Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” opened to $218 million worldwide last weekend, a number that’s being seen as a decent start according to a new feature piece in Variety going into Marvel Studios’ slate of films for 2026 and beyond.
As one agent notes, the days of consistently surpassing $1 billion are over and won’t return. This comes down to multiple reasons such as the loss of China’s taste for Marvel fare, the lasting impact of post-COVID cinemagoing habits, the absence of megastars in these films, and the easy availability of Disney+ in many markets.
This is resulting in a new sense of frugality at the company. As previously confirmed, Marvel will be going with a line-up of younger talent for “X-Men” rather than A-listers in order to keep the cost down. Casting will begin soon.
A July 23rd 2027 release date has been marked out for an unknown Marvel film, but the trade indicates that one will not be taken by the “X-Men” movie.
One place where costs aren’t being kept down is “Avengers: Doomsday”, where Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Hemsworth will be getting full pay. Downey Jr. has reportedly earned between $500-600 million over the course of seven Marvel movies and three cameos to date.
The report debunks rumours that Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards is the film’s central star – sources indicate he isn’t the star but does have an integral role.
Finally they indicate the studio reportedly is feeling “no sense of urgency” around the “Blade” reboot or another “Deadpool,” but they are getting excited about Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther 3” with “ideas percolating”.
