Marvel stakes its claim on December 2028 with a mystery movie

Marvel Studios is going big with its upcoming slate. In a month, we get Fantastic Four: First Steps. Then, it’s off to the races with Spider-Man: Brand New Day in July 2026, Avengers: Doomsday in December 2026, and finally, Avengers: Secret Wars in December 2027.

But there must be a lot more in the pipeline. We already know one mystery movie will be released on Jul. 23, 2027, and now it’s been revealed that the studio has also reserved December 15, 2028, for another release.

An untitled Marvel Studios movie will release on December 15, 2028 in theaters. pic.twitter.com/zlFCLGrZpk

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) June 18, 2025

So, what could these movies be? Let’s explore the options, then check in to see what’d make the fans happy. In my opinion, the most likely Jul. 2027 release will be Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther 3. We already know some of the casting, Coogler is working on the script, and – if it can start shooting by the end of the year – should be able to easily make a summer 2027 release.

Figuring out what’s coming in Dec. 2028 is a little trickier. Development of Armor Wars and Blade has stalled, so in my opinion, we may never see either of those in theaters. We might get Shang-Chi 2 in this spot, though Destin Daniel Cretton may want a longer break from Marvel after directing Brand New Day.

The rise of the mutants?

Far more likely is that Dec. 2028 will be when we get the first MCU X-Men movie. By this point, Secret Wars will be over,r and the MCU is likely to switch focus to mutants for that upcoming phase. Don’t necessarily expect a team-up off the bat, but instead a movie focusing on one mutant as they gradually build up to a team movie. Perhaps this would be a smart time to unveil the MCU’s own non-Hugh Jackman Wolverine?

Naturally, fans have other ideas. Eternals 2 seems to be a popular choice, though frankly, I don’t see Marvel Studios being enthusiastic to return to that well. Some are still holding out hope for Blade, but that ship has sailed as its star ages out of the role. Or, alternatively, there’s talk that Secret Wars could get a Deathly Hallows-style split and be released in two parts.

Whatever the case we’re just going to have to wait and see. The Fantastic Four post-credits scene is almost certainly going to be a Doomsday tease (possibly featuring Robert Downey Jr), but once that’s out, we expect their future plans for the next years to be officially unveiled. The MCU is due a comeback arc, here’s hoping they make the right choices.