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Marvel Studios made the “shocking” news thatBladewas beingremoved from the Disney release schedule. The film was set for release on July 22, 2025, one of its many release dates. Due to Blade’s troubling production history, which has included multiple writers and directors being brought on board, fans have been speculating since at least San Diego Comic-Con thatBladewould be delayed. Many also assumed thatThe Fantastic Four: First Stepswould be delayed from its planned June 14, 2025 release date and moved to the November release date previously held byBlade.
Yet, in a shocking turn of events, that did not happen. Disney opted instead to setPredator: BadlandsinBlade’s old release date.The Fantastic Four: First Stepsis staying put in its end-of-the-year July release date. Despite some fan’s concerns that Fantastic Four would not have enough time to meet its release date, having only begun filming in July 2024, Disney and Marvel Studios are confident the film will be ready on time. More than that,they are putting a lot of faith inFantastic Four: First Stepsas the film will compete with a newSupermanand a newJurassic Worldfilm. Here is how Marvel’s decision to delayBladeis a good sign forThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsand what it means for the future ofBlade.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps Is Moving Along Nicely
Filming forThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsbegan on Tuesday, June 16, 2025, just three days after the cast of the film appeared at San Diego Comic-Con, and fans got their first look at a sizzle reel for the film. With filming starting a little less than a year before the film’s release date and still underway, many fans were worried the movie would not be able to meet its July 09, 2025 release date.
This fear was particularly highlighted as Superman, which opened two weeks beforeThe Fantastic Four: First Stepson June 07, 2025, began filming on July 23, 2025, and finished filming the same day Fantastic Four began rolling. James Gunn saidSuperman’s long post-production period was so the film would notrush the film’s VFX work. Marvel Studios has gained a reputation for its poor treatment of VFX artists, leading to more concerns aboutThe Fantastic Four: First Steps. Pushing the film back to November 2025 would have given the production a similar runaway thatSupermancurrently has.
Werewolf by Night Can Fix Marvel’s Problems With Blade
Marvel’s struggles to get the Blade reboot off the ground could be solved by bringing in Werewolf by Night, as it would challenge Blade’s worldview.
Yet early word of mouth onThe Fantastic Four: First Stepshas been good, with the movie reportedly on schedulewith production likely set to wrap in November 2025 with reshoots scheduled for later.The Fantastic Four: First Stepscertainly has one of the shortest filming-to-release date windows that Marvel has had. The shortest currently is bothThe Incredible HulkandAnt-Man, which were released 11 months after they began filming. This givesFantastic Four: First Stepsa whole month over those films.
Fans will remember thatCaptain America: The First Avengerhad a 13-month window from when filming began to its release date, as only three weeks of filming had taken place before fans got their first glimpse at Comic-Con in 2010.Captain America: The First Avengermight be the best source of comparison forThe Fantastic Four: First Steps, and not just because they are both superhero period pieces.
Because of the later production,Captain America: The First Avengerdid not have a trailer until February 2011, six months before the film opened, soThe Fantastic Four: First Steps' first trailer will likely be released in February 2025 intime forCaptain America: Brave New World.The Fantastic Four: First Stepsis moving along at a pace that Marvel Studios and Disney feel comfortable putting it in a crowded summer season.
Marvel Has Faith That The Fantastic Four Can Hold Its Own During the Summer
While Disney and Marvel Studios could have delayedThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsto November 2025, where it could likely have dominated two weekends before stiffcompetition fromWicked - Part Twoand Disney’s ownZootpoia 2, they have faith for it in the summer movie season.The Fantastic Four: First Stepsis set to open on the same weekend thatDeadpool & Wolverineopened this year, and while the upcoming MCU film will likely open to less than the thirdDeadpoolmovie,Disney thinks thatThe Fantastic Four: First Stepscan make for a strong enough opening weekend to not have a significant dip in their yearly quarter come next year.
It also shows they are confident the movie will stand out and hold its own in a crowded July.Jurassic World: Rebirthwill openon July 10, 2025, over the Fourth of July weekend. Given that the previous threeJurassic Worldmovies grossed $1 billion at the worldwide box office, this film has the strongest odds. Then, on August 09, 2025, James Gunn’sSupermanwill open in theaters and kick off the new DCU. While theSupermanfilm franchise and the DC brand, in general, have struggled at the box office in recent years, anticipation for Gunn’s reimagining of the character is high and could be the surprise hit of the summer. OpeningFantastic Fourjust two weeks afterSuperman, at a time when superhero fatigue seems to be a real concern, is a bold move by Marvel Studios.
