The Marvels: release date, cast, plot, and more

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Here’s everything you need to know about The Marvels, which releases in theaters in late 2023.

The Marvels might be flying into theaters later than planned this year, but our excitement levels for it haven’t diminished.

How so? The forthcoming Marvel Phase 5 movie will star the first all-female superhero team in a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film for the first time. It’s also reportedly been inspired by anime and musicals, and it could tie into other big Phase 5 projects, such as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Secret Invasion. Who wouldn’t be eagerly anticipating a movie like that, eh?

If that’s whetted your appetite for The Marvels‘ arrival, you’ll want to scrub up on everything else worth knowing about it. In this guide, you’ll find more information about the film, including its release date, cast, plot details, and more.

Major spoilers follow for Captain Marvel, WandaVision, Ms Marvel, and Ant-Man 3. Potential spoilers concerning The Marvels are also discussed.

The Marvels release date

The Marvels arrives in theaters on November 10, 2023. It was scheduled to release on July 28, but Marvel chose to delay its launch by a few months, marking the fourth time its launch has been pushed.

Marvel is reportedly tweaking its entire release schedule (internally, at least) to space out its 2023 line-up of movies and TV shows. Additionally, according to The Wrap, the delay gives the post-production team more time to iron out its VFX and other issues.

The Marvels trailer

Ms Marvel makes her MCU movie debut in The Marvels. (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Major spoilers follow for Ms Marvel, as well as potential spoilers for The Marvels.

Marvel hasn’t released a teaser yet, but those fortunate enough to attend D23 Expo 2022 have already seen a brief teaser. 

According to Variety, The Marvels pick ups straight after Ms Marvel’s ending and post-credits scene. As you’ll remember, Ms Marvel – aka Kamala Khan – unexpectedly traded places with Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel when the former’s bangle was inadvertently activated.

The footage doubled down on this surprising development. In it, Monica Rambeau, who was last seen in WandaVision, also swaps places with Kamala, leading to plenty of slapstick, time-traveling, and confusing moments. It seems the trio will trade places throughout the movie until they find out how to stop teleporting to each other’s locations.

Thanks to the film’s launch being pushed, it’ll be some time before an official teaser makes its way online. Sad faces all around.

The Marvels cast

WandaVision‘s Monica Rambeau will return in The Marvels. (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Here’s The Marvels‘ confirmed cast so far: 

Brie Larson as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel 
Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan/Ms Marvel 
Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau 
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury 
Zenobia Shroff as Muneeba Khan 
Mohan Kapur as Yusuf Khan 
Saagar Shaikh as Aamir Khan 
Zawe Ashton as TBA 
Park Seo-joon as TBA 

Larson and Parris reprise their roles from their previous MCU outings. Larson’s Captain Marvel was last seen in Avengers: Endgame (though she made brief cameos in post-credits scenes in Shang-Chi and Ms Marvel) while Parris’ Rambeau featured heavily in WandaVision, which is one of the best Disney Plus shows in our opinion. Vellani, Shroff, Kapur, and Shaikh all return as their respective characters from Ms Marvel’s TV series.

Jackson, who has regularly appeared in the MCU as ex-SHIELD director Nick Fury, will also show up. He’ll star in Secret Invasion on Disney Plus this year – Secret Invasion‘s release date was recently leaked by Marvel and Disney – but Fury will also appear in The Marvels, according to the actor himself.

Potential cast spoilers for The Marvels follow.

Don’t expect a Yon Rogg cameo in The Marvels. (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Per industry leaker CanWeGetSomeToast, Monica Rambeau will get her superhero name – Photon, the same as in the comics – here. Kamala Khan will reportedly give her that name after Monica describes her powers to her fellow heroes. Meanwhile, Brazilian outlet Chippu, which has previous form for revealing MCU details ahead of time, Photon will also get her comics-accurate costume.

Zawe Ashton (Fresh Meat, Velvet Buzzsaw) has apparently been cast as the primary villain. Marvel insider DanielRPK (via Lugar Nenhum) has claimed Ashton is playing a Kree general called Dar-Benn who, in the comics, is a male Kree general who becomes co-emperor of the Kree Empire. It’s unclear if Ashton’s Dar-Benn will hold a similar position in The Marvels, but the character has been gender-swapped.

Park Seo-joon (Parasite) is supposedly playing the ruler of a planet where everyone sings (via CanWeGetSomeToast). He’ll reportedly play a big role, too. Meanwhile, Abraham Popoola (Andor) is reportedly playing someone called Dag (via his Independent Talent agents page) and Ffion Jolly (Mission: Impossible Fallout) has been cast in an undisclosed role (per her Spotlight casting page).

Lastly, could we see cameos from Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos, Jude Law’s Yon Rogg, and Anson Mount’s Black Bolt? Talos is a possibility, especially if Secret Invasion ties into this movie. We’d be surprised if Law’s Yon Rogg features, though, after his heavy beating from Captain Marvel in her 2019 solo flick. Meanwhile, industry insider CineStealth suggests Black Bolt, last seen in Doctor Strange 2, will show up.

The Marvels plot

The Marvels picks up right after Ms Marvel‘s season 1 finale. (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Potential story spoilers follow.

No official story synopsis has been released, but we have some vague ideas about where the plot will go, based on the D23 2022 footage, MCU insiders’ information, and what Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has teased.

As previously discussed, The Marvels will focus on its three superheroes and why they keep exchanging places every time they use their powers.

