Kevin Feige, you sly dawg! Earlier today Marvel Studios dropped a very inspiring video commemorating our return to the movies. And as wonderful as it was to see footage from our favorite films within the MCU legacy, they rewarded everyone who watched it with a truckload of very cool updates about their slate coming between now and 2023. Before we break down what all of it means, watch the video first and get hyped:
THE BREAKDOWN
The last major update we got on release dates for upcoming projects was last December, 2020 during The Walt Disney Company Investor Day webinar where Kevin Feige opened up his box of secrets and gave us a taste of things to come. And today, through just this video alone we got several key release dates and title changes for many of those projects, as well as our first footage of The Eternals, which we’ll cover in a separate post. First, let’s walk through the new news! We’ll also be updating it in our unofficial tracker above:
1. BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER — JULY 8, 2022
We knew in December that Marvel Studios made the decision not to recast the role of T’Challa, to honor the legacy of Chadwick Boseman. As such, it also makes sense for them to reveal that the official title for Black Panther 2 will be Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Though we still don’t know who will be taking over the mantle of the Black Panther, the title makes sense in that the film will need to be focused on the legacy of T’Challa and how the nation of Wakanda will need to move into the future without him. It’s a battle cry of strength and honor; two things Boseman and the legacy he and his character left behind, embody perfectly.
2. THE MARVELS — November 11, 2022
Speaking of strength, the return of one of the strongest heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain Marvel, is coming November 11, 2022. The sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel has now officially been re-titled The Marvels, sharing full title credit with two new heroes joining the MCU this year: Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau, who we last saw in WandaVision, and Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan (aka Ms. Marvel), who we’ll be meeting in her own solo Disney+ series this year. If nothing else, the title update insinuates that the “Marvel” moniker will be shared among the three individuals, leading me to wildly speculate (and you know how well that always turns out) that Rambeau will most likely also receive the Captain Marvel namesake, rather than the call signs “Photon” or “Spectrum.” It would makes sense since Monica is a Captain herself. However, we’ll officially we’ll find out on November 11, 2022.
3. Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania — February 17, 2023
We knew from the December announcements that the next adventure for Ant-Man and The Wasp was going to be titled, Quantumania. We also found out Kathryn Newton would be taking over the role of Cassie Lang, and Lovecraft Country star Jonathan Majors will be joining as Kang the Conqueror. Now we have an official release date for the film. Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania will be hitting theaters February 17, 2023.
4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — May 5, 2023
During the previous event in December, a few bits of Guardians news dropped, including the official announcement of two projects: The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special in late 2022, and the Disney+ micro-series, I Am Groot. Today marks the first official look at the title treatment and official release date for James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (it feels great to say that)! The film is said to be Gunn’s final outing in the MCU, as well as potentially the final adventure with this current iteration of the Guardians: Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, Groot, and Mantis. Naturally with Marvel Studios, anything can change, but for now, we can at least say for sure, that we’ll be seeing our favorite Guardians back on the big screen again in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hitting theaters May 5, 2023!
Phew! I know that’s a lot of excitement and awesomeness for a casual Monday morning and a three-minute video, but at least now I don’t need coffee. In fact if Kevin Feige and Co. can just do this every morning for the rest of my life, that would be 1.) insanely awesome, and 2.) they’d be doing me a favor, and kicking me off caffeine completely (a tall order to ask I know — no pun intended). That said folks, this week is shaping up to be incredible so far, as we look forward to a brighter tomorrow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe!
And isn’t there a sneaky “4” logo in there, too….?
There is! However, that was already announced last December, so it wasn’t a new announcement. It would have been insane if the “4” was accompanied by a release date or casting…but I would imagine Marvel Studios would prefer to give something that big its own spotlight.