Marvel Studios announces "Ant-Man" sequel and new Phase 3 release dates

by Levi Hill (@Levi_Hill15)

Marvel Studios have shaken up their Phase 3 lineup once again.

This time they’ve added a sequel to this summer’s surprise hit Ant-Man with Ant-Man and the Wasp, which will debut on July 6, 2018. This marks the first time a Marvel Studios film has used its heroine’s name in the title. Ant-Man has earned $410 million dollars so far at the worldwide box-office, $178.5 million coming from the United States.

Over the summer, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige said that we would see Hope Van Dyne on screen as the Wasp before Phase 3 was over, so this is confirmation of that promise. Paul Rudd, who played the titular hero in Ant-Man, is set to appear next in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. Whether he will join the Avengers for 2018’s Infinity War – Part 1 has yet to be announced.

Marvel Studios also moved the release dates for Black Panther and Captain Marvel. Black Panther will now release on February 16, 2018, and Captain Marvel will hit theaters on March 8, 2019.

This will be the first time that Marvel releases movies in the months of February and March.

The studio also announced three untitled films for 2020 – releasing May 1, July 10 and November 6. This adheres to the three-movie-per-year model they are starting in 2017. It’s safe to say that these films will be a mix of sequels and new characters, but it’s impossible to predict who the films will be about until we get closer to their releases.