Fans have been distraught ever since the news of the delay in release dates of several Marvel Cinematic Universe films broke. While attending the red carpet premiere of Eternals, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige was asked about the delays and he confirmed that they were due to production schedules.
Marvel Studios recently announced changes to its entire schedule for 2022 and 2023, pushing back the release of several of the Phase 4 films. This was among the largest shifts in the schedule since the ongoing pandemic began. But, it has been confirmed that the delays had nothing to do with the COVID-19 and instead were related to the production of several of the upcoming MCU films.
When speaking to Variety at the Eternals world premiere in Los Angeles, Feige revealed that the changes were due to “production shifts and changes” and the films were still releasing in specific slots allotted to Marvel. “All the Marvel slots are the same, we’re just shifting the movies coming out,” he said as part of the interview. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was the first upcoming MCU project to be moved by six weeks, which led to the domino effect of all the following MCU films being delayed as well. Feige referred to the gap between two consecutive MCU films now being longer than it usually is. “Instead of there being three months between Marvel movies, there will now be five months,” he stated in the interview.
He was referring to the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home in December. While Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was originally meant to be released three months after, in March, it has now been delayed to May 6, 2022, which results in no new MCU film for fans to watch for five months. Feige joked that fans should be able to handle the wait.
Benedict Cumberbatch’s Stephen Strange will be making an appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home as well, meaning fans of the franchise will not have to wait as long to see him back on the big screen. But, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is one of the highly-anticipated MCU projects. Filming was put on hold earlier this year, due to the ongoing pandemic.
However, the film wrapped principal photography back in April, and the reshoots were meant to be completed by September. However, post-production isn’t an easy process either, and it seems like the film was not going to make the March deadline.
Source: Variety/Twitter