The movie world is buzzing about Sony and Marvel Studios’ deal to bring Spider-Man into Marvel’s cinematic universe, and the arrangement has already affected more than just the webslinger’s big-screen future. Several of the movies Marvel had planned in 2017 and beyond have been pushed back to make room for Spider-Man’s debut in the MCU.
According to the terms of Sony’s deal with Marvel, a new Spider-Man actor will be introduced in one of the upcoming Marvel movies (speculation suggests that 2016’s Captain America: Civil War will be the entrance point for the new Spidey), and a solo Spider-Man movie will then be released July 28, 2017. That film will be co-produced by Marvel and Sony.
The addition of that solo Spider-Man movie will then push back many of the Marvel movies that were scheduled to hit theaters in the following years, with the first being Thor: Ragnarok, which will now premiere November 3, 2017, instead of its original release date of July 28. Black Panther, which originally held the November 3 premiere weekend, will now debut eight months later on July 6, 2018. This domino effect will then push back Captain Marvel to November 2, 2018, and delay the premiere of The Inhumans until July 12, 2019.
Untouched by the scheduling shift, however, is the two-part Avengers: Infinity War saga. Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1 will still arrive in theaters May 4, 2018, with the second part scheduled to premiere a year later on May 3, 2019.
Of course, all that could change as potential Spider-Man spinoffs and other Spider-projects are finalized under the new partnership between Sony and Marvel, so this is certainly a situation that remains in flux at the moment.