As MCU fans wait for Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, chatter has already started about whether Ant-Man 4 is a real possibility.
Ant-Man 3 is only a couple of days from becoming the 31st movie released within the MCU, opening up Marvel Studios’ Phase 5 slate with a thrilling new story. While critics have expressed mixed feelings about the threequel, as is always the case with the MCU, eyes are set on where Ant-Man could go next.
A rumor already spoiled that Paul Rudd's hero will live to fight another day after Ant-Man 3, almost guaranteeing him a role in 2025's Avengers: The Kang Dynasty even with his own solo story not confirmed to continue yet.
And with the idea of Ant-Man 4 likely being years away, if it ever comes to fruition at all, the most important people behind that call have another sequel on their minds long before it would arrive in theaters.
Ant-Man 4 Already in Discussion at Marvel Studios
Speaking with ComicBook.com, Marvel Studios producer/Parliament member Stephen Broussard revealed that the team is already discussing ideas for Ant-Man 4 ahead of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania's opening weekend in theaters.
Broussard noted that the MCU team is "already thinking about it," explaining that the studio always looks at the ideas for new stories after finishing each MCU project:
"We're already thinking about it. It's like, every movie's its own battle and you bear the scars of making it and wanting to make it great. But hope springs eternal and you start to put yourself back together after the journey of making the movie. You're like, 'Yeah, what if we did X and what if we did Y?'
While he didn't "want to say anything" about those ideas yet, he made it clear that he's already spoken with Ant-Man trilogy director Peyton Reed and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige about what could be done:
"Like the wheels start turning, you can't help yourself. I don't want to say anything about specifically what those are, but yeah, you can't help yourself. Those conversations, those whispers have already started to happen between myself and Peyton and Kevin."
When Will Ant-Man 4 Become a Reality?
Being a part of Marvel's group of Parliament members, which consists of the biggest creatives responsible for the MCU's story progression, quotes from Stephen Broussard hold a lot of weight when looking at the MCU's future.
While only a select number of critics know exactly what happens in Ant-Man 3, it seems quite evident that the journey isn't over for Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Kathryn Newton, and the crew.
Although Hank Pym star Michael Douglas has already joked about his character dying in Ant-Man 4, there are plenty of other stories to explore with the MCU's smallest Avenger, especially after this expectedly life-changing trip into the Quantum Realm.
With so many new movies coming over the next few years, Ant-Man 4 may not go into development until far later into the Multiverse Saga or even into Phase 7. The original trilogy was released over the course of four different Phases and nearly eight years of storytelling, meaning the earliest to realistically expect a new movie would most likely be sometime between 2026 and 2028.
This would also make the Ant-Man franchise the third solo story to progress into a fourth movie after Thor: Love and Thunder and Captain America: New World Order. And considering that Scott Lang was only the sixth hero in MCU history to get his own solo story back in 2015, he should certainly come up soon in the rotation when considering a fourth outing.
For now, the third movie in the Ant-Man saga, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, will debut in theaters on Friday, February 17.
