Some good news for Marvel fans in the Middle Kingdom – and shareholders in Disney – as it has been announced that both the Phase Four-closing Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Phase Five-launching Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania have secured theatrical releases in China.
These mark the first Marvel Studios releases since 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home (or Avengers: Endgame, if we’re talking Disney-distributed entries), meaning that Marvel has been unable to capitalise on the lucrative Chinese box office throughout the entire Phase Four run that kicked off with Black Widow back in July of 2021.
Since that unofficial “Marvel ban” in China (where the majority of Hollywood titles have struggled to secure releases since the pandemic), only Spider-Man: No Way Home managed to top the billion dollar mark worldwide, falling just short of $2 billion.
With $835 million to date, Wakanda Forever could potentially now find itself joining the billion dollar club when it opens in China on February 7th, while Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will follow ten days later, opening day-and-date with North America and the UK on February 17th.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever reunites Ryan Coogler with his Black Panther stars Danai Gurira (Okoye), Letitia Wright (Shuri), Winston Duke (M’Baku), Lupita Nyong’o (Nakia), Florence Kasumba (Ayo), Angela Bassett (Ramonda) and Martin Freeman (Everett Ross), while new additions include Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams/Ironheart, Tenoch Huerta as Namor, Michaela Coel as Aneka, Mabel Cadena as Namora and Alex Livanalli as Attuma.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania finds Peyton Reed returning to the director’s chair for the third time and stars Paul Rudd (Scott Lang/Ant-Man), Evangeline Lilly (Hope Van Dyne/The Wasp), Michael Douglas (Hank Pym), Michelle Pfeiffer (Janet Van Dyne), Randall Park (Jimmy Woo), Corey Stoll (Darren Cross/Yellowjacket), Kathryn Newton (Cassie Lang), Jonathan Majors (Kang the Conqueror), Bill Murray (Krylar), and William Jackson Harper.
Originally published January 18, 2023. Updated January 17, 2023.
