Marvel And Star Wars Have Swapped Places
The Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars have recently swapped, thanks to some big recent news concerning the former. Since Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, the MCU and Star Wars have been somewhat partners in the world of film. Disney being the parent company of both Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios has allowed both to operate on a much bigger scale than they could before, as evidenced by the extensive slate of upcoming Marvel movies. When factoring in the upcoming Star Wars movies set for the next few years, this increased output becomes even clearer.
When factoring in the seemingly endless slate of upcoming Star Wars TV shows and their Marvel equivalents, it is more evident than ever that the two franchises have walked hand-in-hand for a while. That said, the franchises have rarely ever shared theater time together. The box office failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story up against Avengers: Infinity War is a big reason why Star Wars and Marvel have tended to have disparate release schedules. This remains the case, but recent news from the Marvel side of things proves the franchises may have swapped places.
Marvel & Star Wars' Big Movies Have Switched Their Release Plans Close The news in question came in May 2025 with the announcement that Avengers: Doomsday has been delayed from May 2026 to December of that year. Its sequel, Avengers: Secret Wars, was also delayed from May 2027 to December 2027. This marks a big change from the typical release plans of Star Wars and Marvel under Disney, especially when factoring in the release date of The Mandalorian & Grogu. Historically under Disney, Marvel"s big tentpole movies have been released in either May or very late April, while Star Wars projects have typically been placed in December.
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Related Everything We Know About The Mandalorian & Grogu Movie The Mandalorian"s story will continue with a Star Wars movie. Here"s everything we know about the project, including cast, release, and timeline.
Posts Looking specifically at Marvel"s Avengers franchise, the first movie in that series - 2012"s The Avengers - was released on May 4, 2012. Its sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron, was released three years later on May 1, 2015. The two-part story of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame continued this trend, releasing on April 27, 2018, and April 26, 2019, respectively. Since 2012, the late April and May window has been dedicated to Marvel"s Avengers franchise.
When looking at the Star Wars movies under Disney, all but one of the theatrical releases in the last 10 years have come in December. The only outlier was the aforementioned Solo: A Star Wars Story, which was released in May 2018 up against Avengers: Infinity War and became the lowest-grossing movie in the franchise as a result. Every other Disney Star Wars movie - The Force Awakens, Rogue One, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker - has been released in December, with all of them earning over $1 billion at the worldwide box office as a result.
Now, though, this has changed. In the coming years, it seems as though big Avengers movies will come in December, while Star Wars will go the other way take the typical May spot. The delays of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars confirm as much, especially when considering The Mandalorian and Grogu"s May 22, 2026 release date. With Ryan Gosling"s Star Wars: Starfighter movie also set for May 2027, it seems the two franchises have swapped places for the foreseeable future.
Why Marvel & Star Wars Have Swapped Places It Is For A Mutual Cause Close Concerning why Marvel and Star Wars have swapped, it seems to be a mutual decision between the Disney franchises. Star Wars has always wanted to hold May down as the month associated with the franchise, primarily due to the fact that all six movies produced by George Lucas before Disney"s acquisition were released in that month. By the time Disney began producing Star Wars movies again, though, the MCU had already come along and locked May down for The Avengers. Based on what happened to Solo, it was never worth Star Wars trying to reclaim it.
However, the delays to Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars have finally made this possible. The reasons for these delays were purely production-driven, with the former only beginning production in May 2025, a year before its initial release date. By moving to December of 2026 and 2027, both Marvel movies now have a much more feasible production timeline.
This has allowed Star Wars to reclaim its May spot. The Mandalorian and Grogu will hold down that month for 2026, while Star Wars: Starfighter will do the same for 2027. Now, there is no competition between the two franchises as there would have been if Avengers: Doomsday was released in May 2026. Instead, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is content to hold down the next few December slots, while Star Wars returns to the month that has been synonymous with the galaxy far, far away since 1977.
