Throughout Phase 4 of the MCU and beyond, Marvel Studios is eagerly looking into expanding the cosmic side of its story, especially after closing out the Infinity Saga with the Avengers vs. the Mad Titan Thanos. Already confirmed to continue this trend are films like Thor: Love and Thunder and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, although rumors are pointing to new entries filling the ranks as well.
Unfortunately, MCU fans are facing a new round of delays for this next round of theatrical entries; the pushback now creates a six-month gap between the releases of Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Although there's still plenty of Disney+ material to tide fans over during the wait, it's still a tough pill to swallow after four movies in six months of 2021.
Through these delays, Marvel will continue working diligently to develop its new slate, including projects that have been announced and those still under the official MCU radar.
In that same light, a new rumor is pointing to when exactly a pair of these projects may begin development.
Start Dates for Two Cosmic MCU Entries?
Twitter user @TheComixKid revealed a rumor that Marvel Studios is planning to have both the unannounced Nova project and Jon Watts' Fantastic Four go into production sometime in 2023.
Nova and Fantastic Four on the Way?
While the MCU's cosmic story is largely held down by Thor and the Guardians at the moment, Marvel Studios may be adding more names to that roster in a big way soon.
The official announcement for Fantastic Four came as the curtain call at Disney Investor Day 2020 as it became the first formerly-owned Fox property to take its place within the MCU. Jon Watts will be taking the reigns on this franchise after finishing his work on Spider-Man: No Way Home, and although fan-casts for this film are running rampant, Marvel is taking all the time it needs to cast the perfect quartet within the MCU.
As for Nova, the cosmic hero's solo adventure was rumored to join the MCU party in early May 2020, although it's still unclear if it will be a movie or Disney+ series. Whatever the case may be, his introduction has been a long time coming after the Guardians of the Galaxy became household names in their two solo movies and set up the chance for Nova to debut.
With these rumored production dates, Fantastic Four and Nova likely won't join the MCU's ranks until either 2024 or 2025, depending on when they begin shooting. The MCU now has confirmed movies with release dates all the way through July 2023, and this report will certainly keep the hype train going for what's coming past that.
