Disney has made some late Friday additions to its 2023 release schedule, specifically around Marvel Studios. The changes aren’t drastic or significant, but there is a little switcheroo. Disney announced today that “The Marvels,” previously scheduled for February 2023, is moving to July 28, 2023. That’s the release date of “Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania,” which is now moving up six months to the February date that ‘Marvels’ vacated—got that?
“Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania” is the third film in the Ant-Man franchise, or second in the ‘Ant-Man And The Wasp’ franchise if you want to look at it that way. Directed by Peyton Reed, who directed the previous two ‘Ant-Man’ films, the film is written by Jeff Loveness, known for his work on the show “Rick & Morty” (a series that Marvel’s Kevin Feige and a lot of Marvel Studios execs seem to love).
READ MORE: ‘Loki’ Series: Marvel Hires ‘Rick & Morty’ Comedy Showrunner
The film stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang and Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne, alongside Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathryn Newton, and Jonathan Majors. Those last two actors are new to the franchise. Kathryn Newton will playCassie Lang, Scott Lang’s daughter, and a character who eventually becomes the Young Avengers character Stature, at least in the comics (though her character goes through several names in the comics). Majors plays Kang, who previously appeared at the end of “Loki” season two and is said to be the next Thanos of the MCU potentially. Bill Murray is also in the movie as an undisclosed villain, and all the rumors point to the character MODOK, though that’s definitely unconfirmed.
READ MORE: Nia DaCosta Says She’s Had “More Freedom” On ‘The Marvels’ Than Any Of Her Previous Films
Directed by Nia DaCosta (the “Candyman” remake/reboot), “The Marvels” is essentially “Captain Marvel 2.” The film will star Brie Larson as Carol Danvers again but will feature several other Marvel characters like Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan (aka Ms. Marvel), and Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau (aka Photon or Spectre or whatever character name they decide on), alongside Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.
Zawe Ashton was cast in an undisclosed villain role, and Park Seo-Joon was also cast in another unknown role.
If there’s meaning to be derived for the release date swaps, it probably means one of two things. One: ‘Quantumania’ is closer to being finished and therefore can come out in the summer, or Two: ‘The Marvels’ is probably the better and more crowd-pleasing of the two and likely works better as a four-quadrant tentpole that will make more money. The release date changes below.
THE MARVELS (Disney), previously dated on 2/17/23, moves to 7/28/23
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA (Disney), previously dated on 7/28/23, moves to 2/17/23