What Might the Reported Production Delays Mean for the MCU?

Before we go any further let us acknowledge that, whatever else anyone can say, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is still just about the biggest moneymaker around in Hollywood these days, creating plenty of reason for "Marvel envy" among the other major studios.

Still, the franchise's best days appear to be behind it, with Phase Four less than the sum of its often underperforming parts, and Phase Five not off to the start hoped for (with Ant-Man 3 a flop; Guardians of the Galaxy 3, if doing better, lagging its predecessors; and Captain Marvel 2 bumped from July to November to uncertain results).

Now, as if that were not enough, the movies of the next summer, and after, have been subject to delay--with Captain America 4 bumped from the first-weekend-in-May traditionally launching Marvel's more prestigious releases (like the original The Avengers) to an almost-in-the-dump-month-of-August late July date, as that weekend instead goes to the second-stringer Deadpool 3, with the subsequent releases correspondingly bumped down the road.

Moreover, all of this seems tentative given its apparent connection with the ongoing Writer's Guild of America strike that is not over yet--and whose disruptive effect may not yet be fully appreciated, especially given the film industry's already much-shaken condition (amid pandemic, inflationary and interest shocks, and now decreasing access to the hugely important Chinese market).

Granted, all this is unlikely to be fatal, of course. Still, a franchise on a downward trajectory and already facing plenty of headwinds may nonetheless suffer for it as the Marvel hit machine slows down.