fictionalized stand-in for the real-life Marvel Studios President even asks her to change back off-camera as the effects team has moved on to “other projects” (he says, Wakandan drums playing in the background).
Earlier this March, multiple outlets reported on some of Disney CEO Bob Iger’s statements at a Morgan Stanley conference regarding Disney+ programming. The Hollywood Reporter detailed some of his discussion about how many Marvel sequels are truly needed for their characters. Iger stated:
“There’s nothing in any way inherently off in terms of the Marvel brand. I think we just have to look at what characters and stories we are mining.”
What To Look Forward To
Though these Disney+ Marvel delays are not exactly fun, having more breathing room for these shows and stories is no bad thing, either. Especially when combined with the slate of Star Wars projects that Disney+ is due to release soon as well.
2022 saw a plethora of wonderful new stories from Marvel, but shows came at a fast pace or even overlapped with other big-name shows releasing on Disney+. For example, Ms. Marvel premiered on June 8, 2022- just two weeks after the highly-anticipated Obi-Wan Kenobi show started releasing its episodes. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law also overlapped with Andor. The final four episodes of She-Hulk released the same weeks as the first six of Andor.
The delays on these shows likely won’t be overly long, at least for a few of the releases. Secret Invasion, detailing the Skrull invasion of Earth, will likely still release sometime this year as it will likely tie in to The Marvels due out November 2023 (originally July 2023). Loki season 2 may not be delayed very long either as (spoilers!) the show was teased in the final end credits scene for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Echo and What If…? season 2 could potentially face longer delays. Echo, following the character first introduced to the MCU in 2021’s Hawkeye, will likely tie in to events of Daredevil: Born Again, given both Maya (Echo) and Matt Murdock’s ties to Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of crime. However, Daredevil: Born Again has only recently started production, according to multiple sources. This leaves more time for Echo to be released at a later date.
What If…? season 2, as a show that doesn’t directly tie in to the larger MCU’s story, could be the longest delay. The animated series peers into multiple Marvel “realities” that are only loosely connected to the main story seen since 2008’s Iron Man. Disney+ could, in theory, release this show at any time to fill in any gap in available programming.
Here’s hoping these anticipated projects will not be delayed too long! Stick with Temple of Geek, and we’ll let you know as soon as we hear more.
