Marvel Has Exactly 2 Years To Fix Avengers 5

The clock is ticking for Avengers 5‘s release, and Marvel seems to be taking too long to decide what to do with the MCU‘s next crossover event. As of May 2024, Avengers 5‘s release date is set as May 1, 2026, having been previously delayed a whole year. Still, little is known about Avengers 5 beyond the assumption that it will gather many of the Multiverse Saga’s main heroes, possibly including established Avengers like Doctor Strange, Smart Hulk, Ant-Man, and Spider-Man, as well as newcomers such as She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Shang-Chi, and Moon Knight.

Avengers 5‘s narrative possibilities are endless, which could come as both a blessing and a curse for the 2026 movie. On one hand, Avengers 5 could streamline the MCU’s many clashing takes on the multiverse and retroactively improve previous movies that failed to cement their multiversal plots as solid foundations for Phase 6, like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. On the other, Avengers 5 itself could struggle to live up to the expectations set up by Infinity Saga crossover events such as Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.

Avengers 5’s Release Journey Has Hit An Important Milestone

Avengers 5 Must Begin Active Development Soon If It’s Still Set To Release Within The Next Three Years

Avengers 5 has reached May 1, 2024, without any major production updates. If it retains its May 1, 2026 release date, Avengers 5‘s development could either need to be fast-tracked soon, or it has already advanced in absolute secrecy.Avengers 5 will likely assemble a group of actors from all over the MCU — a feat that requires plenty of time to achieve. Unlike most guest actors playing multiversal cameos in movies like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Deadpool & Wolverine, many big-name stars in the Avengers 5 cast may receive an equally large amount of screentime.

Recent MCU movies such as Thunderbolts* and Captain America: Brave New World have gone through extensive rewrites and reshoots. A movie the size and scope of Avengers 5 may not be able to do the same, not only because of the budget and logistics issues it would require, but also because the MCU can’t afford to release a middling Avengers film after a seven-year wait following Avengers: Endgame‘s massive success. In order to guarantee that Avengers 5 is in its best possible state, Marvel Studios needs to invest as much time as possible in the development and pre-production stages.

Marvel Still Has Major Issues With Avengers 5

The MCU’s Plans For Avengers 5 Are Still Very Unclear

Avengers 5‘s production has struggled to move forward for a while. First, writer Jeff Loveness, who penned Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, was let go from Avengers 5. Shortly after, Avengers5 was delayed one year, from May 2025 to May 2026 due to the effects of the 2023 Writers’ Strike. Meanwhile, Kang the Conqueror actor Jonathan Majors’ legal issues had put his participation in the movie in jeopardy, leading Marvel Studios to bring the project back to the drawing board.

Soon enough, Marvel officially fired Jonathan Majors, director Destin Daniel Cretton left in order to focus on other projects, and Avengers 5‘s subtitle “The Kang Dynasty” was dropped. Since then, only one update has been made public by Marvel Studios: Michael Waldron has replaced Jeff Loveness as Avengers 5‘s writer. Otherwise, Avengers 5 approaches with no further news or delays in sight. Avengers: Infinity War began filming in January 2017, a year and three months before its April 2018 release date. Avengers 5 could still qualify for a similar filming schedule if pre-production finishes in the following nine months.

Avengers 5’s Build-Up Doesn’t Feel Like It’s There Yet

The Multiverse Saga Is Missing The Foundations For The MCU’s Next Avengers Movie

Unlike its Infinity War equivalent, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers 5 lacks all the foundations to assemble Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and begin the Multiverse Saga’s conclusion. Most evidently, Phases 4 and 5 haven’t featured the Avengers in any capacity, and most of the team’s new-generation heroes haven’t even met each other yet. The Infinity Saga’s The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron set up Thanos’ eventual arrival and built the relationships between protagonists like Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor. The Multiverse Saga has skipped all team-up movies, and instead, killed off Kang in the middle of Phase 5.

The MCU’s Phases 1 through 3 also employed the Infinity Stones to establish a clear throughline that led to Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame‘s plot. The conflict was clear years before Avengers: Infinity War‘s release: Thanos would collect the Infinity Stones, and the Avengers would unite to stop him. At this point in the Multiverse Saga, Avengers 5‘s plot is completely unknown. Whether Kang the Conqueror remains dead, the Council of Kangs will ever return, or the multiverse is even at risk is still a mystery two years before Avengers 5 releases in theaters.