After the year the MCU has had in 2023, it’s hard to deny that Marvel fatigue is a real problem these days.
While viewers were happy to lap up one, two or even three releases a year during the Infinity Saga, the super-sized nature of the Multiverse Saga has seen audiences become burnt out by the number of projects the studio is asking us to keep up with in order to follow the franchise.
For instance, 2023 and 2022 delivered six live-action movies and TV shows, while 2021 offered up a whopping eight (four shows, four films), plus an animation. Thankfully, things are shrinking down to a much more manageable level for 2024, with only three live-action releases spread out across the following 12 months. Although a trilogy of animated series are helping pad out Marvel’s schedule.
This slate wasn’t necessarily by design, however, as the strikes have forced Marvel to delay various productions into 2025, but it does offer the MCU an opportunity to cool down and reignite viewers’ dormant love for this cinematic universe. Luckily, the handful of projects on their way each have an opportunity to fix things, either in small, qualitative ways or huge, phase-defining ones.
Here are all six upcoming movies and shows, ranked by exactly how much they can save the MCU.
6. X-Men ’97 (Jan. 3)
Admit it, you forgot X-Men ’97 was happening, right? A unique entry on the MCU’s upcoming slate, this animated series is the very first time that Marvel Studios has taken a property from the past and rebooted it under its own umbrella.
From what we’re hearing, the show will be very much a clear continuation of the original X-Men: The Animated Series from the 1990s, but given it is made by Marvel Studios, it is surely bound to have some kind of multiversal crossovers. It’s entirely possible, then, that X-Men ’97 might sow the seeds for Avengers: Secret Wars in certain, subtle ways.
5. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (TBD)
In its original form as Spider-Man: Freshman Year, this animated series depicting the origins of the MCU’s Peter Parker could’ve been easily the most integral animation Marvel has yet produced. However, its development has taken it in a wholly different direction which leaves it perhaps more opportunity to get creative, but also puts a cap on how much it can impact the MCU.
Basically, although initially intended as a Captain America: Civil War prequel, Your Friendly Neighborhood… You-Know is set in its own continuity divorced from the Sacred Timeline. Still, it’s possible it could effect things if the show’s versions of the Osborns, Doctor Octopus, and others eventually turn up on Earth-616.
4. Eyes of Wakanda (TBD)
Surprise! In a rare project that has successfully been kept totally under wraps until late in the game, Marvel has announced Eyes of Wakanda, an animated series set in the world of Black Panther, is coming to Disney Plus in 2024. The unique show will follow brave Wakandan warriors throughout time as they leave their homeland and travel the world to retrieve vibranium artifacts.
The interesting thing about Eyes is that it gives EP Ryan Coogler the perfect opportunity to flesh out the mythology and history of Wakanda, in a way that could easily feed into whatever he may be cooking up for Black Panther 3 (whenever that gets here).
3. Echo (Jan. 10)
Echo was very much the victim of poor pre-release buzz for a long while there, thanks to reports about Marvel having a serious lack of faith in it behind the scenes. And while it is true that its runtime was cut from six to five episodes and it’s being dropped in one go instead of releasing weekly, the first trailer for Echo amped up the hype in spades thanks to its gritty, extremely Netflix Daredevil vibe.
As the first R-rated MCU project — released under the brand-new Marvel Spotlight banner — Echo has the potential to convince viewers that this franchise can break out of its house style and still surprise us.
2. Agatha: Darkhold Diaries (Fall)
You may argue that Agatha: Darkhold Diaries is a bizarre, perhaps even superfluous, Marvel release? Didn’t the WandaVision craze pass long ago? Well, maybe but it has to be said that, outside of Loki, no other MCU Disney Plus show has whipped up the internet into a frenzy in quite the same way as WandaVision, so Agatha could finally bring us back to that wonderful time when everyone was hooked on Marvel TV week after week.
On the world-building front, meanwhile, Agatha is believed to do its bit to set up the Young Avengers as well, not to mention expanding the ever-growing, increasingly significant mystical side of the MCU. Discount this one at your peril.
1. Deadpool 3 (May 3)
Yes, there’s no doubt about it. When it comes to saving the MCU, the bulk of that weight falls on Deadpool 3. Originally to be joined by Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts, and Blade, DP3 stands as the sole theatrical release from Marvel Studios in 2024.
But what might have initially seemed like a blow could actually turn out to be a blessing. Intel says Marvel is extremely confident about this one, and everything we’ve seen about it suggests it’ll essentially be Avengers: Secret Wars #0, with cameos and crossovers galore. Spider-Man: No Way Home remains Marvel’s most popular movie since Endgame thanks to its legacy stars and multiversal team-ups. With any luck, the power of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman can achieve something similar and kickstart a brighter future for the MCU heading into 2025.
