The Avengers: Infinity War - rather than enjoying each step of the journey. As a result, Marvel held the Phase 4 slate back until San Diego Comic-Con 2019.
But here's the problem with a shared cinematic universe; everything is connected to everything else. That's probably another reason why Marvel decided to keep things quiet because, in spite of their reputation for playing the long game, the studio has always been remarkably flexible. Until Phase 4, this flexibility has largely been about taking advantage of new opportunities, such as rewriting various MacGuffins as Infinity Stones in order to bring Thanos in play or striking unprecedented deals to incorporate Spider-Man into the MCU. Unfortunately, Phase 4's disruptions have been far more difficult, with Marvel constantly having to adapt to problems they could never have predicted.
As a result, the MCU has essentially taken a year off after Spider-Man: Far From Home. The excitement of Phase 4 has been postponed - and it's been complicated significantly. Here are all the issues Marvel has had to navigate.
The Firing (And Re-Hiring) Of James Gunn
The first Phase 4 problem actually predates the SDCC 2019 announcement, with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 director James Gunn fired in July 2018, after a conservative website dug up tasteless jokes he'd shared on social media long before ever working for the House of Mouse. His film was supposed to be the first film of Phase 4, with Gunn saying it shaped the cosmic future of the MCU. "When we're talking about Guardians of the Galaxy 3, and that story, that's a story that will lead to other stories," Gunn explained in one interview. "It's innate to the DNA that that's the end of a trilogy but it's the beginning of a whole other element of the Marvel Cosmic universe." Scripts were well in development, using Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as a launchpad. And then Gunn was fired, leaving Marvel in an impossible situation. They put Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on indefinite hold.
This clearly had a major impact on the entire Phase 4 slate, delaying not just the one movie, but all the films intended to launch from it. The actual Phase 4 slate is decidedly lacking in of cosmic adventures, instead exploring secret kingdoms on Earth and aspects of the Multiverse. Gunn has since been rehired, although Marvel is yet to set a new release date for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. It's reasonable to assume their Phase 4 plans have been moved back to Phase 5, and what was announced at SDCC 2020 was actually something of a backup plan in the first plan.
The Spider-Man Deal Nearly Collapsed
Spider-Man may be a Marvel superhero, but he exists in the MCU as the result of an unprecedented agreement struck between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures. Unfortunately, in August 2019 that deal fell apart, mere days after Spider-Man: Far From Home ed Skyfall and became Sony's new record-holder. The problem was that the two studios had originally made a deal that covered five films; while Sony was keen for this to continue, Disney wanted the to change, because they didn't feel it was profitable enough for them. Negotiations broke down completely, and for a brief period, it seemed as though Spider-Man was destined to leave the MCU forever.
Fortunately, against all the odds - and in part because of a drunken phone call from Holland himself - Morbius appeared to confirm this, with Michael Keaton's Vulture appearing in one shot and an explicit Spider-Man reference. The relationship between Marvel and Sony has changed completely - and it looks as though Sony movies will be part of the wider MCU as a result.
The Coronavirus Pandemic
Nobody could have foreseen the events of 2020. The coronavirus pandemic and its associated lockdowns shut down the entire film industry. It hasn't just been a matter of the cinemas being closed; production has been affected as well, meaning films haven't been able to start shooting on time. Disney initially put off rescheduling this year's Black Widow for as long as possible, because they knew every change to the slate has a ripple effect on the rest of Phase 4; but in the end, even the House of Mouse had to cave in to reality. The most recent adjustment to the slate saw Black Widow moving to May 7, 2021. In a strange coincidence, that's 11 years to the day from Scarlett Johansson's MCU debut in Iron Man 2.
Meanwhile, everything else keeps shuffling around as well, and at present, there are four MCU movies scheduled for both 2020 and 2021, more than making up for Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings swapping places. The November slot has worked well in the past for films like Doctor Strange and Thor: Ragnarok, other Marvel movies that deal with some of the stranger aspects of the MCU, so it's likely a better placement for Eternals, even if it does mean Marvel is holding back a movie that wrapped principal photography in February 2020 for almost 21 months.
