A Look into Disney’s Master Movie Timeline

Aaron Sha and Nicholas Hung

While moviegoers are awed by current big screen hits like “Avengers: Endgame” and eagerly await new additions of beloved series such as “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” Disney has been busy, mapping out its movie releases far into the future. The two largest franchises slated for a revamp and continuation in production include 21st Century Fox’s “Avatar” and Marvel Studio’s Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“Avatar” has held the title of Largest Box Office Worldwide since its release in 2009. After a decade, producers finally disclosed information about the long-awaited sequels and release dates. Despite experiencing setbacks to its original planned release in 2014, “Avatar 2” has now been rescheduled and set for Dec. 17, 2021 followed by “Avatar 3” in December 2023, “Avatar 4” in December 2025 and all the way up to “Avatar 5” in December 2027.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is separated by phases, with each phase spanning several year’s worth of films. Phase 3 began in 2016 with “Captain America: Civil War,” and while “Avengers: Endgame” marks the glorious end of Marvel’s third Phase, production of Phase 4 is already underway. Coming strong right out of the gate, “Spider-Man: Far From Home” will release in theaters on July 2.

With the immense implications of “Avengers: Endgame” rocking the Marvel Cinematic Universe, most films in Phase 4 will follow Marvel’s heroes on their journeys in the Thanos-scarred world. Unlike the “Avatar” franchise, the rest of Marvel Phase 4 will roll out relatively soon, with a Black Widow solo film next year, sequels for “Black Panther” and “Doctor Strange” in 2021 and “Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3” scheduled in 2022.

With Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox in March, the “X-Men” and “Fantastic Four” franchises are now available for either reboots or further development. The earliest installation will be “Dark Phoenix” from the “X-Men” franchise on June 7.

Disney also revealed news of three more untitled films for the “Star Wars” franchise in addition to “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” in December. There will also be a plethora of Disney classic live-action remakes, such as “Mulan” and “The Lion King.”

With all these grand films to look forward to, fans of the franchises will have to stifle their excitement and wait patiently for at least a few years before their new favorite films are released.