Hollywood is facing a global meltdown in the midst of the SAG-AFTRA strike. Meanwhile, dismayed fans can do nothing but watch it all unfold with a heavy heart. Initially, only halting the making of some projects, the strike has now seemingly engulfed the Marvel Cinematic Universe too. Most notable of all was Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman’s decision to join the strike. Their move landed a heavy blow to eager fans awaiting the third movie in the Deadpool franchise. 

Causing the largest Hollywood shutdown in 60 years, the strike is now steadily claiming more and more movies as its victims. With over a hundred thousand performers joining the screenwriters, our worst fears are beginning to come true. 

Which other Marvel movies will get stuck in limbo?

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, we can expect delays on most movie releases barring some animation-based projects. Also caught in the same web as Deadpool, Sony’s Venom 3 will now suffer the same fate. Fans awaiting the comeback of Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock are understandably enraged to hear the unfortunate news. Since its production commencing in June, the Kelly Marcel-directed film was enjoying steady progress until hitting this snag.

In what seems to be a domino effect, the events of the Oppenheimer premiere in London are being followed by more and more actors joining the strike. At the premiere, the world watched as actors Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, and Emily Blunt all left the event. According to Christopher Nolan, they had departed to “write their picket signs.”

Some other movies that will have to endure the strike are Mission: Impossible 8 starring Tom Cruise and Paramount’s much-awaited Gladiator 2. With negotiations between the union and media companies underway, the fate of these movies hangs in the balance.  

A brief timeline of the SAG-AFTRA and WAG saga 

On 2nd May, the Writers Guild of America brought forward their concerns over AI-generated scripts initiating the writers’ strike. Their strike came as a major blow to Marvel’s Deadpool, which was under-production at the time. Following the writer’s strike, the Screen Actors Guild issued a strike on July 14th as well.

Spearheading this war against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, SAG-AFTRA has made its demands known. These include a fair distribution of profits, improved working conditions, and protection from AI-generated content. The defending side came forward with a proposal to protect actors’ digital likenesses. But this proposal did not pacify SAG-AFTRA and WAG. Rejecting the proposal, the guild reportedly called it “inadequate.”

Looking in from the sidelines, fans are disappointed at Hollywood’s inability to bring this matter to closure. Which strike-affected movie are you most disappointed to see suffering? Tell us your pick in the comments.