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Marvel Cinematic Universe
Created by Kevin Feige First Film Iron Man Upcoming Films Deadpool & Wolverine, Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, Blade (2025), The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Avengers: Doomsday (2026), Avengers: Secret Wars First TV Show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Upcoming TV Shows Agatha: Coven of Chaos, Ironheart, Daredevil: Born Again, Wakanda, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Marvel Zombies, Wonder Man, Vision Quest Cast Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Edward Norton, Paul Rudd, Tom Holland, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Brie Larson, Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, Josh Brolin, Karen Gillan, Clark Gregg, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Simu Liu, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, Barry Keoghan, Gemma Chan, Ma Dong-seok, Brian Tyree Henry, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Lia McHugh, Jonathan Majors Expand See at Amazon See at Target See at Walmart
When factoring in the seemingly endless slate of upcoming Star Wars TV shows and their Marvel equivalents, it is more evident than ever that the two franchises have walked hand-in-hand for a while. That said, the franchises have rarely ever shared theater time together. The box office failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story up against Avengers: Infinity War is a big reason why Star Wars and Marvel have tended to have disparate release schedules. This remains the case, but recent news from the Marvel side of things proves the franchises may have swapped places.
Marvel & Star Wars' Big Movies Have Switched Their Release Plans Close The news in question came in May 2025 with the announcement that Avengers: Doomsday has been delayed from May 2026 to December of that year. Its sequel, Avengers: Secret Wars, was also delayed from May 2027 to December 2027. This marks a big change from the typical release plans of Star Wars and Marvel under Disney, especially when factoring in the release date of The Mandalorian & Grogu. Historically under Disney, Marvel"s big tentpole movies have been released in either May or very late April, while Star Wars projects have typically been placed in December.
Related Everything We Know About The Mandalorian & Grogu Movie The Mandalorian"s story will continue with a Star Wars movie. Here"s everything we know about the project, including cast, release, and timeline.Posts Looking specifically at Marvel"s Avengers franchise, the first movie in that series - 2012"s The Avengers - was released on May 4, 2012. Its sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron, was released three years later on May 1, 2015. The two-part story of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame continued this trend, releasing on April 27, 2018, and April 26, 2019, respectively. Since 2012, the late April and May window has been dedicated to Marvel"s Avengers franchise.
When looking at the Star Wars movies under Disney, all but one of the theatrical releases in the last 10 years have come in December. The only outlier was the aforementioned Solo: A Star Wars Story, which was released in May 2018 up against Avengers: Infinity War and became the lowest-grossing movie in the franchise as a result. Every other Disney Star Wars movie - The Force Awakens, Rogue One, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker - has been released in December, with all of them earning over $1 billion at the worldwide box office as a result.
Now, though, this has changed. In the coming years, it seems as though big Avengers movies will come in December, while Star Wars will go the other way take the typical May spot. The delays of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars confirm as much, especially when considering The Mandalorian and Grogu"s May 22, 2026 release date. With Ryan Gosling"s Star Wars: Starfighter movie also set for May 2027, it seems the two franchises have swapped places for the foreseeable future.
Why Marvel & Star Wars Have Swapped Places It Is For A Mutual Cause Close Concerning why Marvel and Star Wars have swapped, it seems to be a mutual decision between the Disney franchises. Star Wars has always wanted to hold May down as the month associated with the franchise, primarily due to the fact that all six movies produced by George Lucas before Disney"s acquisition were released in that month. By the time Disney began producing Star Wars movies again, though, the MCU had already come along and locked May down for The Avengers. Based on what happened to Solo, it was never worth Star Wars trying to reclaim it.
However, the delays to Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars have finally made this possible. The reasons for these delays were purely production-driven, with the former only beginning production in May 2025, a year before its initial release date. By moving to December of 2026 and 2027, both Marvel movies now have a much more feasible production timeline.
This has allowed Star Wars to reclaim its May spot. The Mandalorian and Grogu will hold down that month for 2026, while Star Wars: Starfighter will do the same for 2027. Now, there is no competition between the two franchises as there would have been if Avengers: Doomsday was released in May 2026. Instead, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is content to hold down the next few December slots, while Star Wars returns to the month that has been synonymous with the galaxy far, far away since 1977.
Marvel Cinematic Universe Created by Kevin Feige First Film Iron Man Upcoming Films Deadpool & Wolverine, Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, Blade (2025), The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Avengers: Doomsday (2026), Avengers: Secret Wars First TV Show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Upcoming TV Shows Agatha: Coven of Chaos, Ironheart, Daredevil: Born Again, Wakanda, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Marvel Zombies, Wonder Man, Vision Quest Cast Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Edward Norton, Paul Rudd, Tom Holland, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Brie Larson, Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, Josh Brolin, Karen Gillan, Clark Gregg, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Simu Liu, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, Barry Keoghan, Gemma Chan, Ma Dong-seok, Brian Tyree Henry, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Lia McHugh, Jonathan Majors Expand See at Amazon See at Target See at Walmart
