Disney Delays a Slew of Avatar, Marvel, and Star Wars Movies Due to Writers’ Strike

Yet again, Disney is shaking up its release calendar, delaying a slew of upcoming Marvel, Star Wars, and Avatar movies. As per Deadline, the shift is mainly attributed to the ongoing writers' strike in Hollywood, causing screenplays to not be ready, in addition to pausing production. Let's start with the three upcoming Avatar movies, which have all been delayed by at least a year, with the fifth film now eyeing a release in 2031. Avatar 3, which is expected to introduce the ‘Ash People' representing the fire culture, has been delayed by exactly a year, going from December 20, 2024 to December 19, 2025.

Meanwhile, James Cameron's Avatar 4 shifts from December 18, 2026, to December 21, 2029, and Avatar 5 goes from December 22, 2028, to December 19, 2031. The director previously confirmed that scripts for the next three Avatar films are already locked in, but the report claims that the overall shifting of other Disney movies due to the strike is pushing the sci-fi sequels even further.

“Each Avatar film is an exciting but epic undertaking that takes time to bring to the quality level we as filmmakers strive for and audiences have come to expect,” producer Jon Landau tweeted in response to the news. “The team is hard at work and can't wait to bring audiences back to Pandora in December 2025.” Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water earned $2.320 billion (about Rs. 19,095 crore) at the global box office, earning a spot as the #3 biggest movie of all time.

Coming to Marvel, the long-troubled Blade movie and Thunderbolts — MCU's attempt at its own Suicide Squad — are waiting until the writers' strike calms, before rolling the cameras. The former now moves from September 6, 2024 to February 14, 2025, while Thunderbolts will hold onto its 2024 window, going from July 26 to December 20. Deadpool 3, which marks Hugh Jackman's return to the role of Wolverine, is the shining beacon; it has been brought forward by six months, from Nov. 8, 2024 to May 3, 2024. Captain America: New World Order was subjected to a title change, last week, now dubbed ‘Captain America: Brave New World.' It has been delayed from May 3, 2024 to July 26, 2024.

It appears as though scripts for the upcoming Avengers movies aren't fully ready either, moving Avengers: The Kang Dynasty an entire year, from May 2, 2025, to May 1, 2026. In doing so, it's replacing Avengers: Secret Wars, which now jumps to May 7, 2027. The report also notes that with the delay, Disney wants to ensure things are smooth on the quality front as well.

The post-pandemic era of the MCU has been unsatisfactory to say the least, from weak scripts to poorly rendered VFX that resulted in a loss of confidence from fans, alongside lower box office numbers. VFX artists on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania previously blamed Marvel for prioritising other projects over theirs. The Fantastic Four reboot, which has already been going through a tough time switching directors, shifts deeper into 2025 — going from February 14 to May 2.

2026 marks a big year for Star Wars fans, with two untitled movies expected to release. One of them has been pushed from December 2025 to May 22, 2026, while the other has just been added to Disney's calendar. During the Star Wars Celebration event in April, Disney confirmed that three Star Wars movies are in the pipeline, with one of them bringing back Daisy Ridley as Rey Skywalker; it is unclear if that's one of the untitled movies.

Other projects to receive an update in Disney's calendar include the live-action Moana movie with Dwayne Johnson, now slated to release June 27, 2025 — roughly a week earlier than the initial July 2 slot. Then there's a new Alien movie that takes the August 16, 2024 date, and a bunch of other untitled films across 2024 to 2025, which also includes two Marvel movies.