Avengers Star Anthony Mackie Says He'll Film Secret Wars When He's Done on Broadway Playing Macbeth — a Run That Lasts Until July 2027
· IGN
Marvel star Anthony Mackie has sparked further speculation on the production schedule for Avengers: Secret Wars, which looks set to film — and also release — next year.
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Mackie has now announced he will take on the title role in a new Broadway production of Shakespeare's Macbeth that's set to run in New York until July 2027. Rehearsals begin in February, with previews from late March, Deadline reported.
The news has further raised eyebrows among fans currently tracking Marvel's plans to shoot next year's Avengers: Doomsday follow-up, Avengers: Secret Wars — an enormous blockbuster that is now just over a year from release and is also still to begin its principal photography. Filming was once due to start in September, it's believed, though a series of reports last week suggested it had now been delayed until early next year.
"Once I finish on Broadway, I'll go to finish up all the Avengers stuff for Secret Wars," Mackie has now said, confirming that Secret Wars filming will take place well into 2027.
Again, it's worth reiterating the fact Marvel has made no suggestion that Secret Wars' planned December 17, 2027 will also be delayed. But fans are now beginning to wonder how the studio plans to complete filming (and more critically, post-production) on such a complex project with little more than 12 months left to go until it arrives in theaters.
Currently, there's no suggestion that Secret Wars will begin shooting this year, and much of the cast are expected to be busy from late November onwards as the Avengers: Doomsday promotional campaign really picks up. Mackie will then just have a short window until his time on stage for Macbeth starts. On the upside, shooting Secret Wars in 2027 will allow Marvel to respond to audience feedback to Doomsday, following its arrival this December 18.
Last month, directors Joe and Anthony Russo teased that Marvel fans need to prepare for "a very surprising ending" to Avengers: Doomsday, which has a "focused propulsive narrative," while still weighing in as one of the studio's longest films to date.