The Marvels: release date, cast and everything we know about the Marvel movie

By Michael Balderston
last updated

The Captain Marvel sequel is an early part of MCU Phase 5.

The Marvels logo
(Image credit: Marvel)

After coming in late in the Infinity Saga to help save the day, Brie Larson's Captain Marvel is going to be a bigger part of the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe right from the get go with her new movie, The Marvels. Though it won't just be her movie this time around.

MCU Phase 5 begins in earnest in 2023, with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 coming out ahead of The Marvels. However, key bits of information and new characters were introduced in the Disney Plus Marvel series WandaVision and Ms. Marvel. How will those factor in the new superhero movie?

Here is everything we know about The Marvels.

The Marvels release date

UPDATE February 17: Disney has announced some news regarding the release date for The Marvels. According to multiple sites, the Captain Marvel sequel is being pushed off of its previous July 28 premiere date and is now expected to hit the big screen on November 10.

To help ease the pain of having to wait more than three months for the movie, Marvel did release the first official poster for The Marvels, featuring the trio of Brie Larson, Iman Vellani and Teyonah Parris, with the tagline, "Higher. Further. Faster. Together." Check it out below.

As mentioned, it is the third Marvel movie coming out in 2023, coming out five months after the latest Ant-Man movie and two months after the new Guardians of the Galaxy. On the TV side, Marvel has at least one new Disney Plus series coming out before The Marvels, as Secret Invasion is expected in spring 2023, though a specific date is still unknown.

The Marvels poster

(Image credit: Marvel)

The Marvels cast

Brie Larson returns to her superhero role as Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel. The Oscar-winning actress has appeared in multiple Marvel projects, including her own Captain Marvel movie, Avengers: Endgame and post-credit scenes in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Ms. Marvel. Other well known roles for Larson include 21 Jump Street, Short Term 12, Room and Just Mercy. She is set to have a busy summer, as in addition to The Marvels Larson is part of the cast for Fast X.

Teaming up with Larson in The Marvels are Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau and Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan.

Monica Rambeau first appeared in Captain Marvel as a child, the daughter of Carol's best friend Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch). The grown-up Monica Rambeau was first portrayed by Parris in WandaVision. Outside of the MCU, Parris has starred in Candyman, The Photograph, If Beale Street Could Talk and Mad Men.

Kamala Khan, meanwhile, was the central character in Ms. Marvel, which served as her introduction to the MCU. The role is actually the first credit for Vellani.

The other confirmed cast members for The Marvels include Samuel L. Jackson (The Avengers), reprising his role as Nick Fury, Zawe Ashton (The Handmaid's Tale) as the yet-to-be-revealed villain and Park Seo-joon (Parasite), also in an unknown role.

Image 1 of 2
Iman Vellani in Ms. Marvel
(Image credit: Walt Disney Studios)

The Marvels plot

Specific plot details for The Marvels have not been released as of yet, but we know a little bit about what to expect thanks to the Marvel TV series.

First, in WandaVision, Monica Rambeau developed powers (the ability to absorb energy) after going through the Hex multiple times changed her DNA. In a credit scene, Monica meets with a Skrull, who recruits her to come to outer space and meet an old friend of her mother’s (perhaps Nick Fury or the main Skrull, Talos). This will somehow end up tying into The Marvels.

More directly, in Ms. Marvel, a credit scene saw Kamala teleported to an unknown place. But it also swapped her with Captain Marvel herself, who ends up in Kamala's bedroom and is very worried about what just happened.

We have to think that Captain Marvel is going to go and help Kamala wherever she may be, and somewhere along the way she is going to bump into Monica.

The Marvels trailer

There is no trailer for The Marvels as of yet. When one becomes available we’ll add it here. 

The Marvels director

Captain Marvel was the first MCU movie to have a female director (Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck co-directed the movie). The Marvels is going to keep it rolling with a female director, as Nia DaCosta is taking over behind the camera.

DaCosta is best known for directing the 2021 refresh of the horror movie Candyman, with her other movie directing credit coming with the 2018 indie movie Little Woods, which starred MCU-alum Tessa Thompson and Lily James.

MCU movies

The Marvels is joining a massive world as part of the MCU. After 15 years, here’s a quick refresher of everything that has come before and what is still to come (just on the big screen):

MCU Phase 1

MCU Phase 2

MCU Phase 3

MCU Phase 4

MCU Phase 5

MCU Phase 6

  • Fantastic Four (November 8, 2024)
  • Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (May 2, 2025)
  • Avengers: Secret Wars (November 7, 2025)
Michael Balderston
Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Peaky Blinders, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Saturday Night Live, Only Murders in the Building and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd (opens in new tab).