Marvel fans are gearing up for a patience-testing wait between movies following The Fantastic Four: First Steps' release in theaters. With just a few short weeks until the blue spandex-wearing quartet make their MCU debut, audiences have been looking up what movie comes out after, and it's Spider-Man: Brand New Day... on July 31, 2026.
The gap – which is 371 days, to be exact – marks the biggest in the franchise's history since the COVID-19 pandemic saw Black Widow delayed from May 1, 2020 to July 9, 2021. Due to the pushbacks, there wasn't a Marvel movie in cinemas for over two years, since Spider-Man: Far From Home landed on July 2, 2019.
"Wow, that makes me pretty bummed," wrote one fan on Reddit, while others took it as a positive: "This break will be good for Marvel I think, let us miss the MCU a bit."
"I've enjoyed more Marvel movies than I've disliked but honestly? Good. We need the gap," said a third, while a fourth added: "Good! Give me quality over quantity any day."
But, we can expect Disney Plus show Wonder Man in December 2025, so we won't be going too long without Marvel.
Following industry-wide discussions surrounding superhero fatigue, which suggested cinema-goers were getting bored of comic book adaptations dominating the big screen, Disney CEO Bob Iger shared the studio's plans to scale back on its productions back in May 2024.
"We're slowly going to decrease volume and go to probably about two TV series a year instead of what had become four and reduce our film output from maybe four a year to two, or a maximum of three," he said (via Variety). "And we're working hard on what that path is."
Starring Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Vanessa Kirby, and Pedro Pascal, The Fantastic Four: First Steps sees Marvel's First Family face off against Silver Surfer and Galactus, as Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards and the Invisible Woman/Sue Storm prepare to become parents.
It releases on July 25. In the meantime, check out all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows on the way, as well as our guide to how to watch the Marvel movies in order.
