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X-Men, Blade, And Fantastic Four Sequel Updates

Marvel Studios secured a fourth release date in 2028, and we got some updates on the X-Men film, Blade, and a possible Fantastic Four sequel.

Published Thu, 19 Jun 2025 15:49:02 -0500

by Kaitlyn Booth

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Article Summary

Marvel Studios secures a fourth 2028 release date, fueling speculation about upcoming MCU films.
Jake Schreier, director of Thunderbolts*, tapped to helm the highly anticipated X-Men movie.
Blade remains in active development, despite past difficulties and long-standing production hurdles.
A Fantastic Four: First Steps sequel is under early discussion following strong early box office returns.

In light of Marvel Studios announcing that they had dated a fourth film in 2028, there are a bunch of possibilities as to what films could be taking those spots. On the horizon, we have The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Avengers: Doomsday, Avengers: Secret Wars, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. A couple of different projects have also been announced, but there haven't been any updates for a while now, like the sequel to Shang-Chi. Then there are announced projects that people have been discussing a little, like Black Panther 3. And then there's the X-Men lurking on the horizon, and their impending introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the next Avengers film. In the announcement from Variety that a fourth film would be greenlit in 2028, there were also a few pieces of information hidden in there as well.

: HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 28: Jake Schreier attends the World Premiere of Marvel Studios' "Thunderbolts*" at Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on April 28, 2025. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney) 2025 Getty Images

: Mahershala Ali arrives for WE Day California 2019 on April 25, 2019 in Inglewood, CA. Editorial credit: DFree / Shutterstock.com

: (L-R) Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing, Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch in 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios' THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS. Photo by Jay Maidment. © 2025 20th Century Studios / © and ™ 2025 MARVEL.

: LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 14: Director Ryan Coogler attends the European premiere of "Sinners" at Cineworld Leicester Square on April 14, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Pictures) 2025 Getty Images

One of the big announcements was that Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier will direct the X-Men film. This was initially reported in early May after the glowing reviews for the film started dropping. While Thunderbolts* didn't exactly blow people away at the box office, the critical consensus must have meant a lot to Marvel because they decided they would be moving ahead with Shreier in the lead. He did a great job of balancing the team in Thunderbolts*, so it makes sense they would want to grab someone for the sequel who could do the same thing.

While the Shang-Chi sequel was not named-dropped explicitly in the article, Black Panther 3 was, and surprisingly, so was Blade. The Blade film might be the biggest mess that the MCU has failed to get off the ground since its inception, and that's saying something. According to this report, and despite the joke we made yesterday, it sounds like Blade is still in development, but we'll believe that one when we see it. Another one that shouldn't surprise anyone is the report that a sequel to The Fantastic Four: First Steps is already being discussed. Considering the early box office numbers, that isn't surprising, but we can hope they wait to see if fans embrace these characters before committing to anything.

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