Given all of the recent delays at Marvel Studios, many were left saddened and with a strong sense of disappointment—especially when it comes to big projects like an Avengers film getting shifted further into the future.
Back when Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige announced the exciting Phase 5 and 6 slate with Avengers 5 and 6 set to both release in 2025, many knew it was probably too good to be true that the world would be getting two big Avengers installments back-to-back in the same year.
It didn’t take long however for Secret Wars to be pushed back until May 1, 2026. Now, rumors indicate that more drastic shifts in Marvel’s upcoming slate are happening—with projects such as Agatha: Coven of Chaos and Echo seemingly already delayed by a year or more.
What’s next to be pushed? Could Avengers: Kang Dynasty be delayed from its current May 2, 2025 slot, which is currently two years and four months away from the time of this publishing? Surely, Marvel wouldn’t push back its most anticipated upcoming project, especially after Secret War’s delay… right?
But, thinking about it, a delay for the upcoming Destin Daniel Cretton-directed crossover film might not be as bad as it sounds. But what benefits might there be to such a big decision?
Quality Over Quantity
Phase 4 has been a rough spot in Marvel Studios’ legacy.
It’s great how fans have gotten heaps of new MCU content recently—sadly, that’s also a big con.
Why? Well, the reception to most recent projects has been mixed, to say the least. Nearly every Disney+ title has drastically shifting levels of quality throughout its episode count.
Recently it was reported that Marvel heard the many complaints and is taking a step back to reevaluate how the company is proceeding. This follows in the wake of Blade losing its director, Armor Wars shifting into a movie, and Echo getting a sizeable delay.
As the saying goes, quality over quantity—that should be the goal.
While that might sound like it means fewer projects, in reality, it simply means everything already announced will just have more time to spread its wings and develop.
Delaying Avengers 5 (and likely pushing Secret Wars as well) would give the MCU even more breathing room, making sure its many projects are having the intended impact. It would also give the creatives behind the scenes more development time, allowing the final project to be the very best version possible, instead of potentially being rushed.
These delays will inevitably result in extra space and new release slots that need filling. This would be nothing but great news for Marvel Studios, as they’d have even more time to fit additional stories in that would enhance the Multiverse Saga’s big finale.
More Kang Variants
One of the key differences between Kang and Thanos is how active Jonathan Majors’ villain will be in the Multiverse Saga. When it came to Thanos, he really only became a notable part of the MCU when it came time for Avengers: Infinity War.
Kang, however, has already featured in Loki’s Season 1 finale, is the main antagonist of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and is confirmed to show up elsewhere before The Kang Dynasty even arrives.
If another delay for the fifth and sixth Avengers films does arrive, it will allow Marvel to give Majors even more time to shine before his big crossover event.
In a perfect world, most, if not all, of the heroes who feature in The Kang Dynasty should have had some sort of experience with one of his many Variants. It would be fantastic and really unique if all the heroes had different encounters with the villain, leading to many conflicting expectations as well.
One great example of utilizing more appearances for Majors would be if Marvel Studios makes Rama-Tut (Kang as an Egyptian pharaoh) the main villain of Moon Knight Season 2–assuming such a thing happens in the first place.
Another could be including Iron Lad, a younger version of Kang, in the inevitable Young Avengers project.
Perhaps even the Thunderbolts could run into him at some point in the power struggles over Vibranium (or even the rumored introduction of Adamantium).
Establishing and Following Through With More Set-Ups
With all of these recent projects, Marvel Studios has really gotten ahead of itself with the incredible amount of set-ups in play at the same time. With Avengers 5 only two years away, it seems impossible that the MCU will be able to serve all of those narrative branches in a satisfying manner, if at all.
This is something that, ironically, only time can help alleviate.
With the extra time that a delay would bring, the ending of more projects can directly tie into The Kang Dynasty, setting the stage for the big event far better than what was previously possible. It would also give Marvel some space to start connecting the various corners of the MCU, which, as of now, feel slightly disjointed (the mystical, supernatural, street-level, etc.).
Then there’s Spider-Man, who, last audiences saw him, had basically got a fresh start, one which positioned him as one of the most comic-accurate depictions of the wall-crawler yet. However, as of now, fans have no idea when he’ll be seen again—besides the assumption that Tom Holland will be involved in Avengers 5 and 6.
