The first trailer for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania might be publicly released in early November.
According to Marvel insider Grace Randolph (opens in new tab), the Disney subsidiary is reportedly going to drop Ant-Man 3’s first teaser alongside Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The final movie of Marvel’s Phase 4 slate is set to arrive in theaters on November 11. And, with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania launching in early 2023, unveiling it publicly sooner rather than later would make the most sense.
It’s unclear how Marvel plans to release Ant-Man 3’s first trailer. As long as Randolph’s Marvel contact is correct, the studio could decide to show the teaser before Black Panther 2 in theaters, ahead of releasing it online a few days later.
Alternatively, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s inaugural trailer might be shown once the credits on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever have rolled. In our view, the former would be preferable, especially if Wakanda Forever contains a crowd-pleasing and/or significant post-credits scene.
Ant-Man 3’s first teaser has already been seen by some lucky Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) fans. The trailer for the Marvel Phase 5 movie debuted during Marvel’s panel at D23 Expo 2022, but it hasn’t officially been released online. A blurry version of the teaser leaked online in early October, but Marvel has moved quickly to take down any fan-recorded footage.
The forthcoming Marvel movie, which sees Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly reprise their roles as Ant-Man and the Wasp, respectively, will arrive on February 28, 2023. So, there’s not many months left for Marvel to start hyping it up pre-launch.
Quantumania will mark the official arrival of Kang the Conqueror in the MCU, too, following the appearance of one of his variants – He Who Remains – in Loki’s season 1 finale. There’s plenty of buzz around the time traveling genius’ arrival in the MCU, particularly with Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country, The Harder They Fall) portraying Kang. So it’s high time Marvel started signal boosting a potentially vital superhero film for its Multiverse Saga.
Analysis: don’t pull a Doctor Strange 2 on us, Marvel
Of course, there’s no guarantee that Randolph’s Marvel contact is right on the money. Marvel might choose to give Black Panther 2 as much room to breathe as possible, particularly as it’ll be such an emotionally impactful movie in the wake of Chadwick Boseman’s death in August 2020. The studio may decide that, in order for audiences to enjoy Wakanda Forever and say goodbye to Boseman, releasing Ant-Man 3’s trailer alongside it might not be the best move.
But there is a way that Marvel can release Quantumania’s first teaser in conjunction with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. As we said earlier, Marvel could opt to put Ant-Man 3’s trailer in front of Black Panther 2. That would get audiences hyped for the next MCU movie while giving Boseman’s T’Challa an honorable send-off via Wakanda Forever.
If Marvel decides to put the teaser at the end of Wakanda Forever, though, that decision might end up working against it. Again, as we said above, showing a new film’s first trailer right after a potentially huge post-credits scene would detract from that end credits stinger.
Alternatively, placing Quantumania’s teaser after Wakanda Forever’s credits have rolled will indicate that there’s no post-credits scene worth sticking around for. Like Spider-Man: No Way Home in December 2021, where Doctor Strange 2‘s first teaser was slapped on the end of it, Marvel would inevitably disappoint fans by not including a Black Panther 2 end credits scene.
In our view, the choice is a simple one: show Ant-Man 3’s first trailer before Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Doing so will drum up interest in Quantumania, allow fans to absorb Black Panther 2’s possible mid and post-credits scenes, and then release Ant-Man 3’s first teaser online a few days later. The ball is in your court, Marvel.
For more MCU-based content, find out why Wakanda Forever’s latest trailer might have misdirected us over who the new Black Panther is. Alternatively, read up on what it’ll take for Moon Knight to return in the MCU.