Disney Shifts Around Release Dates, Pushing MCU Phase Six Into 2027 And 'Avatar' To 2031

Finally I get to talk about the Moana live-action movie. It got dated!

While Tuesday was a big day for Disney on the animation side at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, its live-action film slate got quite the seismic shift, reportedly due to studios refusing writers’ demands for fair pay and a sustainable career, which led to pauses for Blade and Thunderbolts before they get cameras rolling. The Marvel slate itself is undergoing its second schedule shift after Blade paused production to find a new director in October.

As it turns out, scripts for both Avengers films aren’t fully ready either. Blade is moving from September 6, 2024, to February 14, 2025, the Valentine’s Day slot it upends Fantastic 4 from. That long-awaited MCU iteration moves into May 2, 2025, taking Avengers: Kang Dynasty to May 1, 2026, in turn moving Avengers: Secret Wars to May 7, 2027. Deadpool 3 is apparently so further along that it’s moving from November 8, 2024, taking over the recently-retitled Captain America: Brave New World’s May 3 slot. Brave New World moves from there to July 26, displacing Thunderbolts to December 20, a spot the MCU had only previously used for Spider-Man: No Way Home. The Rami Malek-led movie The Amateur from 20th Century Studios has taken Deadpool 3’s November slot.

But of course, Disney has been using that spot in recent years for a different franchise and was just starting to alternate it with another. Fresh off the long-anticipated and record-setting release of Avatar: The Way of Water, the third film, which had what is now Thunderbolts’s slot against Sonic the Hedgehog 3, has been delayed by a year to December 19, 2025. The fourth and fifth films have each been delayed by three years, from December 18, 2026, to December 21, 2029, and December 22, 2028, to December 19, 2031, respectively. That’s right, 22 years for five films. The gaps will allow the post-production and visual effects department to continue expanding, developing, and refining the different Pandora regions and ecosystems.

As for Disney’s main December franchise, Star Wars, the specifics haven’t been assigned, but the December 19, 2025 film has been moved to May 22, 2026, while one has been positioned on December 18, 2026. The moves mark the franchise’s return to May since their only other achieved May release under Disney ownership: Solo. The live-action Moana remake with Dwayne Johnson reprising as Maui was announced at April’s earnings call and will be directed by Thomas Kail, moves up from July 2 to June 27, 2025. The new Alien movie from Fedé Alvarez, which is filming overseas, takes the previously reserved August 16, 2024.

The company has made further reservations for films to be put: September 6, 2024; March 21, 2025 (instead of April 11, 2025); a Marvel movie for July 25, 2025; August 8, 2025 (instead of August 15 that year); and an MCU title on November 7, 2025. A Disney movie that was set for May 22, 2026, has been removed from the schedule. Maybe they’re finally making room for Armor Wars.

Sources: Variety, Deadline