Disney Sets Dates and New Details for Marvel Superhero Movies

Having made a huge dent at the box office with its summer superhero adventure “The Avengers” (which has sold more than $1.5 billion in tickets globally), Walt Disney on Monday announced an updated release calendar that was heavy on Marvel Comics characters and packed with enough colorful costumes to put David Bowie's wardrobe to shame.

The studio said that “Iron Man 3,” the latest installment to feature that armored warrior played by Robert Downey Jr., would be released in 3-D; that film was already scheduled for a May 3 release. It will be followed on Nov. 8 by a sequel to “Thor,” which is now officially titled “Thor: The Dark World.” Comics fans can then look forward to the 2014 releases of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (on April 4 of that year) and “Guardians of the Galaxy” (on Aug. 1), about the cosmic team whose members include an anthropomorphized raccoon. And mark your calendars now for the Nov. 6, 2015, opening date of “Ant -Man,” about the pocket-sized hero who can walk, talk, grunt, squeak and squawk with the insects.

Other updated release dates include an unnamed Pixar movie on Nov. 25, 2015. The biographical film “Saving Mr. Banks” has been set for Dec. 20, 2013, and will star Tom Hanks as Walt Disney, whose superpowers included the ability to grow a really swell mustache.