The pressure on MCU’s Fantastic Four and Blade has skyrocketed after Disney’s CEO Bob Iger announced focusing more on existing franchises instead of launching new characters. This is a part of Disney’s new strategy to slow down the MCU releases due to the growing negative reception for Phase Four and Phase Five among the Marvel fanbase. It means that Marvel Studios will limit the number of ‘experimentations’ which resulted in the release of several mediocre projects, such as Eternals, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and Secret Invasion.
“I’d say we’re leaning a little bit more into sequels and franchises. I think given the environment and given what it takes to get people out of their homes to see a film … leaning on franchises that are familiar is actually a smart thing,” said Bob Iger recently.
Based on Disney’s recent strategy, it seems like Marvel will concentrate more on leveraging prominent characters or franchises instead of gambling on projects led by new characters. This plan certainly puts significant pressure on projects like Blade and Fantastic Four, as these films are the only forthcoming movies that will introduce new characters to the MCU. We have already witnessed an alternate version of Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic, in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. On the other hand, Mahershala Ali’s Blade made a voice cameo in the post-credits scene of Eternals. Both Blade and Fantastic Four will officially make these characters a part of the MCU.
Blade and Fantastic Four need to perform well at the global box office. Their box office results will determine whether they will get sequels in the future.
In addition, the production updates surrounding these projects make this scenario more complicated. We have encountered numerous rumours regarding Fantastic Four’s cast, since the project’s announcement in 2019. And we are yet to get suitable actors for all four F4 members. Pedro Pascal’s rumoured inclusion is yet to be acknowledged by Disney and Marvel.
The situation for Blade looks worse than Fantastic Four. The production of the Mahershala Ali starrer has endured numerous setbacks, along with writing issues. Additionally, the film has a new director, Yann Demange, who replaced Bassam Tariq.
Both Blade and Fantastic Four need to sort out their respective issues to solidify their place in the MCU. Otherwise, Disney could make things more complicated for them. Stay tuned for more updates.
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