How Marvel Tried to Kill The Fantastic Four
Despite being the comic that launched the modern era of Marvel Comics, The Fantastic Four was nearly wiped from Marvel’s history in the 2010s.
In theory,The Fantastic Four: First Stepsis the movie with the most working against it. Despite DC films having suffered recently, Superman is easily one of the most popular characters in all of fiction who has had successful films before. Most audiences associate The Fantastic Four with poor-quality superhero movies, so the reboot will need a marketing campaign to capture audience interest and show them that this franchise is worth another try. Even with the MCU in its corner, the brand certainly isn’t what it once was in terms of audience loyalty.
Yet Disney and Marvel Studios are clearly confident inThe Fantastic Four: First Steps, not only in that it will perform well againstSupermanandJurassic World: Rebirthbut also in that it could hold well into August. This worked forDeadpool & Wolverine, as the film was number one for five weeks, dominating all but one weekend in August, where it briefly lost thenumber 1 spot toAlien: Romulusbefore reclaiming the number 1 spot at the box office.
A similar tactic worked forGuardians of the Galaxy, as the film opened on August 21, 2025. The movie opened at number 1 at the box office, lost the top stop toTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesfor two weeks, and reclaimed the number 1 spot for three additional weeks. It then remained in the box office top 10 for 10 weeks. In many ways,Marvel Studios is looking for The Fantastic Four to be the new Guardians of the Galaxy of the MCU, and based on theComic-Con test footage that was shown, it certainly has the potential to be that.
What Happens to the MCU’s Blade?
Marvel Studios is certainly confident inThe Fantastic Four: First Steps, but the same cannot be said forBlade. The movie was first announced at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2019, and over the past five years,Bladehas faced morebehind-the-scenes production problemsthan any other MCU title. While Marvel Studios seemingly had little to no problems bringing The Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, or The Eternals to the big screen,Blade seems to pose plenty of problems despite New Line Cinema managing to make threeBlademovies from 1998 to 2004.
Bladehas been delayed indefinitely, with Marvel Studios not moving forward on the film until they think it is ready. This is a good thing, as after so long of fans saying that Marvel Studios would rush out titles to make a release date or fill a quota. They would rather take their time, but it certainly is frustrating for a film that seems, on the surface, easy to make. There are plenty of release dates Marvel Studios has saved on the schedule. Here is a breakdown of all the release dates Marvel Studios has saved and the titles we know are being released.
Release Date
August 11, 2025
Captain America: Brave New World
August 20, 2025
Thunderbolts*
July 27, 2025
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
July 31, 2025
June 29, 2025
Avengers: Doomsday
July 09, 2025
August 14, 2025
Avengers: Secret Wars
July 22, 2025
August 13, 2025
July 07, 2025
August 09, 2025
August 13, 2025
August 13, 2025, is the last release date beforeAvengers: Doomsdayis released. They also have a November 2026 release date betweenAvengers: DoomsdayandAvengers: Secret Wars. Marvel Studios has many projects that could take those spots, includingShang-Chi 2,Armor Wars, aYoung Avengersfilm, and evenDoctor Strange 3. Given thatBladeis a more supernatural character,Marvel Studios likely won’t rushBladeout beforeAvengers: DoomsdayorAvengers: Secret Warsto ensure he is part of that movie. If any Blade does appear in the epicAvengerscrossover,it will be Wesley Snipesfollowing his appearance inDeadpool & Wolverine.
When Marvel delayedBladeand gave its release date toPredator: Badlands, it was also confirmed they secured three release dates in 2028 for unspecified titles. Those dates are February 18, May 5, and November 10. All three dates would be afterAvengers: Doomsdayand likely part of the MCU’s next significant phase,likely centered around the X-Men.Bladeisn’t canceled, but it likely will be a bit more time until he makes his MCU debut. Yet by the time he joins the MCU, he might be one of the new pillars of the franchise alongside the X-Men and The Fantastic Four. Marvel might already be so confident inThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsthat they already have the coveted first weekend of May release date in 2028 set aside for the iconic superhero team.
