Flicksided's Allie Zuniga brokedown the projects set to hit theaters this year from Marvel. While there are only three projects, we will have one franchise getting rebooted that we've been waiting for, a new Cap taking the shield, and an introduction to the Thunderbolts. While Marvel has found success at the box office, they aren't hitting home runs with the new characters as they hoped. As a result, Marvel needs 2025 to be fruitful for the next phase.
In 2024, we had one Marvel project released, and it was Deadpool & Wolverine, which was a MASSIVE success at the box office. It was the first Deadpool movie released under the Marvel banner, and we all expected it to reach significant numbers because of the return of Wolverine and the built-in love for the Deadpool character. With Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, and Robert Downey Jr. leaving the MCU, Marvel struggled to make new stars.
First, the box office numbers started to dwindle, with Eternals, The Marvels, and even Thor: Love and Thunder not reaching the levels they had hoped for. Of course, when the entire Jonathan Majors situation played out, Marvel had a glaring hole in the future of the MCU. This is where they backed up the Brinks truck at Robert Downey Jr.'s house and got him to return to the MCU to play Dr. Doom. We also understand that Chris Evans is returning as some variation of Steve Rogers. While we don't know if it will be a big role, these two returning only highlight their issues.
The first test is right around the corner with the first Captain America movie without Chris Evans releasing on Valentine's Day in Captain America: Brave New World. First, this is an odd release date for this movie, which I don't think bodes well for the box office. However, this is VERY important in trying to sell Anthony Mackie as the new Cap and ensuring the buyability in this phase.
After that, Thunderbolts will hit theaters on May 2. This boasts a star-studded cast including Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Sebastian Stan, and Rachel Weisz. On paper, this should be a home run, and I love the idea that the team behind the smash-hit Netflix series Beef wrote the film. However, with the lack of development of these new characters for audiences, I am unsure they will get it right. Either way, I hope it's good and smashes at the box office.
Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn lead the latest variation of The Fantastic Four, hitting theaters on July 25 in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. After many years of putting the four on the back burner and much speculation about who will play who, we are getting a new variation of this group. Personally, I think this is the one that has to hit a home run. They waited a long time to bring this to life and delivered a cast that many liked, so they had to produce not just in quality but also at the box office, or this could be bad for the MCU.
Ultimately, The Russo's having their footprint in it all gives many people hope (including me), but unless they start producing GREAT movies again, the audiences not showing up will have Disney wondering if the era of MCU is closing after a successful run. It's a huge year for the MCU, and everyone will be watching it very closely.