Disney CEO Bob Iger is reportedly displeased with Marvel Studios' dearth of scheduled theatrical releases for 2026. And while it might seem impossible for Marvel to get at least one more movie into theaters within roughly the next 18 months, there are ways the Kevin Feige-led subsidiary could still lure ticket buyers between now and the release of Avengers: Doomsday.
Doomsday, the first big-screen Avengers adventure in seven years and the fifth Avengers film overall, was recently delayed from May 1, 2026 to December 18, 2026. Just a day later, two other, unnamed MCU movies were removed from their respective release dates of February 13, 2026 and November 6, 2026. This leaves just one other movie besides Doomsday on Marvel Studios' docket for next year: Spider-Man: Brand New Day, currently scheduled to swing into theaters on July 31, 2026.
According to The InSneider, this lack of output has severely vexed Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney—especially because Brand New Day, like all MCU Spider-Man movies, is a co-production with Sony, and thus offers Disney a greatly diminished share of the box office.
Even given the substantial amount of time it takes to produce an MCU movie, Marvel Studios isn't completely bereft of options for wooing fans to theaters next year. There are at least two ways Feige et al. could still save their 2026.
Anniversary Screenings of Beloved MCU Hits With Special Footage
This past April, Disney discovered that audiences are willing to pay to see older franchise offerings on the big screen: the 20th anniversary re-release of Lucasfilm's Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith opened to a staggering $42.2 million worldwide. There's no reason Marvel couldn't follow suit. They have a myriad of fan-favorite films celebrating big anniversaries in 2026: Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger both turn 15, and Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange both turn 10... as does the original Deadpool, a Fox production now owned by Disney. Although all of these movies are currently available for streaming on Disney+, so is Revenge of the Sith. Audiences will pay premium prices for a premium experience.
This might be especially true if Marvel Studios were to include special footage with these screenings. That could come in several forms, such as expanded cuts into which deleted scenes have been reinserted (similar to what Sony did with Spider-Man: No Way Home), behind-the-scenes bonus material that plays before or after the movie (similar to what Marvel did with Avengers: Endgame), or a special extended preview of Doomsday (similar to how Warner Bros. attached a lengthy preview of Superman to Minecraft earlier this year). It's not hard to imagine that Marvel fans would be enticed by these kinds of bonuses, especially if they're otherwise starved for new superheroics.
Rethink New Disney+ Shows as Theatrical MCU Releases
This seems like the far less likely route given the financial and logistical hurdles, but another option would be for Marvel Studios to re-conceptualize at least one of their upcoming Disney+ shows into a theatrical movie. For example, their 2026 Punisher reboot, which will see Jon Bernthal return as Frank Castle, could be lengthened from an hour-long Special Presentation into a 90-minute feature film.
Conversely, Wonder Man, which stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as actor-turned-superhero Simon Williams, could potentially be partially re-shot and re-edited to accommodate a more theater-friendly runtime. The program will consist of eight 30-minute-long episodes and is currently scheduled to debut in December of this year.
While fans wait to see how Marvel Studios will choose to beef up their slate for 2026, they can take comfort knowing that the next chapter in the MCU, the heavily anticipated Fantastic Four: First Steps, will hit theaters on July 25, 2025.
