Despite being one of the first major productions to shut down back in March as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, Marvel Studios kept their cards very close to the chest when it came to deciding whether or not The Falcon and the Winter Soldier would be delayed. After refusing to confirm or deny it, we got our answer when the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first Disney Plus series was quietly left off the list of August releases.
Given that everything in the MCU is connected in some fashion, as well as some rumored connections between the two projects, it makes sense from a storytelling perspective that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier would arrive after Black Widow, as was the plan before the studio was forced to delay their entire slate of Phase Four movies and TV shows.
With Black Widow now set to hit theaters in November, there was hope among fans that Sam and Bucky’s spinoff could still arrive before the end of 2020, with crew members involved in the shoot even claiming as much. However, a new report indicates that we might have to wait until next year to see The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
Apparently, there’s still a sizeable amount of footage required to get the first run of episodes completely in the can, not to mention the restrictions in place for a production of this size as we enter a post-COVID-19 industry that will stretch filming out for even longer. One saving grace is that WandaVision had already completed principal photography before March, so while we might not be seeing The Falcon and the Winter Soldier this year, the MCU’s other big new show is still tentatively penciled in to arrive before 2020 is over.