Movies & TV / News

Marvel Reportedly Doing Creative ‘Retooling’ For Its MCU Plans

February 21, 2024 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Jonathan Majors Kang Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Image Credit: Marvel Studios

Marvel is reportedly doing some quiet “retooling” for the MCU after a bit of a stumble last year. 2023 was not the best year for Marvel to say the least, with disappointing grosses for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels while Secret Invasion on Disney+ didn’t go over well with fans and despite Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 being another major hit while and Loki season two performed well, there’s been much discussion about how the studio hit some rough waters. THR reports that the studio is making a few shifts in its strategy to “recalibrate” things behind the scenes.

As many have noted, Deadpool & Wolverine is the only MCU film to be released in 2024 with the already-released Echo and the upcoming Agatha: Darkhold Diaries as their sole MCU TV releases. The slowdown is giving the studio the chance to do some tweaks in their strategy. The report notes that despite rumors to the contrary there will not be a reboot of the MCU, even a soft one, and that the Kevin Feige-led studio is simply retooling their plans.

It was noted that the studio has a good feeling around Agatha: Darkhold Diaries, with one insider noting that despite five days of reshoots being the typically-budgeted amount for reshoots, it only required one day. Marvel Studios also hired Eric Pearson to do a script polish for Fantastic Four which revealed its cast of Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach earlier this week. The studio also released the first trailer for the upcoming X-Men ’97 animated series which has received a positive reaction online.

In other creative shifts, the studio has hired The Bear showrunner Joanna Calo to work on the script for the upcoming antihero teamup film Thunderbolts, which begins shooting in March in Atlanta.

Finally, the report says that Jonathan Majors’ much-publicized exit from the MCU where he played Kang is causing changes for Marvel’s plans. Marvel is said to be rewriting Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to minimize him or remove him entirely. The film will be getting a new title as well. Sources say that the moves were being made before Majors’ conviction, due in part to Quantumania underperforming.