Marvel’s lastPhase TwomovieAnt-Mandebuted onBlu-rayandDVDtoday, after a successful run at theaters. While it didn’t pull in the massive numbers of the studios’Avengersmovies,Ant-Manearned over $180 million domestic and $518.5 million worldwide, which is certainly a solid debut at thebox office. The studio announced the follow-upAnt-Man and the Waspthis fall, which will bring backPaul Ruddas Scott Lang andEvangeline Lillyas Hope Van Dyne, a.k.a. The Wasp.Comic Book Resourcesrecently spoke with directorPeyton Reed, who revealed that the sequel will have a new “genre template,” meaning it will be much different than the heist story told inAnt-Man.
“I think there’s probably going to be some aspects that maybe call back to the tone of [the first movie], but forAnt-Man and the Wasp, we have an entirely different template. We know what that template is, and we have an entirely different genre template for that movie. But it’s going to remain a surprise. But yes, that’s already been decided.”
The originalAnt-Manscript was written byEdgar WrightandJoe Cornish, withEdgar Wrightattached to direct for years until he eventually left the project last year.Paul RuddandAdam McKaycame aboard to rewrite the script before production started, but it still isn’t known who will be writingAnt-Man and the Wasp.Peyton Reedconfirmed thatPaul Ruddwill come back to work on the script, along withGabriel FerrariandAndrew Barrer, who did uncredited work on the script while production was under way. The director also added thatAdam McKaywill return in some capacity. Though to what extend isn’t yet known.
“Well, definitely,Paul [Rudd], and we’ve got[Andrew] Barrerand[Gabriel] Ferrari, who were not credited on the movie, but they’re our production writers, they’re coming back. AndAdam’s going to come back in some capacity. A lot of it has to do with his schedule on [his new movie]The Big Shortbecause he’s promoting that movie and is probably, I would think, well into the Oscar season. We talked aboutAnt-Man, and he’s psyched to come back. We want him back. It’s going to be a scheduling thing.”
The end credits scene inAnt-Manhad Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) showing his daughter Hope Van Dyne the Wasp suit that he designed for her.Evangeline Lillyteased possiblePhase 3plans for Wasp, aside fromAnt-Man and the Wasp, since she recently had a costume fitting. But it isn’t known if she will pop up at any time before the sequel. When asked what he was most excited for with this follow-up,Peyton Reedhad this to say.
“I’m excited just forEvangeline Lillyto actually suit up and become a hero in the movie. I’m also excited about the idea thatAnt-Man and the Waspwere a partnership throughout the history ofMarvel Comics. It’s a different dynamic than we’ve seen in the rest of the Marvel movies, an actual partnership. You’ve got Captain America and the Falcon, obviously. But this is a thing that in the comics was a romantic partnership and a heroic partnership, so it’s going to be fun to play around with that and discover what the movie version of that is. I feel like we’ve set up a pretty complicated character in Hope van Dyne in the first movie. It’s going to be fun to see how that plays out in the second movie, and continue that exploration of the family dynamics between Scott Lang and his family, but also, between Hank Pym and Hope and possibly even Janet. So that’s exciting.”
Evangeline Lillyherself recently said she would like to seeMichelle Pfeifferplay Janet Van Dyne, whileMichael Douglashas teased that he’d like to see his wifeCatherine Zeta-Jonestake on the character.Peyton Reedrevealed that the writers won’t start working on the script until January, so it isn’t clear yet if Janet Van Dyne will even be a part of the story. The filmmaker also addressed a concernMichael Douglasrecently brought up in an interview, where he said he will come back for a sequel if he doesn’t have so much dialogue.
“Oh, it’s great to have that on the table! I mean, we’re so early on. We’re really going to start in earnest in January on the writing. But we obviously have tons of notes – things that we set up in the first movie – and it’s going to be fun to actually really hit the ground and start developing and writing the movie. It’s so early on to start talking about that stuff. And also, I talk a lot to Michael about – there’s a lot of exposition that he was called on to present. There’s a lot of set-up in Ant-Man, and it will be fun to give Michael different stuff to do in this movie.”
The director was also asked about the flashback sequence inAnt-Man, where we saw a much younger version of Hank Pym meeting with members of S.H.I.E.L.D. The filmmaker said that he enjoyed that scene because it placed Pym squarely in the MCU right away, and he’s discussing the possibility of putting a similar scene in the sequel. Whether or not it actually makes it in or not remains to be seen, but here’s what the filmmaker had to say.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s something that we’re discussing, and we’ll see if it actually works within the context of the story. It’s something that’s definitely interesting to all of us. Because I think it gave us an opportunity, even with the opening scene in Ant-Man, the S.H.I.E.L.D scene, to retroactively place this guy into the Marvel Cinematic Universe who’s such an important character in the comics, and all the possible relationships that could exist there, that’s really exciting. It’s something we do want to explore.”
There have been rumors that, inCaptain America: Civil War,Ant-Manwill turn into Giant Man from the comics.Peyton Reedadded that they do hint at Pym’s history as Giant Man in the first movie, teasing that there are several different aspects of Pym’s past that will be explored inAnt-Man and the Wasp. While he doesn’t say with certainty that Giant Man will be featured in the sequel, we may see him at some other point down the line.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s such a crucial part of his character in the comics. I think to ignore that would be crazy, because there’s a lot of rich stuff. Not only with the different sort of super heroic identities that he had in the comics, but just his psychology. I mean, we do set up in the movie that when Scott says to him, ‘Why don’t you just put on the suit?’ He’s like, ‘I can’t. I did it for a long time, and it took a toll on me.” It’s like, ‘Well, what does that mean, exactly?’ I think there are a lot of things that we’re going to explore in the next one that will explain a lot of that stuff."
Marvel has set a June 19, 2025 release date forAnt-Man and the Wasp, which is just a few months afterAvengers: Infinity War Part Ihits theaters on June 19, 2025. We knowAnt-Manwill be introduced to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes inCaptain America: Civil Warnext year, so we’ll have to wait and see if he will also show up inAvengers: Infinity War Part IandAvengers: Infinity War - Part II(June 14, 2025). What do you think about these new details regardingAnt-Man and the Wasp?
