Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania will be the first two Disney/Marvel cinematic releases in China since 2019.
According to Deadline, Black Panther 2 will hit Chinese cinemas on February 7. This is three months after its release in North America/Europe.
Ant-Man 3 will then premiere just ten days later on February 17. This is in keeping with the North American release date. It also means fans won’t have to wait months to see Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors and Paul Rudd in action.
Image credit: Disney/Marvel
There hasn’t been a Marvel movie release in China since 2019
Interestingly, there hasn’t been a title featuring a Marvel character released in China since 2019.
The penultimate movie before the three-and-a-half-year gap was Avengers: Endgame. This was then followed two months later by Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: Far From Home.
At the time of writing, six Marvel movies have missed a premier in China. These are Black Widow (2021), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), Eternals (2021), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022).
The country could be looking to breathe life back into the box office
So, why the return of Marvel after so long? According to Deadline, one of the reasons the MCU is back could be because of recent Chinese box office statistics.
The Chinese box office reportedly made $4.35 billion in 2022. That’s an estimated 36% drop since 2021.
Image credit: Disney/Marvel
Only a select few Hollywood tentpoles premiered across the country in 2022. This could be the main reason for the takings drop.
With China wanting to rejuvenate their box office takings, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania will herald the return of the MCU to the country this year.
UK Black Panther 2 fans, the film will be available to stream via Disney+ on February 1. Ant-Man 3 will then hit cinemas worldwide on February 17.
Featured image credit: Disney/Marvel