Spider-Man 3 Release Date Pushed, Forces Marvel to Move Doctor Strange, Thor Sequels

Spider-Man has given up on a summer release. After holding on to its original July 16, 2021 release date for a while, Sony Pictures moved the next live-action Spider-Man movie — the sequel to last year's Spider-Man: Far From Home — to November 5, 2021, a delay of just under four months. Owing to that, Marvel Studios has also had to push back the Doctor Strange sequel — Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — once again, from November 5, 2021 to March 25, 2022. Interestingly, the delay hasn't affected Thor: Love and Thunder, which has actually jumped a week ahead, to February 11, 2022.

The delay to the next Spider-Man movie — part of the new series that began with Spider-Man: Homecoming, after Tom Holland debuted as Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War — comes alongside a roster of other release date changes for Sony Pictures films. With the July 16, 2021 now empty, Sony has moved another Holland-starrer, Uncharted, up from October 8, 2021. Meanwhile, the next animated Spider-Man movie — the sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — has also been pushed back nearly six months, from April 8, 2022 to October 7, 2022.

Sony Pictures had already moved most of its superhero slate previously. The Jared Leto-starrer Morbius is now slated for March 19, 2021, while Venom: Let There Be Carnage shifted to June 25, 2021. This follows similar moves by Disney-owned Marvel Studios and Warner Bros.-owned DC Films, all of whom have had to delay their upcoming movies due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has brought a halt to film productions globally.

Uncharted is now set to arrive July 16, 2021 in theatres. The as-yet untitled Spider-Man 3 — not to be confused with the 2007 film of the same name — is slated to release November 5, 2021. Thor: Love and Thunder will open February 11, 2022, followed by Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on March 25, 2022. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 is slotted for October 7, 2022.

Can Netflix force Bollywood to reinvent itself? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS. You can also download the episode or just hit the play button below.