Marvel’s Comic-Con 2022 panel delivered huge news, well beyond what everyone expected. Kevin Feige announced the MCU Phase 5 slate and revealed three pivotal Phase 6 release dates: Fantastic Four, Avengers 5, and Avengers 6. The latter will end the Multiverse Saga, which is what Phases 4 through 6 are called. But there was no talk about Spider-Man 4 and Deadpool 3 at Comic-Con.
These movies are surely coming, with Marvel and Disney having discussed each of them in the past. It’s very likely that Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) will be involved in future crossover events, especially the upcoming Avengers adventures. But Marvel just isn’t ready to announce release dates yet.
No Spider-Man 4 at Comic-Con 2022
Marvel’s Comic-Con panel isn’t exactly the place to announce Spider-Man 4, although it could have been a great venue for a Deadpool 3 release date reveal.
The Spider-Man franchise isn’t Marvel’s property, and the Comic-Con event was all about the vastness of the MCU. Spider-Man might be very popular with fans, but Marvel doesn’t need him for the MCU to work. That continues to be true despite the massive No Way Home success.
Not to mention that Spider-Man 3 was not announced at Comic-Con 2019. We will point out that Disney and Sony were already fighting by that time, and the Spider-Man 3 reveal came later that summer.
Going into Comic-Con, we already knew that Spider-Man 4 will happen. It’s not just Sony execs that said so. Kevin Feige has already confirmed that Marvel and Sony are working on the film, starring Tom Holland. No Way Home help the studios reboot the story, and we’re probably getting another Spider-Man trilogy.
Then there’s the fact that Sony has to keep making Spider-Man movies to hang on to the rights for the character. And Sony is also expanding its Spider-Man Universe (SSU) slowly, which will tell Spider-Man-connected stories.
With all that in mind, it seems inevitable that Spider-Man 4 will happen in the MCU in the coming years. It might not be so soon, but a Phase 6 release might make sense for the film.
Finally, there’s also one crucial detail that Sony confirmed before the No Way Home premiere. Tom Holland’s Peter Parker will appear in an unnamed MCU title down the road. It’s part of the Sony-Disney agreement.
Where is the Deadpool 3 announcement?
While we didn’t expect a Spider-Man 4 release reveal, Deadpool 3 seemed certain for Comic-Con. After so many years of waiting, Marvel could have finally acknowledged the Merc with a Mouth and had him crash the party in San Diego.
However, at least one reason might have prevented that announcement. There’s no question that the first Wakanda Forever trailer generated a lot of emotion at Comic-Con. Marvel, the fans, and the MCU characters are still mourning Chadwick Boseman and T’Challa. Maybe that’s not the right place to have Ryan Reynolds appear in character and mock the MCU — assuming that was ever going to happen.
Secondly, Marvel is yet to announce its X-Men projects. And we’re not counting here the animated productions that will be part of the MCU. And Wade Wilson is a mutant as well.
We’ve only started discovering the MCU’s mutants, with Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) being one of them. Perhaps Marvel might want to unveil the Deadpool 3 title later, once it can also reveal additional mutant movies and TV shows.
Future announcements at D23 Expo?
That said, Deadpool 3 isn’t like Spider-Man 4 when it comes to production. Work has already started on the Deadpool sequel, and we saw plenty of updates on the matter in the past few months. It’s likely the film will be launched in 2024 or 2025 at this point. And it sure looks like Deadpool 3 will hit theaters in time for Wade to join the Avengers.
We’ll remind you that D23 Expo is the next major event where Marvel might reveal details about the MCU. After all, Marvel showed 11 dates for Phase 6, but revealed only three titles.
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