Peyton Reed Talks ANT-MAN AND THE WASP; Teases Comic Inspiration, Integrating The Wasp & Other Returning Faces
Even though production on Marvel's 2017 releases is just getting started, we have a few promising updates on their 2018 summer release Ant-Man and the Wasp from director Peyton Reed himself!
Ant-Man, after the gargantuan Avengers: Age of Ultron, was a nice change of pace for Marvel Studios as they closed the chapter on Phase 2 and started looking ahead to Phase 3. The Peyton Reed-directed film managed to garner a solid amount of critical acclaim and earned over $519 million worldwide on a modest budget of $130 million, which is coincidentally the smallest budget for any Marvel Studios film ever. Because of its success, the studio quickly announced plans for a sequel, titled Ant-Man and the Wasp, and inserted it in their Phase 3 line-up with a tentative release date of July 2018.
Since it's still a ways out, we understandably don't know much about the film's plot. What we do know, however, is that stars Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, and Michael Douglas will all be back reprising their roles from the first installment and that Reed is returning to direct with a script he's currently penning alongside Rudd, Adam McKay, and Gabriel Ferrari.
On Wednesday, Ant-Man took home a Saturn Award for Best Comic-to-Film Motion Picture and Reed was on-hand to accept the award. Prior to the win, Reed took a few moments to chat with Modern Myth Media about his film, which received six nominations, and also offered a few early teases for the upcoming sequel. He started out by sharing his delight at seeing Ant-Man suit-up alongside the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War and revealed that his film will pick up with Scott Lang coping with his newfound status following the events of Civil War: "Well he’s a fugitive in most of the first Ant-Man movie. He’s just a bigger fugitive now." Well, that's putting it lightly, but it is something that's subject to change since his upcoming sequel will be the Marvel Cinematic Universe's follow-up to the magnum opus that is Avengers: Infinity War - Part 1. If Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne partake in that film, which is a possibility, but not a certainty at this point, it's not a stretch to assume they'll both be at a different stage when their film rolls around. Regardless, Reed promises "big leaps forward" for Scott when we see him again.
Speaking of Hope Van Dyne, the first female hero in the MCU with her name featured in the title of a film, Reed sounded extremely excited to reintroduce her to fans as the Wasp. He adds that the crux of the film is the dynamic between Scott & Hope and how their relationship makes them one of the most formidable duos. Check out his comments below:
"It’s something we’re excited about. For me as a comic nerd, I always thought of Ant-Man and Wasp as a team and that’s a lot of what the second movie is really about is how they work together, what their personal and professional relationships are like. To show her finally fully formed in this movie is really exciting. We really get to introduce this character into that universe. I mean we’ve introduced the character, but we haven’t seen her with her full power set and everything, so to me she’s not a supporting character in this movie. It’s every bit as much her movie as it is Scott Lang’s."
As for other returning faces, outside of Rudd, Lilly, and Douglas, it sounds like there's a pretty good shot we'll see Michael Peña's fan-favorite Luis as well as Scott's other friends pop back in for the sequel: "Oh there’s definitely a chance! I’d say there’s a fighting chance for that to happen." Considering, how big of a role she played in the first installment, we'll also likely see Scott's daughter Cassie again along with her mother and step-father. Also, with the film arriving in between the two Infinity War films, it's not out of the realm of possibility that an Avenger or two drops in to say hello.
The film is still in its very early stages, so the script is a work-in-progress, but in case you're curious about which comic arcs Reed's been reading to get inspiration for the sequel, you'll be pleased to know he's been covering a lot of ground, from early Avengers stuff to Nick Spencer's currently ongoing Ant-Man run: "I’m cutting a wide swath on that stuff. I go back to early, early Avengers stuff and all the way up to the Nick Spencer stuff now. I just sort of devour it all. And really in terms of maybe even more than story stuff, just looking at imagery and for me what were iconic images and how we can squeeze those into the movie." We've already seen Ant-Man ride one of Hawkeye's arrows, what could be more iconic than that? Only time will tell, but it's certainly an exciting prospect.
There's a lot to digest here, but this should be more than enough to tide you over till we get more. So, what do you guys think? Sound off with your thoughts below!
Ant-Man and the Wasp hits theaters July 6, 2018