A not-so-tiny comeback. Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly‘s superheroes will return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time since Avengers: Endgame in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but there are a few things viewers should know first.
When Scott Lang (Rudd) was last onscreen, he arrived five years after Thanos’ snap to help the Avengers bring half the universe back to life. While Hope Van Dyne (Lilly) and her parents disappeared during The Blip, his daughter went through her teenage years.
After helping save the world, Scott has been enjoying life as somewhat of a celebrity — but he’s struggling as a parent, director Peyton Reed revealed.
“Cassie is now 18 years old and maybe Scott doesn’t quite know how to relate to her as an adult because he lost those five years because of the events of Endgame,” Reed told Entertainment Weekly in July.
Dad life isn’t Ant-Man’s only problem. “We also knew that we wanted to put our heroes up against a very, very formidable opponent. I grew up reading the comics and I knew the character of Kang the Conqueror, who’s one of the big, big bad characters in the comics, so to be able to put up our heroes against Kang the Conqueror was a huge thing for us. We went big and we also went small.”
Marvel fans met Kang (Jonathan Majors) in the first season of Loki on Disney+ as He Who Remains. Kang is a variant of the all-knowing being, so the multiverse will factor into the 2023 flick.
Kang’s presence hints at the film being very important. Avengers: Kang Dynasty was announced for 2025, so it seems safe to say that the character will be stirring up trouble across the multiverse for a while.
Also, in case the title didn’t tip you off, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will spend time in the quantum realm. In the 2015 film, Rudd’s character falls into the quantum realm just briefly. The second film dug a little deeper to bring Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) back. The third will dive into the mysterious location.
“We finally get to spend some time in the quantum realm,” Reed promised to the audience at San Diego Comic-Con in July. “We have a lot in store for these characters in this movie, and we’re going to meet a lot of new characters in this movie and explore the quantum realm, which is not always what you think it is, so we’re really really excited to bring it to life.”
While Scott and Cassie reconnect, Hope will be coming into her own as The Wasp. “The second film is all about how powerful she is,” Lilly revealed while on stage at SDCC. “This one is about her vulnerabilities.”
Scroll down for everything else you need to know about Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania.
Credit: Marvel Studios
Everything to Know About ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ So Far
A not-so-tiny comeback. Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly‘s superheroes will return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time since Avengers: Endgame in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but there are a few things viewers should know first.
When Scott Lang (Rudd) was last onscreen, he arrived five years after Thanos’ snap to help the Avengers bring half the universe back to life. While Hope Van Dyne (Lilly) and her parents disappeared during The Blip, his daughter went through her teenage years.
After helping save the world, Scott has been enjoying life as somewhat of a celebrity — but he’s struggling as a parent, director Peyton Reed revealed.
“Cassie is now 18 years old and maybe Scott doesn’t quite know how to relate to her as an adult because he lost those five years because of the events of Endgame,” Reed told Entertainment Weekly in July.
Dad life isn’t Ant-Man’s only problem. “We also knew that we wanted to put our heroes up against a very, very formidable opponent. I grew up reading the comics and I knew the character of Kang the Conqueror, who’s one of the big, big bad characters in the comics, so to be able to put up our heroes against Kang the Conqueror was a huge thing for us. We went big and we also went small.”
Marvel fans met Kang (Jonathan Majors) in the first season of Loki on Disney+ as He Who Remains. Kang is a variant of the all-knowing being, so the multiverse will factor into the 2023 flick.
Kang’s presence hints at the film being very important. Avengers: Kang Dynasty was announced for 2025, so it seems safe to say that the character will be stirring up trouble across the multiverse for a while.
Also, in case the title didn’t tip you off, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will spend time in the quantum realm. In the 2015 film, Rudd’s character falls into the quantum realm just briefly. The second film dug a little deeper to bring Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) back. The third will dive into the mysterious location.
“We finally get to spend some time in the quantum realm,” Reed promised to the audience at San Diego Comic-Con in July. “We have a lot in store for these characters in this movie, and we’re going to meet a lot of new characters in this movie and explore the quantum realm, which is not always what you think it is, so we’re really really excited to bring it to life.”
While Scott and Cassie reconnect, Hope will be coming into her own as The Wasp. “The second film is all about how powerful she is,” Lilly revealed while on stage at SDCC. “This one is about her vulnerabilities.”
Scroll down for everything else you need to know about Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania.
Credit: Marvel Studios
Does ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Have a Release Date?
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will hit theaters on February 17, 2023.
Credit: Marvel Studios
Is There a Trailer for ‘Ant-Man 3’?
The first footage dropped in late October, showing Cassie working on an invention that communicates with the quantum realm. As Janet warns her to shut it off, they get sucked into the tiny world — which has a larger population than expected.
Credit: Marvel Studios
Who Is Returning for ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’?
In addition to Rudd and Lilly, Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer will be back as Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne.
Credit: Marvel Studios
Who Are the New Cast Members in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’?
Majors isn’t the only new face. Bill Murray will play an unidentified character with a connection to Janet’s past, and Newton is also new to the cast.
Credit: Marvel Studios
Who Is Kang?
Introduced as He Who Remains, Kang has also gone by other names in the Marvel comics, including Victor Timely, Pharaoh Rama-Tut, Blue Man, Lord of the Seven Suns, King of Kings, Master of Men and Scarlet Centurion. What’s important to note is that he is not a good guy — but he might be the only one who can help Ant-Man and his family.
Credit: Marvel Studios
How Has Scott Changed Since ‘Avengers: Endgame’?
Disney+’s Ms. Marvel revealed Scott has a podcast while SDCC footage added that he has written a book. “Scott is pretty pleased with himself in his role with saving the universe,” Rudd told the Comic-Con crowd.
The trailer also reveals that Lang is enjoying being recognized as an Avenger — but he’s not exactly a household name yet.
Credit: Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
Who Is Playing Cassie Lang?
First introduced as a little girl played by Abby Ryder Fortson in the first two Ant-Man films, teen Cassie was played by Emma Fuhrmann in Avengers: Endgame. However, she’ll be played by Big Little Lies alum Kathryn Newton as Cassie steps into her own purple supersuit and follows in her dad’s footsteps.
Expect family to be a central theme in the movie. “The family finds themselves exploring the quantum realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought was possible,” Marvel’s October synopsis teased.
Credit: Jay Maidment/Marvel Studios
Why Make a Gigantic ‘Ant-Man’ Movie?
Reed shared that he was ready to up the ante ahead of Ant-Man 3. “People felt like, ‘Oh, these are fun little palate cleansers after a gigantic Avengers movie,'” Reed told Entertainment Weekly in December 2022. “For this third one, I said, ‘I don’t want to be the palate cleanser anymore. I want to be the big Avengers movie.'”
The scale is also necessary for a villain as epic as Kang. “It struck me as interesting to take the tiniest Avengers — in some people’s minds maybe the least powerful Avengers — and put them up against the most powerful force in the multiverse.”
