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The MCU has found itself in a weird space, and upcoming projects like Loki season 2 and several other MCU shows are facing repercussions for that. Marvel is looking for a course correction as there have been multiple outings that have been middling at best, raising a lot of complaints from both critics and fans.
Marvel boss Kevin Feige and Disney CEO Bob Iger have both been vocal about taking measures to restore Marvel’s quality to its former glory days. To do that, they are planning to spread out the upcoming releases so every project gets ample time to wrap things up.
The Marvels has already been delayed twice and moved to November 11, 2023. The same is now happening for all the upcoming shows, and Disney+ has acknowledged the fact through their listings of Loki Season 2 and other shows.
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Loki season 2 and other shows get pushed
After the announcement at SDCC 2022, Loki season 2 was listed for a "Summer 2023" on Disney+. However, now that listing has been changed to “Coming Soon.” This acts as a big hint that Marvel will look to delay Loki season 2 from its initial release schedule. Rumors have suggested that Loki season 2 will arrive in August 2023, to leave a bit of a gap after Secret Invasion ends.
The same has happened for other Phase 5 shows as well. What If...? season 2’s listing has been changed from “Early 2023,” to “Coming Soon.” Rumors suggest that it will not be released in 2023 at all.
Meanwhile, the first MCU series to arrive in 2023 is still going to be Secret Invasion, which was initially set for a Spring 2023 release. However, with The Mandalorian season 3 taking that slot, rumors suggest that Secret Invasion will be released after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. This will happen either on May 10, 2023, or May 17, 2023.
Echo was initially slated for a summer release. However, after going through major reshoots, showrunner Marion Dayre noted that it will arrive in the second half of 2023. Alaqua Cox has already teased its arrival in October, so that could very well be the case.
Other shows like Ironheart and Agatha: Coven of Chaos have been pushed to 2024. The former is said to start the proceedings for MCU in 2024, and the latter is said to end the year, helping fans transition into 2025.
Meanwhile, shows like Daredevil: Born Again, and possibly even Wonder Man will slot somewhere in between (although Wonder Man could be pushed to 2025 as well).
Why these delays were inevitable
Shortly before this acknowledgment by Disney+, Kevin Feige indicated that Marvel might slow down the pace and release fewer shows in a year.
He told Comicbook:
"I do think one of the powerful aspects of being at Marvel Studios is having these films and shows hit the zeitgeist. It is harder to hit the zeitgeist when there's so much product out there – and so much 'content,' as they say, which is a word that I hate."
He added that they wanted the Marvel Studios and MCU projects to "really stand out and stand above." Feige noted that people will see the shows and films standing out as they move into Phase 5 and Phase 6.
He said that the pace that they are putting out Disney+ shows will change so each of the shows has its moment to shine.
Feige’s notion was later confirmed by Bob Iger, who spoke at a Morgan Stanley conference. He said:
“I think HBO proved that well, you know, in their halcyon days when high-quality programming made a big difference, and not volume."
Iget added:
"And because the streaming platforms require so much volume, one has to question whether that’s the right direction to go, or if you can be more curated, more — I used the word ‘judicious’ a few times — but I guess, more picky about what you’re making, and to concentrate on quality and not volume.”
So, the Disney+ delays were quite inevitable after that. For now, fans just have to wait for Secret Invasion in May and hope that it will come through in terms of its quality. It will be followed by Loki season 2 in July or August.
