Major Marvel movie now on hold as cancellation rumors persist

Marvel Studios is putting steps in place to ensure that its recent comeback with Deadpool and Wolverine is merely the beginning of its renewed sense of success. The Hollywood heavyweight has consistently dominated the box office since 2008's Iron Man but in recent years it has faltered at the box office. As surprising as the underperformances of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels were, the studio was far from beyond a redemption, and it found that in Deadpool and Wolverine.

Now, Kevin Feige and Bob Iger have reportedly put a new plan in place that would see Marvel adopt a new less-is-more strategy for the Marvel Cinematic Universe going forward. According to insiders that includes taking less risks with titles and focusing more on sure-fire hits (such as the upcoming X-Men movie). It also is rumored to have resulted in the renewal of some of the MCU's popular Disney Plus shows and perhaps even the cancellation of others.

Through it all there has been one title that has been up in the air a bit more than the others simply because of how long it has been in development. And this new update isn't exactly a heartening one.

Armor Wars now reportedly on hold at Marvel Studios

According to veteran Marvel insider MyTimeToShineHello, Marvel Studios have placed Armor Wars on hold. This comes after weeks of speculation about the title's fate, with fans fearing that it might be one of the projects that the studio ultimately cuts from its line-up.

In recent weeks, fans grew more worried about its fate as fellow Marvel insider Daniel Richtman revealed that the studio was set to make its final decision on both Armor Wars and Blade in the coming months. It's unclear whether this new report that the former is on hold is a new development, or whether it's just on hold while the decision is made.

Armor Wars is set to star Don Cheadle, who would reprise his role as Colonel James Rhodes from the MCU movies - a role he has played since his debut in 2010's Iron Man 2 (replacing Terrence Howard in the role). It was first announced to viewers at Disney Investor Day 2020 as a Disney Plus series but it was eventually reworked as a movie two years later. Between those first two years there were very little developments, and now the same appears to have happened in these second two years.

With Marvel now opting to take less risks, Armor Wars has been one of the titles at most risk. Even before those rumors surfaced, there was speculation that it might not get made simply because of how long it has taken to get off the ground. When it was a Disney Plus show, intrigue was high, but the decision to repackage it into a movie was a little eyebrow-raising for fans, who seemed to agree that it stood a better chance of success as a TV series.

The project is connected to the legacy of Tony Stark, as his Iron Man technology potentially falls into the wrong hands. With that, Rhodey will take it upon himself to protect his best friend's legacy, likely bringing back his War Machine personality to do so.

We'll have to wait and see what Marvel has in store for it, but the notion of it being on hold is not what fans were hoping for. Here's hoping that it's simply on hold until after the Multiverse Saga concludes (presumably with the double-feature of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars) as it's looking unlikely that it will be released as part of that saga (even though it was initially expected as part of Phase Five or Six of the MCU).