Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has been making quite the wave across the Marvel fandom. The upcoming movie will see the return of Paul Rudd's Scott Lang and Evangeline Lilly's Hope Van Dyne after the events of Avengers: Endgame, as the Lang family adapts to their new status quo.
What's this new status quo? Well, due to Scott Lang being the one who got everyone together to save the world, he's a bit of a celebrity. On top of that, it's something he's whole-heartedly embraced, potentially to a fault; this includes partaking in popular podcasts that make their way over to big-time New Jersey superheroes.
Thanks to Scott's big rise to fame, as confirmed by footage showcased at D23, a familiar face will be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. No, in this case, it's not Kang the Conqueror—but it is someone that once had power over the titular hero, much like the big bad of the Multiverse Saga will.
Ant-Man 3 Brings Back Management
At D23, Marvel Studios showed a boatload of footage. Among the various projects showcased was a new trailer for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
While there was plenty teasing the Lang's unintended trip back to the Quantum Realm and coming face-to-face with Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror, the first portion of the teaser was far more lighthearted.
In fact, it even confirmed the return of a familiar face. First, of course, there's Randall Park's Jimmy Woo making his comeback, but also, there's someone more authoritative: Gregg Turkington as Dale, the Baskin Robbins manager.
The character was last seen in 2015's Ant-Man, where he was forced to fire Paul Rudd's titular character from Baskin-Robbins after finding out about Scott's stint in jail.
When it comes to his time in the upcoming threequel, the ice cream manager is briefly spotted when audiences find out that Scott Lang has become "the employee of all time" at his former place of employment.
This little slice of footage was found within a bigger montage of Scott basking in the fame of having saved half of the universe. He's now written a book (one that, much to his daughter's chagrin, he even listens to in the car), is publicly speaking on podcasts, and taking former acquaintances to expensive places.
He's even become famous enough to be mistaken as Spider-Man. Sadly though, that ego the hero has developed has pushed away his daughter, played by newcomer Kathryn Newton. It seems Lang is going to have quite a bit of self-improvement to go through in order to fix up his family dynamic.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Return to Baskin Robbins
This little tidbit will likely amount to only a very small amount of time on screen—potentially just as much as seen in the D23 footage. But, even so, it'll still be hilarious in theaters.
The Baskin Robbins gag in the original Ant-Man from 2015 was a fan-favorite joke, so it's a great callback from director Peyton Reed. It'll also be a nice comedic beat just before the movie takes a hard turn into some more serious, multiverse-threatening stakes.
While it may be easy to forget, but Baskin Robbins will not be the big bad of Quantumania—that will still go to Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror. He won't be alone, however, as MODOK is confirmed also to appear, though his role in the film remains a mystery.
With the release date on February 17, 2023, its release is fast approaching. So should fans expect a public trailer any time soon?
Well, according to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, probably not. But it's never too late to start crossing those fingers.
