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San Diego Comic-Con 2023, which took place from July 20 to July 23, 2023, featured fewer significant movie and TV announcements compared to previous years. The event's usual buzz was dampened by the absence of Hollywood stars and writers, caused by strikes.
Every year, San Diego Comic-Con unites comic book and pop culture enthusiasts for an extraordinary event. This time, Marvel Studios took center stage and captivated the audience with their highly anticipated updates on their upcoming projects.
As is often the case with projects that are still years away from release, various factors have come into play since those big announcements in San Diego. With the Hollywood strikes showing no signs of slowing down, it's possible that Marvel's upcoming projects could face some serious delays.
Let's delve into some of the projects that were announced last year and explore their current status.
San Diego Comic-Con 2023: Unravelling the current status of exciting Marvel projects
1) What If...? Seasons 2 and Season 3
The initial season of What If…? which delved into timelines, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, garnered both critical acclaim and commercial success. Viewers praised the show for its storytelling captivating animation and impressive voice acting.
In July 2022, Marvel Studios excited fans by announcing that a second season was already in the works and scheduled to premiere in 2023. However, as of July 2023, despite Disney's assurances and updates revealed at San Diego Comic-Con 2023, no official release date had been announced.
There could be reasons, behind the delay of the What If…? season 2 and 3's release date. One possibility is that the show is still undergoing production and is not yet prepared for release. Whatever the cause may be it's evident that fans will need to exercise patience a little to explore new alternate realities.
2) Marvel Zombies
The latest information from San Diego Comic-Con 2023 does not include any updates on Marvel Zombies and a confirmed release date for the project has not been announced yet.
After the Marvel Zombies episode in What If...?, a spin-off series for Disney+ was announced in 2021. During Comic-Con 2022, additional details were revealed, showcasing a diverse range of characters. This included the introduction of zombified versions of popular heroes such as Captain America, Scarlet Witch, and Captain Marvel.
Additionally, regular human heroes like Yelena Belova, Kate Bishop, and Shang Chi were also featured in the lineup.
The show also hinted at the involvement of Ikaris, from The Eternals, potentially portraying a transformed zombie who still retains some traits of an Eternal.
3) Loki Season 2 and Echo
Both season 2 of Loki and Echo were initially planned to be launched during the summer of 2023. However, there have both run into delays. Based on the latest updates from San Diego Comic-Con 2023, the premiere date for Loki season 2 has been confirmed for October 6, 2023. Additionally, the release date for Echo has been set for November 29, 2023.
Season 2 of Loki will feature Tom Hiddleston's continued portrayal of the titular character and will pick up where Season 1 left off. Also returning is Owen Wilson in the role of Mobius M. Mobius.
It's worth noting that Echo is a spin-off of the Hawkeye series and stars Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez, a Native American assassin. Unlike Marvel Disney+ shows that release episodes weekly Echo will be Marvel's first Disney+ show to adopt a binge-watch format to Netflix by dropping all episodes at once.
The decision to drop all episodes at once allows fans to enjoy binge-watching the series at their pace. This approach could potentially attract new viewers for Marvel.
4) X-Men '97
No such major updates about X Men '97 were revealed at San Diego Comic-Con 2023. X-Men '97 is a continuation of the beloved animated series from the 1990s that showcases a diverse group of mutants. Fans at Comic-Con 2022 were ecstatic to discover that the highly anticipated show is set to premiere in the autumn of 2023.
Additionally, Comic Con 2022, revealed a teaser clip for season 2, Magneto as the leader of the X-Men paying homage to a memorable moment from the comics. The panel also gave us glimpses of villains like the Sentinels, Mr. Sinister, the White Queen, and Sebastian Shaw of the Hellfire Club.
5) Agatha: Coven of Chaos and Ironheart
Agatha: Coven of Chaos is a spin-off series by Marvel Studios connected to the Disney+ show WandaVision. Kathryn Hahn portrays the character of Agatha Harkness, a witch introduced in the series WandaVision. The story is set in the aftermath of WandaVision and focuses on Agatha's quest to rebuild her life and regain her magical powers.
Initial plans called for the show to be titled Agatha: House of Harkness and to premiere in the winter of 2023. Recent updates from San Diego Comic-Con 2023 revealed, however, that the title has been changed to Agatha: Coven of Chaos.
