‘Ant-Man And The Wasp’ — Sequel Will Tackle Some ‘Weird, Unique, And Different Territory’ With The Wasp

Following the success of Ant-Man, it was only a matter of time before Marvel agreed to move forward with a sequel. Although it has yet to be officially announced, director Peyton Reed recently revealed to Yahoo that a deal is on the verge of completion. With that in mind, what will the new film focus on, and how large of a role will The Wasp play in the movie?

“I think one of the appealing things about coming back for a sequel is to be able to build it from the ground up this time,” Reed explained in the interview. “Also, [there’s] stuff that we clearly set up in the first movie that we want to pay off and have fun with in the second movie. Since we know [the characters’] origins, we can go in some weird, unique and different territory.”

The first film focused primarily on the origins and development of Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), who was given a special suit by Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) that gave him the ability to transform into the size of an ant. In particular, the movie’s main plot centered on Ant-Man thwarting the devious plans of Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), who became Yellowjacket.

In addition to focusing on Rudd’s character, the movie also introduced Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne. Although her story as The Wasp wasn’t the focus of the film, her character did play a large role in the movie. Not only did she help Scott Lang break into Cross Industries, but she also played a large part in taking down the villain.

That being said, Hope also voiced her strong opinions as to why she was more than capable of wielding Ant-Man’s suit to her father. Despite her father’s hesitancy to hand over the shrinking suit to his daughter, it was revealed at the very end that she would be picking up in her mother’s footsteps and become The Wasp.

According to Cinema Blend, this introduction of The Wasp at the end of the film will be expanded on greatly in the sequel. In fact, along with her name being a part of the title, the movie will feature The Wasp prominently as it explores her development as a superhero.

“Her last line in the movie — ‘It’s about damn time’ — [is] very much about her specific character and arc in that movie, but it is absolutely about a larger thing,” Reed stated in the interview. “It’s about damn time: We’re going to have a fully realized, very very complicated hero in the next movie who happens to be a woman.”

This should come as exciting news for fans of the franchise, especially considering Marvel’s lack of women superheroes in its Cinematic Universe. With her role in Ant-Man and the Wasp, Lilly’s character would join Black Widow and Scarlet Witch as the only female heroes in Marvel’s movies, and the only female character to be featured this prominently in a movie.

Furthermore, the decision to feature The Wasp as a major part of the story moving forward was also influenced by the need for the characters to be expanded into the larger Marvel world. Now that Marvel is getting ready to release a number of different films in the coming years, Ant-Man is set to appear in both the new Captain America: Civil War and the third Avengers film.

With Ant-Man set to be featured alongside the Avengers in Infinity War, it is possible that The Wasp will also make an appearance. Whether or not this happens will depend largely on how well the sequel goes for The Wasp.

Ant-Man and the Wasp is expected to premiere in theaters in July, 2018.

[Image via Marvel Studios]