Ever since Avengers: Endgame was released way back in 2019, fans have wondered why Ant-Man didn't just shrink down, climb inside Thanos' butt, and, uh, take the Mad Titan out from the inside. We're not exactly shocked Marvel Studios didn't head down the "Thanus" route, but Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) addresses the concept on the Disney Wish cruise ship.
Rather than saving it for an upcoming movie or TV show, it's mentioned during the Avengers: Quantum Encounter experience that also stars The Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), Captain America (Anthony Mackie), Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani), and Ultron (Ross Marquand).
During an interview with Fandom, Danny Handke, Senior Creative Director, Walt Disney Imagineering, explained how that moment ended up being added to the show.
"At [Walt Disney] Imagineering, we write the scripts for our show, and then Marvel brings in a writer to help us kind of punch it up and polish the dialogue. And so that was Michael Waldron," he explains. "[Marvel Studios president] Kevin [Feige] brought in Michael to help us punch up our script, and he added that joke."
"Because this is one of Scott Lang's first speaking engagements, he's kind of super awkward at the beginning of the show. He's never spoken as an Avenger to a live audience before. And so [Waldron] snuck that joke in there because that nervousness kind of comes out as [Scott's] trying to explain, 'Yeah, everyone thinks about this. It's not true.'"
As for how Rudd responded, Handke added that the actor was on board and actually put his own spin on the exchange you can watch in the Tweet below. "Paul goes, 'Oh yeah, I know about the meme.' He did it in his own way, because he's an improv mastermind. His delivery's spot on. I'm so happy that that's become the thing everyone's talking about. I didn't expect that!"
Waldron is becoming increasingly busy in the MCU. After serving as Head Writer on Loki, he penned Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and has since shifted gears to write a Star Wars movie for Kevin Feige. However, we'd be shocked if this Disney Wish cruise ship show is the last time he works on these Marvel characters.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is set to arrive in theaters on February 17, 2023.