Good news or bad news depending on which you were looking forward to more; upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe films The Marvels and Quantumania, originally slated for 2023 releases in February and July, respectively, have swapped release dates.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was set to release on July 28, 2023, but is now releasing on February 17, 2023.
The opposite is true for the upcoming ensemble flick The Marvels, which was originally planned for February 17, 2023, but will now be releasing on July 28, 2023.
The swap comes at the news of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania simply being further ahead in its development schedule than The Marvels, which at the time of writing still has some filming left to do. Luckily, the two films seem to relatively unconnected as far as the MCU goes, and it seems Marvel Studios has jumped at this rare convenience to change up their schedule without harming the continuity of their franchise.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is set to properly introduce fans to Kang the Conquerer, touted as the MCU’s “next big cross-movie villain,” according to Michael Waldron, who served as the head writer for Disney Plus series Loki, where an alternate version of Kang the Conquerer first appeared.
Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly will reprise their roles as the titular protagonists, respectively, while Jonathan Majors (Da 5 Bloods, Lovecraft Country) will portray Kang the Conquerer as he did in Loki. Bill Murray will also feature in the film in an undisclosed villain role.
The Marvels, meanwhile, will mark the return of Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers (aka Captain Marvel), this time joined by Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan, who idolizes Captain Marvel, and Teyonah Parris’s Monica Rambeau, a S.W.O.R.D. agent who first appeared in the Disney Plus series WandaVision and whose mother was a close friend of Danvers. Samuel L. Jackson is also set to reprise his role as Nick Fury.