On another note, Ironheart is a TV series for Disney+, created by Chinaka Hodge. It is based on the Marvel Comics character's same name and will be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Initially, both Agatha: Coven of Chaos, and Ironheart were scheduled for a winter 2023 release. Nonetheless, during the Marvel Studios panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2023, it was announced that both programs have been delayed until 2024, with release dates to be determined.
6) Captain America: Brave New World
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier series will continue on Disney+ with a Captain America film starring Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, also known as the Falcon and the new Cap. The film is slated for release in May 2024.
The film, originally titled Captain America: New World Order, underwent a title change to Captain America: Brave New World. Its new release date has been set for July 26, 2024.
The film's cast members include Danny Ramirez, Carl Lumberly, and Carl Lumberly. Tim Blake Nelson, Harrison Ford, Shira Haas, and Liv Tyler.
7) Blade
During the 2019 San Diego panel, Kevin Feige formally announced the Blade film, which will star Mahershala Ali as a vampire-hybrid slayer. Due to the pandemic, Comic-Con had to be suspended for two consecutive years. When it eventually returned in 2022, Marvel included Blade in their presentation and announced a 2023 release date.
There have been some changes made behind the scenes since then.
Bassam Tariq was initially hired as the director. He left the project in 2021 due to disagreements. Yann Demange was appointed as the director in November 2022. Nic Pizzolatto, the talented writer known for his work on the series True Detective, has joined forces with Ali to collaborate on revising the script.
Following all the updates from San Diego Comic-Con 2023, Blade will now hit theaters on February 14, 2025, with the possibility of further delay.
8) Daredevil: Born Again
It was announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2022 that Cox would voice Daredevil (or a version of him) in the animated series Spider-Man: Freshman Year. He would also star in his own live-action series titled Daredevil: Born Again, set to have 18 episodes.
After the recent updates from San Diego Comic-Con 2023, it has been officially announced that the show is set to premiere in the spring of 2024. Although the release date for Daredevil: Born Again in 2024 seems to be unaffected, recent strikes by writers and actors have cast doubt on all production timelines.
9) Thunderbolts
Thunderbolts consist of a group of Avengers, with a morally ambiguous nature.
Before San Diego Comic-Con 2022, there were whispers of a Thunderbolts film. During the presentation, Kevin Feige made the development official. The film, he said, would be the capstone of Phase 5 and was scheduled for a July 26, 2024 release.
However, following the updates announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2023, the movie's release date has been rescheduled to December 20, 2024.
10) Fantastic Four and Avengers movies of phase 6
Phase 6 will commence with the anticipated Fantastic Four film. Feige initially announced that the film would be released on November 8, 2024, with Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm in the cast. However, some adjustments have been made to the Phase 6 release dates, including Fantastic Four's new release date of May 2, 2025.
At the San Diego Comic-Con 2023, two new Avengers movies (The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars) were announced as part of Phase 6. The original release dates for the projects were May 2, 2025, and November 7, 2025, respectively. However, those dates have also been changed.
The Kang Dynasty is now scheduled to be released in theaters on May 1, 2026, while Secret Wars is set to make its debut on May 7, 2027.
11) Spider-Man: Freshman Year/Sophomore Year
This Disney+ show follows young Peter Parker as he begins his superhero journey. While the story is linked to the MCU, it takes place in an alternate reality in which Norman Osborn acts as Peters' mentor.
The series was officially announced during the Marvel Animation panel at Comic-Con 2022. It was revealed with great excitement that the show is scheduled to premiere in 2024.
Although there haven't been many updates about the series, the recent developments at San Diego Comic-Con 2023 suggest that everything is on track for its scheduled release in 2024.
Final thoughts
Even though San Diego Comic-Con 2023 wasn't as flashy as its past editions, it still managed to bring some thrilling Marvel announcements. The event seemed to have lost some of its excitement due to the absence of Hollywood celebrities and writers as a result of strikes.
It's possible that Marvel's upcoming projects could face some delays. Nevertheless, Marvel Studios made quite an impression, at the San Diego Comic-Con 2023 by showcasing their lineup of future projects that fans are eagerly looking forward to.