The character absolutely needs to show up again before those crossovers. Spidey’s story needs space to unfold and establish who he is after the traumatic events of No Way Home.
While a Spider-Man 4 is heavily rumored and almost a given, it’s hard to see where it would fit in the MCU slate as it sits now. Rumors have stated that Sony is aiming for a July 2024 release, though it would end up being sandwiched in between Thunderbolts and Deadpool 3–so, not the smartest move.
Delays would alleviate those issues and give a better foundation for Holland’s older and wiser Peter Parker ahead of Dynasty and Secret Wars. The iconic wall-crawler is hardly the only character who would benefit in the same way with their respective stories and development.
Spending More Time With Fresh Heroes
Some fans have admitted that Phase 4 feels rushed. Marvel Studios is constantly throwing new characters into the mix and starting multiple new storylines. However, it feels like audiences won’t be getting nearly enough time with many of them.
The Fantastic Four are some of the most important characters in all of Marvel lore, yet, for some reason, despite having had the rights for years, it still feels like the team will be rushed into the scene just in time for Kang Dynasty.
Marvel should consider giving them more time to develop within the universe, potentially allowing them to show up in other projects before Jonathan Majors’ villain holds the MCU by its metaphorical throat.
There are also newbies such as Wonder Man and Nova, who will be introduced right around when The Kang Dynasty is set to debut—leaving very little time for those characters to interact with other parts of the MCU before (hypothetically) getting pulled into saving all of existence.
The last time a character was rushed into the MCU like that was Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel, and she suffered because of it. Not only did Captain Marvel miss the mark for many fans and critics, but the character also never really had an organic or meaningful part to play in Endgame since she had just entered the fray.
More Team-Ups Please
In response to some saying that Secret Wars is too soon, many are quick to note how Marvel Studios is producing multiple times more content in a shorter span of time during the Multiverse Saga (2021 and beyond) compared to its Infinity Saga days (the 2010s).
However, the problem is that while there is an aggressive amount of projects, all of them are generally about different heroes. This means while the world may be getting dozens of projects, most characters won’t be crossing over with any other big MCU personalities until The Kang Dynasty.
While the Infinity Saga had fewer projects, there was more character interaction and dynamics explored before the big Endgame-scale story took place. Audiences had two Avengers films (three counting Infinity War) and Captain America: Civil War to invest in the team themselves and the relationships between everyone.
There might not even be any form of the Avengers before The Kang Dynasty arrives.
The way to help fix this is to get multiple projects off the ground that pull together groups of people to start establishing dynamics, all before the culmination of the current saga. The Marvels is a perfect example, bringing Kamala, Carol, and Monica together and building a foundation for their relationship with one another.
It seems like Captain America: New World Order could be setting up an Avengers team of sorts, while Thunderbolts is clearly starting their own group. Big events like Armor Wars or the rumored World War Hulk film could be the perfect place to involve as many characters as possible to lay down the groundwork, giving The Kang Dynasty a lot less to worry about within its own runtime.
Another fantastic example would be the Young Avengers. Currently, given how packed the MCU slate is, it’s hard to see the project releasing before Secret Wars. Their formation would mean a lot more if audiences were able to meet and invest in them prior to Kang Dynasty—in which their involvement would dramatically increase its scope.
When it comes to wrapping up an MCU Saga, the bigger, the better.
Putting off The Kang Dynasty
At the end of the day, as disappointing a shift in release dates might feel, it could be for the better. After all, there’s still plenty of content for the MCU to cover, so it can’t fall apart just yet.
Yes, it could mean even an even longer wait for the next Avengers film. Though, with patience, fans will almost certainly be rewarded when the payoff is that much sweeter, thanks to the additional time afforded to the various stories preceding the crossover.
A big delay for the Multiverse Saga doesn’t come without its cons, however. The biggest of those is the ever-increasing wait for the X-Men’s arrival in the MCU.
Sure, Kamala Khan and Namor may technically be mutants, but the world is still waiting for the X-Men proper to hit the screens. Seeing as it currently looks like that won’t happen until Phase 7, any delays for the Multiverse Saga make the wait much harder.
Marvel Studios has proven themselves capable of near-impossible feats, so fans will just have to trust them in making this Multiverse Saga as good as, if not better, than the original first three phases.
The next MCU film, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, hits theaters on February 17, later this year.
