The MCU has been floundering amid a recent string of flops at the box office. Now Marvel has opted to shelve sequel plans for three of its less successful franchises — Ant-Man, Captain Marvel, and Eternals — according to a new leak.
As reported by Forbes, industry insider Daniel Richtman shared a report on his Patreon this week that "Eternals 2" is no longer in development, and other potential upcoming projects like a third Captain Marvel movie or a fourth Ant-Man are also being scrapped.
Of the trio, the news that Marvel will not be moving forward with a follow-up to "Eternals" has drawn the biggest outcry from MCU fans online. While the film saw a lackluster performance at the box office, bringing in just over $400 million on a $236 million budget, contingents of the MCU fanbase held out hope that a sequel could materialize. Especially after pop icon Harry Styles was teased to join the MCU as Eros in one of two "Eternals" post-credit scenes.
"Eternals" had the dubious honor of being the worst-reviewed MCU film until last year's "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" took its spot. The two are currently sitting at 47% for "Eternals" and 46% for "Quantumania" on the movie review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. Of the three, "The Marvels" was the most underwhelming at the box office, earning just $206 million worldwide on a budget of around $270 million. That's five times less than what the original "Captain Marvel" pulled in back in 2019. Brie Larson has also expressed hesitation at returning to the role of Carol Danvers, telling Variety when asked about it: "Does anyone want me to do it [play Captain Marvel] again?"
Granted, Disney never officially confirmed plans for a follow-up to "Eternals," "Ant-Man" and "Captain Marvel," but now it seems all but certain that these films won't be part of its perpetually revised Marvel Phase 5 or Marvel Phase 6 plans. Of course, be sure to take this with a grain of salt, as it remains firmly in the realm of speculation for now. But for MCU fans looking forward to them, the news is sure to come as a disappointment regarding the future of those franchises.
