This year’s Ant-Man is one of the least successful movies in Marvel’s cinematic universe from a box-office perspective, but that hasn’t stopped it from spawning a sequel.
Marvel Studios announced a 2018 release date for Ant-Man and the Wasp, which will reunite Ant-Man stars Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly as Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne, respectively, for another size-changing adventure.
The new film will premiere July 6, 2018, as part of “Phase Three” of Marvel’s over-arching movie franchise. It takes the places of Black Panther, which was previously scheduled to hit theaters on that day, but will now premiere earlier in the year on Feb. 16, 2018.
Marvel notes in the official announcement of Ant-Man and the Wasp (via Marvel.com) that the movie will be the first of the studio’s films to be named after one of its female heroes.
The shift in scheduling also changed the release date for Captain Marvel, which will now premiere March 8, 2019, instead of its earlier 2018 release date. That film will feature the solo debut of another popular Marvel heroine: the cosmically super-powered alter ego of Carol Danvers.
Along with announcing Ant-Man and the Wasp and the new release dates for the aforementioned films, Marvel also revealed that three still-untitled movies will premiere in 2020 on May 1, July 10, and Nov. 6.
As it stands now, the next phase of Marvel Studios will begin with Captain America: Civil War on May 6, 2016, then continue with Doctor Strange (Nov. 4, 2016), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (May 5, 2017), the untitled Spider-Man solo movie (July 28, 2017), Thor: Ragnarok (Nov. 3, 2017), Black Panther (Feb. 16, 2018), Avengers: Infinity War — Part I (May 4, 2018), Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 6, 2018), Captain Marvel (March 8, 2019), and Avengers: Infinity War — Part II (May 3, 2019). That phase will conclude with Inhumans on July 12, 2019.
This summer’s Ant-Man earned $178.5 million domestically and $409.8 million worldwide, and currently ranks as the 10th-highest grossing film (out of 12) in Marvel’s cinematic universe.