Captain Marvel’s first movie revealed Carol Danvers acquired her abilities upon exposure to the Tesseract, aka the Space Stone, via a Kree-designed light-speed engine device. Meanwhile, Monica Rambeau’s DNA was inadvertently rewritten by the Mind Stone – via the Hex that Wanda Maximoff created in WandaVision – thereby gifting her superpowers. Finally, Kamala Khan’s abilities are derived from her grandmother’s bracelet. Oh, and the fact that she seemingly possesses the X gene, which makes her one of the MCU’s first mutants.

With the trio’s powers deriving from objects that helped to create and shape the MCU, it seems their abilities are connected – and that the source of these powers is the reason they keep trading places. Interestingly, MCU leakers The Watcher and CanWeGetSomeToast suggest they’ll be able to combine their powers once they work out how to stabilize themselves. 

Meanwhile, Feige opened up to Entertainment Weekly (EW) about what we can expect from the story, and how it plays into the dynamics between its leading ladies. “It’s picking up directly after the end of Captain Marvel 1, not in timeline but in story,” he said. “There are fun cosmic elements to it. There’s something immensely powerful about seeing Monica and Kamala and Carol together in a frame. To me, it’s only akin to the first Avengers movie and seeing the six of them together in a frame. It’s chill-inducing. They’re so great together, and they all have different histories with one another.”

Ms Marvel’s bangle could play a key role in proceedings. (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

What else do we know about The Marvels? According to DanielRPK (per The Marvels Updates Twitter fan account), CanWeGetSomeToast, and CineStealth, one particular alien world that the three heroes travel to is musical-themed. That means you should expect lots of singing, dancing, and potentially humorous moments. It could include some anime inspirations, according to the Captain Marvel News Twitter fan account.

The reason for going to this planet? Captain Marvel is apparently married to Park Seo-joon’s character, albeit for diplomatic reasons. Maybe she agreed to marry him to prevent some sort of disaster on her universe-spanning travels. Thankfully, CineStealth has claimed The Marvels won’t be “overly comedic” in tone and finds a better comedy-drama balance than the maligned Thor: Love and Thunder. Let’s hope they’re right.

Speaking of Captain Marvel, she has a complicated history with the Kree, who are expected to be on chief villain duty again here. For years, Carol Danvers thought she was a member of the Kree empire – she was taken to their home world after her Tesseract-related accident on Earth – and was part of their armed forces. That’s until she was captured by Talos’ splinter group of skrulls, who jogged her memory and helped Carol rediscover her true identity.

Monica Rambeau won’t be too pleased to see Carol Danvers. (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Now, Captain Marvel is an enemy of the Kree, which puts Zawe Ashton’s Dar-Benn in direct opposition with Carol and company. It’s unclear why Dar-Benn is after them, but maybe it’s got something to do with Ms Marvel’s bracelet, which appears to be alien technology. We know this because the Clandestine – the villains in Ms Marvel’s TV show – wanted to use it to expand the Noor dimension and take over Earth. The bracelet was originally found by Kamala’s grandmother in 1940s India, too, where it took up residence in a Kree-looking underground location.

If Ms Marvel’s bracelet is of Kree design, that’ll explain why Dar-Benn is pursuing it, particularly if the latter possesses a similar bracelet. Thanks to Ms Marvel, we know there are two bangles, but the location of the second hasn’t been revealed. Our money’s on Dar-Benn owning that one, meaning she only needs Kamala’s to complete the set.

As for subplots, one of the most pressing is the forthcoming reunion between Carol and Monica.

Monica hasn’t seen Carol since the latter left in the 1990s – remember, this is when Captain Marvel took place. Maria Rambeau, who was Carol’s best friend, has since died of cancer and Carol didn’t return for her funeral or to check up on Monica. Expect Monica to give Carol the cold shoulder until they clear the air.

Elsewhere, events depicted in Secret Invasion could impact The Marvels. Currently, it’s set to arrive before The Marvels, so Fury’s role in this film might be determined by what happens in Secret Invasion. Could a long overdue reunion with Captain Marvel be on the cards? It’d be a pretty emotional one, if so.

The Marvels: how will it affect the MCU?

Ms Marvel might get a second season on Disney Plus. (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Full spoilers follow for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

That depends on The Marvels‘ story and ending, but we have a few sneaking suspicions about what it could lay the foundations for.

First up is Ms Marvel season 2, which is rumored to be in early development. If we’re going to see more of Vellani as Khan/her superhero alias before the next two Avengers movies it’s likely to be on the small screen rather than the big one.

Speaking of that duo, aka Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, The Marvels could play a major role in setting up events in those films – especially the former.

MCU fans already know that Kang is the next big supervillain – or, rather, multiple Kang variants are. The time-traveling warlord – read more about him in our Kang the Conqueror explained article – was the main bad guy in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. However, he was seemingly killed by the film’s titular heroes. Now, the Council of Kangs – including Immortus, Scarlet Centurion, and Rama-Tut – are gunning for the MCU, so Captain Marvel and company are sure to have their hands full in The Kang Dynasty.

Some fans also seem to think that the giant, circular rings seen in Quantumania are alternate reality versions of Shang-Chi’s Ten Rings. If the Kang gang have collected alien tech-based weaponry as they plot their route to dominion over the Marvel multiverse, they’re sure to come after Ms Marvel’s bangle, too. If they do, expect Captain Marvel and Photon (as well as Ms Marvel) to stand in their way.

Depending on how The Marvels and The Kang Dynasty play out, we’d expect to see Carol, Monica, and Kamala in Secret Wars, too. We’d be surprised if they pop up in projects beforehand, so the next time we’re likely to see them (outside of starring or cameoing in Ms Marvel season 2 ) is 2025’s The Kang Dynasty.

For more MCU-based content, find out how to watch the Marvel movies in order. Additionally, read up on everything you need to know about Guardians of the Galaxy 3 or check our ranking of every Marvel Phase 4 movie and TV show. 

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