How will The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s delay affect the MCU?

It’s official: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier won’t be hitting Disney+ this August as originally planned. But how will the delay impact the MCU?

With television production being paused for months due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) health crisis, most Marvel fans weren’t actually expecting The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to hit Disney+ in August, even though that’s when it was originally scheduled to premiere. And the official confirmation arrived when the streaming platform released its programming schedule for next month, which the MCU series was unsurprisingly absent from.

The show was filming in Prague when the cast was sent home on March 11, one of many set closures that would stem from the worldwide pandemic. And although The Falcon and the Winter Soldier didn’t have that much filming left to complete, the situation has created a hold-up in regard to the release date. Reports suggest the series may resume production in the fall, but that means it’s not likely to arrive on the platform until the end of the year at the earliest.

And while this was the expected outcome, Marvel fans do have to wonder: How will the delay impact the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe? The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was the first of the new television series that would directly tie into the MCU — and given Sam Wilson’s role as the new Captain America, the events of the show are bound to be important to future releases set in this world.

The closest release date — assuming it’s not delayed once again — is the upcoming Black Widow movie in November, which isn’t likely to be impacted by this delay since it’s a prequel. And even WandaVision, which appears to be set in an alternate reality, may not have problems going forward — though it seems probable that series will also face delays due to production pauses.

Looking to future releases — like The Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Spider-Man 3, and Thor: Love and Thunder — one has to wonder how much Avengers team-building is going to take place throughout these movies, and whether that will see them pushed back again over The Falcon and the Winter Soldier‘s delay. Given that all of these take place in the present timeline, after the events of Avengers: Endgame, we have to assume the twists and turns will lead into one another in much the same way they did from Phase 1 to Phase 3.

With that in mind, a long delay on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier would probably create a ripple effect when it comes to kickstarting Phase 4 of the MCU. It’s too soon to say for sure, since we don’t have a new release date just yet, but further setbacks do seem likely.

Entertainment Weekly suggests fans will be given a new date for the series soon — and with Comic-Con at Home happening this month, Marvel and Disney have a prime opportunity to release more information at the show. Although Marvel has yet to appear in any of Disney’s panel plans, it’s possible the studio will make some sort of appearance. (And we’re keeping our fingers crossed for some trailers!)

Do you think The Falcon and the Winter Soldier‘s delay will push back other Marvel projects? Share your thoughts in the comments below.