Disney confirms there won’t be any Marvel movies or shows in 2020

• Disney announced on Thursday that the first MCU Phase 4 adventure will not launch in 2020, contrary to recent speculation and Disney’s own promotions.
• The WandaVision TV series will be released on Disney+ on January 15th, 2021.
• No other Marvel movies or TV shows are scheduled to debut in 2020 anymore, making it the first year since 2009 without any new Marvel media.

It’s official: The novel coronavirus will force the Marvel Cinematic Universe to skip 2020 altogether. We should have had two Marvel movies in theaters and at least two shows on Disney+ this year, but the pandemic closed theaters, and Disney postponed its movies, choosing not to go with a Disney+ launch for Black Widow and The Eternals. The lockdown measures and travel restrictions further impacted unfinished productions, including the three TV series that were teased in early 2020 for potential 2020 releases. Teasers for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision, and Loki were shared before the COVID-19 health crisis shut everything down.

A few months ago, Disney confirmed that only WandaVision is ready for prime time, teasing that the TV series could premiere on Disney+ by the end of the year. WandaVision also happens to be the most exciting Marvel TV series so far, considering all the rumors we’ve heard about it and its direct ties with what might turn out to be the most important Marvel movie of Phase 4, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. But Disney took its time to reveal an actual launch date for WandaVision, prompting fans to speculate on the series’s potential launch date. The studio on Thursday finally revealed the launch date of the show, confirming that fans will have to wait until mid-January to watch the first episode.

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launched the second season of The Mandalorian in late October. But Star Wars fans will get the same treatment as last year. Only one new episode is available each week and the season 2 finale premieres on December 18th. Many people thought that WandaVision would be next in line, getting a late December launch. But that won’t happen. You’ll have to wait almost a month after The Mandalorian concludes for the first WandVision episode.

The limited Marvel series premieres on January 15th, Disney said in an announcement. The company also released the synopsis of the series as well as new imagery from the TV show (seen above and below).

“WandaVision” is a blend of classic television and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in which Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany)—two super-powered beings living idealized suburban lives—begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.

We’ve already seen several extensive WandaVision leaks so far that explained the plot of the series. We’re going to reportedly witness the mental breakdown of Wanda, as the young woman is still coping with the recent losses in her life. Wanda will try to build a universe where she could have a family with Vision, whom she saw die twice in Infinity War.

A new era arrives. Marvel Studios’ @WandaVision, an Original Series, is streaming Jan. 15 on #DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/aejE6DNR35

— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) November 12, 2020

The TV series is also expected to introduce the new organization to replace SHIELD and offer the first teaser for Marvel’s mutants. Until now, Marvel could not use the X-Men in its Avengers universe, as Fox controlled the movie rights for that franchise. But Disney bought Fox, and those rights returned to Marvel. Phase 4 will serve as a launchpad for an even richer MCU universe as a result. It’s not just the X-Men coming from Fox, but Fantastic Four and Deadpool as well.

With all that in mind, and considering the exciting rumors about the ties between WandaVision and Doctor Strange 2, January 15th can’t come soon enough. It would have been great to have Phase 4 open with the Black Widow film that we were denied. But WandaVision might be more than a decent choice for the first Marvel adventure of Phase 4.