Marvel Studios and Disney were forced to shut down production on another MCU movie from Phase 5, continuing a disappointing trend.
The ongoing writers' strike led by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) continues to leave numerous projects in its wake, including a few highly-anticipated projects under the Marvel umbrella.
Most recently, it was reported that the development of both Silk: Spider Society and Spider-Man Noir from Sony Pictures became impacted by this movement while the MCU readjusts its strategy for the rest of the Multiverse Saga.
Blade succumbed to the strike as it works through plenty of its own script/production problems, while Yahya Abtul-Mateen II's Wonder Man suffered the same fate.
Disney Halts Production on Phase 5's Thunderbolts
Deadline confirmed that Disney and Marvel Studios shut down the Atlanta production for Thunderbolts, one of the last movies in the MCU's Phase 5 slate, due to the ongoing WGA writers' strike.
Now, filming is currently planned to recommence once the strike is over. This marks the third MCU production that's been shut down due to the strike, joining 2024's Blade movie and the undated Wonder Man series coming to Disney+.
The decision to halt shooting on Thunderbolts isn't all too surprising, given that co-writer Eric Pearson has publically supported the strike on social media.
Production was also temporarily halted on the MCU's upcoming Daredevil: Born Again series, although shooting is now underway once again in New York City. Filming is still active on Agatha: Coven of Chaos, another Disney+ series that is rumored to debut close to the Daredevil show.
Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool 3 kicked off production in London during the strike, and Captain America: New World Order continued its own shoot after starting production in March.
The MCU projects that are raring to commence production aren't the only ones affected by the WGA strike though, as plenty of other Marvel movies may have their development stunted with the ongoing events such as Fantastic Four and the upcoming Avengers movies.
When Will Disney and Marvel Recover from Strike?
With more than half a dozen MCU projects potentially being affected by the ongoing writers' strike, fans and Marvel staff are on edge about when the franchise will get to regain its footing.
And with Phase 5 off to a roller-coaster start this year thanks to Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, MCU fans only hope that these issues can be resolved soon so that Marvel and Disney can work at full capacity again.
Keeping up with updates from the strike, the situation doesn't appear to be making any headway on either side, leaving Marvel Studios with the unenviable task of working through this without getting to have the people behind the scripts working.
Considering that movies like Deadpool 3 and Captain America 4 already have fans wildly hyped for the MCU's expansion, these negative developments don't do much to keep spirits high for the time being.
And while the MCU is one of the more prominent franchises through this ordeal, the entire film and TV industry will continue to feel the effects, with delays still being announced as the writers and studios try to resolve the problem at hand.
The MCU's next project to release in Phase 5 is Disney+'s Secret Invasion, whose first episode will arrive on June 21.
