2021 Is The First Year Since 2011 With TWO New Marvel Franchises

2021 will be the first year since 2011 with two new Marvel franchises launching: The Eternals and Shang-Chi. A number of movies have been delayed due to coronavirus, and the major Hollywood studios have all had to re-think their release slates for at least the coming year. This includes Marvel, who have delayed Black Widow from May to November 2020, and with it caused a ripple effect across the entirety of their Phase 4 slate.

Rather than try to find new release dates for certain movies, Marvel instead took the approach to push all of their upcoming films back by one release spot each (with Black Panther 2 the only MCU film not delayed). That meant with Black Widow going to November, The Eternals was pushed to February 2021 and so on. 2021 was already Marvel’s first year releasing four movies, but these changes have had another unintended consequence on the Phase 4 slate.

Related: Marvel Movie Delays Are What MCU Should’ve Been After Endgame

As well as meaning 2021 is a crowded year for blockbuster movies, it also makes it the first year since 2011 in which the MCU will have two brand new properties debuting, with The Eternals and Shang-Chi. As Phase 4 looks to go in some new directions, both movies are incredibly important: they’re lesser known comic book characters, featuring diverse casts (with Shang-Chi lead Simu Liu the first actor of Asian descent to lead an MCU film), and with very different character types and storylines. The Eternals, directed by Chloe Zhao, follows a race of super powerful, immortal beings who were created by the Celestials, and will be released on February 12, 2021. Shang-Chi, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, focuses on the titular martial artist, and will also introduce the real Mandarin to the MCU. Shang-Chi will release on May 7, 2021, the spot previously occupied by Doctor Strange 2.

While the MCU has expanded drastically over the course of 23 movies, it’s somewhat surprising to realize that it will have been a decade since they launched two new properties in the same year – 2011 saw the release of both Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, which was part of the initial Phase 1 block-building towards The Avengers. It also shows their emphasis on sequels and exploring characters they’ve already introduced, with the usual trend being to introduce one new franchise alongside 1-2 established ones per year. That would’ve been the case in 2021 as well, if not for the coronavirus.

Marvel’s other two 2021 releases will be Spider-Man 3 and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, both sequels within established franchises. The Eternals was supposed to be the only new Marvel franchise of 2020 (since Black Widow is already so well-known in the MCU), with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings being the only one in 2021. However, the new release dates mean that they’ll both make their mark in 2021 – one directly after the other, as well. If they’re just as good as everything else Marvel has done, fans will be introduced to two great new franchises in the same year.

Next: Marvel’s New Phase 4 Slate: Every MCU Movie Release Date (2020-2022)

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