MCU: WGA strike delays Thunderbolts, Wonder Man

The MCU has been hit hard with two projects close to, or in production: Thunderbolts and Wonder Man. The projects are paused indefinitely.

Marvel Studios recently had to pause the pre-production process of Blade due to the WGA writers' strike, but it has now been hit with delays on two more high-profile projects. A couple of the projects on their upcoming MCU slate that was close to or in the midst of shooting — Thunderbolts and Wonder Man — have been paused.

Deadline reported that Marvel has hit pause on Thunderbolts and Wonder Man as a result of the strike. In the case of the former, the feature film was scheduled to begin shooting in just three weeks in Atlanta. Obviously, the strike won't keep the Marvel machine down for long, as insiders told Deadline that the plan is to “resume production once the strike has ended.”

In the case of Wonder Man, the production of the MCU series was in full swing and was shooting in Los Angeles when this news came. Similarly to Thunderbolts, production will resume once the smoke has settled on the strike.

Thunderbolts is the MCU's answer to DC's Suicide Squad, as a group of (mostly) antagonists have to team up. Some of the confirmed characters include Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan); Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen); John Walker/U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell); Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh); Alexi Shostakob/Red Guardian (David Harbour); and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko). Other returning stars include Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Harrison Ford as Thunderbolt Ross — a role he's taking over from the late William Hurt. He'll make his MCU debut in Captain America: New World Order. As of now, the film is set to be released on July 26, 2024, but thanks to the strike, it's unclear if they will hit that date or not.

Wonder Man is an upcoming MCU series that will star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as the titular hero and will bring Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) back into the fold after resurfacing in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Ed Harris and Demetrius Grosse are also starring in the series. Shang-Chi and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty director Destin Daniel Cretton serves as an executive producer and creator of the series.