After weeks of wondering, Marvel fans finally have an answer for when Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is going to pounce its way onto streaming. After premiering in cinemas on Nov. 11, 2022, the Ryan Coogler-directed sequel is officially set to make its Disney Plus debut in just under a month’s time on Feb. 1, 2023.
While it’s good to at last have a date we can mark in our calendars, the fact that we still have so long to wait to watch Wakanda Forever from the comfort of our own homes means the movie is setting a frustrating record for Marvel’s streaming releases that we hope doesn’t get beaten anytime soon. With a full 82 days between the two, Black Panther 2 is the Phase Four movie with the longest gap from its theatrical premiere to its emergence on Disney Plus. By quite the margin.
The next slowest film to appear on streaming was Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, with a 70 day gap. Eternals then follows with 68 days while Thor: Love and Thunder comes next with 62. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is by far the quickest, meanwhile, taking a mere 45 days to appear on Disney Plus. To put it in perspective, Wakanda Forever is taking almost twice as long to become available to watch on the platform.
Clearly, fans would love it if Marvel could decide on a more uniform time frame in which we can anticipate Marvel releases to drop on streaming, as that way we could know roughly what to expect and wouldn’t have to worry about this depressing Wakanda Forever statistic ever being outdone. For the moment, though, keep yourselves busy until Black Panther 2 hits Disney Plus at the beginning of next month.