Trading Places: “The Marvels” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” Swap Release Dates

Marvel recently announced that it was switching around the release dates of two of their upcoming movies, The Marvels, the sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the third Ant-Man movie. be coming to theaters on February 17, 2023 and The Marvels will now be released on July 28, 2023.

2023 is set to be a big year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In addition Captain Marvel and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 3 is scheduled for a May 23, 2023 release as well as potentially a fourth movie in the later fall or early winter. On the Disney+ front, X-Men ’97 has been confirmed for a 2023 release and, if 2021 and 2022 are any indication on quantity, we can expect at least a handful more.

Quantumania will likely address what happened during the five years of the snap where Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lily), her father Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), and her mother Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) turned to dust while Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) was in the quantum realm. His daughter Cassie (formerly played by Emma Fuhrmann, now played by Kathryn Newton) was not dusted in the snap, and is now fifteen, instead of ten when he last saw her. While nothing much is known about her time during those five years, in the comics, Cassie becomes a superhero in her own right (Stature, Stinger, Ant-Girl, Giant-Girl, and Titan are some of the aliases she has gone by). With the recasting of the actress who plays Cassie, and the introduction of several younger heroes (Ms. Marvel, Ironheart, Kate Bishop, America Chavez), a Young Avengers storyline is likely on the horizon and Cassie would be a logical addition to the team. Also known about the movie is the return of Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) who was first introduced in Loki and is set to be the next Thanos-level big bad of the MCU. Bill Murray will also be joining the movie as an undisclosed villain.

The Marvels will not only feature Brie Larson as Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel), but also Iman Vellani as Kamala Kahn (Ms. Marvel) and Teyonah Paris as Monica Rambeau (superhero name TBD, in the comics she has been known as Photon, Pulsar, Spectrum, as well as Captain Marvel). Samuel L. Jackson will also be reprising his role as Nick Fury. Ms. Marvel will first be introduced to the MCU in the Disney+ series premiering on June 8, 2022. WandaVision and the upcoming Secret Invasion are also considered set up for the movie. Zawe Ashton will be playing an undisclosed villain.

Captain Marvel and Ant-Man. Courtesy of Marvel Entertainment.