Marvel Movies 2018: Release Dates For Next Year’s MCU Films

Marvel movie fans have been waiting for 2018. The Marvel Cinematic Universe will head into new territory in the new year. The superhero movies will start off in Wakanda before heading into war, and they’ll likely wrap up with a trip to the quantum realm. Check out all the MCU films coming out in 2018, along with their release dates and a few plot details:

“Black Panther” (Feb. 16) Audiences were introduced to T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) in “Captain America: Civil War,” when his father was killed. Now he is back home in Wakanda and taking over his father’s throne. However, his ascension isn’t without its challenges. When T’Challa considers letting his technologically advanced nation help outsiders, Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jorndon) will challenge him.

The movie has an all-star cast. Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett, Daniel Kaluuya, Danai Gurira, Forest Whitaker, Sterling K. Brown, Phylicia Rashad and Letitia Wright are all joining the MCU with “Black Panther.” Meanwhile, Martin Freeman will reprise his role as Everett K. Ross, and Andy Serkis will play Ulysses Klaue again.

“Avengers: Infinity War” (May 4) This is the film Marvel fans have been waiting for. Since the MCU started with “Iron Man” in 2008, the filmmakers have been leading up to this. Thanos (Josh Brolin) is coming for the Infinity Stones. The colorful macguffins spread throughout the Marvel movies, in “Captain America,” “Doctor Strange,” “Guardians of the Galaxy” and more, are actually universe-destorying if one person has them. So it’s not great news that Thanos is on a mission to collect them all.

It’s also problematic that the Avengers have been divided. After the Sokovia Accords, anyone on Team Cap was deemed a felon. Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson) and more are in hiding. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) are on a spaceship. Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes) is in cryostasis. They’ll have to reunite with Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and get along with new heroes like the Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and any other heroes they can find to take on the purple alien.

While “Infinity War” is no longer two films, the next “Avengers” movie will still be very connected to it. The title of 2019’s “Avengers 4” will only be revealed after the May movie hits theaters. It’s supposedly too spoiler-y to reveal before audiences see the third movie.

“Ant-Man and the Wasp” (July 6) Only a few details about the “Ant-Man” sequel have been released. Paul Rudd will return as Scott Lang, who is trying to balance the superhero life with being a dad. Hope van Dyne (Evangelline Lilly) and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) approach Scott with a way to save Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) from the quantum realm. However, he’ll have to team up with Hope if he wants to do it.

While we don’t know much about whether this movie takes place pre- or post-“Infinity War,” Lilly has hinted that the movie could affect the rest of the MCU if they manage to rescue Hope’s mother.

“Those characters are experts in the quantum realm,” Lilly told Vanity Fair in November. “In ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp,’ they are trying everything in their power to safely enter the quantum realm and return back from it because they have evidence from the first film that Scott Lang was able to do that. If he can do it, why can’t we? If we do succeed in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp,’ then that does open a whole entire new multi-verse to enter into and play around in. I’m not the story creator, so I can’t tell you what they’re going to do with that. But I definitely see the potential there.”