The Marvels is coming our way next summer and for some lucky Marvel fans, they've already had a first look at the Captain Marvel sequel.
The trailer was exclusively shown at the D23 Expo in September 2022, but has yet to make its way online. As teased in the Ms Marvel credit scene, the footage revealed that the new movie will see the three leads swap places whenever they use their powers.
It was back in January 2020 that the sequel was confirmed to be in the works with Megan McDonnell – one of the writers on Disney+ MCU show WandaVision – writing the script, but there is one big change from the first movie.
Captain Marvel co-writers and co-directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have been replaced by Candyman director Nia Da Costa. It marks a long overdue first for Marvel: hiring a Black woman to direct one of its movies.
But what can we expect from The Marvels? Here's everything you need to know.
The Marvels release date: When is Captain Marvel 2 released?
Long story short, The Marvels will be released in cinemas on July 28, 2023 and we hope that date sticks for the sequel.
It was meant to be out in July 2022 before a shuffle of the entire MCU slate saw it pushed back to February 17, 2023. Then in April 2022, The Marvels swapped places with Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, pushing it to its current July date.
We think that release date will stick as the sequel has completed filming as of May 2022, with some reshoots in August 2022. As ever though, there could still be unexpected shifts in release schedules.
The Marvels trailer: Any new footage of Captain Marvel 2?
As mentioned above, a teaser trailer for The Marvels was shown at the D23 Expo in September 2022, but only for people in attendance at the event.
It hasn't made its way online and probably won't until next year as Marvel typically releases the first trailer for a movie four months ahead of release. That would put the trailer debuting online in March 2023.
We hope we're wrong though as we just want to see Captain Marvel, Ms Marvel and Monica Rambeau hanging out.
The Marvels cast: Who's in Captain Marvel 2?
We already knew that Brie Larson would be back as Carol Danvers and at the Disney Investor Day in December 2020, it was confirmed that she'll have some exciting company.
Having debuted the role in WandaVision, Teyonah Parris will appear as the grown-up version of Monica Rambeau, while the sequel will also feature Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan, aka Ms Marvel, who made her debut in the Disney+ series of the same name.
Vellani revealed that she actually only found out about her role in The Marvels just before it was announced, during a night shoot the day before.
The title could just refer to Carol and Kamala as the two Captain Marvels, but the events of WandaVision saw Monica gain superpowers. In the comics, Monica became Captain Marvel before Carol, so there could be another Captain Marvel in town.
Talking of WandaVision, the show also confirmed the sad news that Maria Rambeau died during the five years that Monica had been dusted by the Snap. That seemingly rules out a return for Lashana Lynch in the sequel.
However, Lynch isn't totally ruling out a surprise return in the sequel. "Weirder things have happened in the franchise. I had a wonderful time on the first one and it would be great to have a wonderful time on another one," she said in August 2021.
Lynch has since popped up again in the MCU as Earth-838's Maria Rambeau who is (or was) Captain Marvel in that universe in Doctor Strange 2. Here's hoping that paves the way for her to return in some form in the sequel.
It's clear that Monica and Carol have some issues to work through though (potentially about her not being there for her mum), so maybe they'll be explored in flashbacks which could see Lynch reprise her role.
The main villain will be played by Zawe Ashton, but it's unclear who she's playing at the moment. With potentially three Captain Marvels to take on, she better be powerful or she won't last long.
Parasite's Park Seo-joon is also making his MCU debut in the sequel, while a deleted Instagram post seemingly revealed that Saagar Shaikh, Zenobia Shroff and Mohan Kapur will be back as Kamala's brother Aamir, mother Muneeba and father Yusuf, respectively.
The first movie passed without any major casualties beyond Starforce member Minn-Erva (Gemma Chan), so she's about the only character we can say for sure that won't be back.
Samuel L Jackson appeared to confirm his return as Nick Fury in August 2021 and we really want to see Fury rekindle his friendship with Goose. The teaser trailer shown at D23 Expo revealed that Goose is back for the sequel.
The Marvels plot: What will Captain Marvel 2 be about?
We're still waiting on an official synopsis for The Marvels, but the title likely refers to a team-up between Carol Danvers and Kamala Khan which might, or might not, feature Monica Rambeau too.
WandaVision hinted that not all is well in the relationship between Carol and Monica, so that friction could form part of the sequel's storyline. We don't think it'd go as far as Monica being a villain of any kind, but it might not all be smooth sailing.
There hasn't been an official plot synopsis from Marvel yet for the sequel, but it was referred to as a "cosmic adventure", so read into that what you want.
The post-credit scene of Ms Marvel saw Captain Marvel unexpectedly swap places with Kamala Khan. Right now though, it's just a tease for the sequel rather than giving us any concrete plot information.
If you're hoping to get some plot details from the cast, you're out of luck as they're staying tight-lipped. Larson did say that when she read the "bonkers" script, she "couldn't believe what I was reading".
"It's the thing that I love about Marvel, is that they continue to reinvent. They continue to do the thing that you just would never think would be possible in these films. And they're not afraid to go there," she added.
And all Parris will tell us is that the sequel is "gonna be pretty epic", which is good enough for us.
The Marvels is released in cinemas on July 28, 2023. Captain Marvel, Ms Marvel and WandaVision are available to watch on Disney+.
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