Now that Spider-Man is coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we can expect a lot of change in the world of comic book movies. The first big alteration that has come as a result, however, is in the release dates of future Marvel movies. Now that the first MCU Spider-Man feature is coming out on July 28, 2017, it's causing just about all the other films after it to move back to a later date.
The first clue hinting that a release date shift would happen is the fact that the new Spider-Man movie has been scheduled for the same day that Thor: Ragnarok was originally going to come out - and obviously those two films are not going to be released together. Because of this, as Coming Soon notes, Thor: Ragnarok will now be in theaters on November 3, 2017.
However, that is yet another date that Marvel Studios has already set aside for one of their projects: Black Panther. Now that film is moving away from that scheduled release and getting eight more months of pre-production and will be coming out on July 6, 2018 (which you'll note now makes it the first film to come out after The Avengers: Infinity War - Part 1.
That position was previously held by Captain Marvel, but now that project has gotten pushed back as well. Now the first female-led Marvel Studios film will be coming out as one of their big fall releases, scheduled for November 2, 2018.
Finally, that move finds Inhumans without a place on the calendar, so Marvel Studios is moving it to July 12, 2019. This both makes the movie the first one to come out after The Avengers: Infinity War - Part 2 and the big screen Marvel property that is furthest away on the release schedule.
On the surface, these shifts don't really seem like that big a deal, as basically everything post-Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is just moving back one space, but it also does paint an interesting picture for what we can expect in the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After all, Black Panther was originally set up to be the lead-in film to The Avengers: Infinity War, but now its story won't be unfolding until the first half of that crossover story is complete. Does this tell us that Black Panther doesn't really have much of a set-up planned for the two-part blockbuster? Along those same lines, does this mean that the events portrayed in Inhumans aren't really influenced by Infinity War, in that it doesn't matter if the story unfolds before or after the crossover is done? It's definitely an interesting shake-up.
What do you make of all these release date shifts? Are you more excited for the new Spider-Man than you are bummed that you have to wait a little while longer for Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Captain Marvel and Inhumans? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
