Following Phase 5 of the MCU, Marvel Studios is now confirmed to be delivering a reduced movie output for the time being.
Deadpool & Wolverine marked Marvel Studios' lone theatrical release of 2024, which is one of only three live-action MCU projects to come all year — the other two being Echo and Agatha All Along. This comes after 2021-2023 were loaded with 10 movies and nine seasons of live-action TV.
2025 will up the output for the MCU to the levels seen earlier in the Multiverse Saga, which will also come with the end of Phase 5 and the start of Phase 6.
Marvel Studios Addresses Movie Output Post-Phase 5
Speaking with Omelete, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige teased what fans should expect when it comes to release volume for the MCU after Phase 5, which will conclude on the big screen with Captain America: Brave New World and Thunrderbolts in 2025.
Feige noted that Marvel Studios is "back to a normal pace," as the studio plans to release "two films [and] three series" per year:
"I think it's safe to say that we're back to a normal pace, more or less. In the past, we had four films and four series a year, and I think we're going to go down to two films, three series - but that won't be the case in 2025, specifically."
This comes despite the overall MCU movie & TV output already set to be far higher in 2025.
In a separate chat with Omelete (roughly translated from Portuguese), Feige addressed the state of some of the movies already confirmed for the MCU's Phase 6, which will start in July 2025 with The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Touching on the next two Avengers films (Doomsday and Secret Wars), Feige spoke on how much is coming along with those movies, including 2026's Spider-Man 4. He admitted that those movies "consume you completely," seemingly indicating these three movies are the extent of the MCU calendar as of writing:
"When you set out to make two Avengers films - they are colossal, gigantic, and consume you completely. But we have already announced a Spider-Man film that will be released between 'Doomsday' and 'Secret Wars.'"
This lines up with a previous comment from Disney CEO Bob Iger in May 2024, who noted that Marvel would not release more than three movies and two shows per year moving forward.
Currently, Marvel Studios has two Phase 6 movies definitively arriving in 2026 (Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man 4) and one more in 2027 (Avengers: Secret Wars). Outside of that, there are no release dates set in stone for any of the franchise's other films or series.
How Many Movies & Shows Will Marvel Make Post-Phase 5?
Looking ahead, Marvel is confirmed to release three new movies and six new MCU shows in 2025, marking nine projects overall. This all comes after one final project, What If...? Season 3, closes out the slate for 2024, the franchise's slowest year release-wise since before the Multiverse Saga.
Moving forward is a far different question, as most of the confirmed MCU projects set for development do not have release dates yet.
Three confirmed upcoming movies (Blade, Shang-Chi 2, and Armor Wars) sit without slated dates, and there are likely multiple Disney+ series in development that have not yet been announced. However, even with this decrease in output, Marvel Studios shows no signs of slowing down production for the next few years.
The MCU will return on Disney+ with What If...? Season 3 on December 22. The next movie set to be released is Captain America: Brave New World on February 14, 2025.
