Marvel's Ant-Man 3: Evangeline Lily Hypes Up Paul Rudd Team-Up Film

By David Thompson Posted:
Ant-Man, Evangeline Lily, Wasp

An Ant-Man 3 announcement was notably missing from Marvel Studios' Phase 4 presentation at July 2019's San Diego Comic-Con. However, a few months later, The Hollywood Reporter reported that a third installment was indeed in the works. Then casting news of Jonathan Majors taking on the time-jump antagonist Kang the Conqueror came in September of this year, but still no word from Disney or Marvel Studios.

Finally, at Disney's Investor Day meeting , we got a title, full casting call, and an oh-so tiny-clue of when the film will be released. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will see Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne, Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, and Michelle Pfieffer as Janet Van Dyne. They'll officially be joined by Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror and Kathryn Newton as Cassie Lang, replacing Avengers: Endgame's Emma Fuhrmann.

It has also been suggested that Quantumania will release in 2022, based on a recent Instagram post by Michelle Pfeiffer.

NEWS

Evangeline Lilly took to Instagram to share her first thoughts after the official announcement of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Lilly posted a photo of her and Ant-Man co-star Paul Rudd. She expressed her excitement for the upcoming MCU project, writing "#Quantumania ???????? Now THAT’s the best idea I’ve heard in a while. #letsgetsmall 💪🏻"

Lilly also made note that "#AntMan3... is REALLY #AntManAndTheWasp2 😏."

Here's the full post:

WHAT THIS MEANS

If you thought time travel and the Quantum Realm were a thing of the past, think again. As the fallen Tony Stark said, "You mess with time, it tends to mess back." This has become even more apparent now knowing that Kang is officially coming. We can expect a similarly light-hearted tone to this film as Peyton Reed returns to wrap a bow on his Ant-Man trilogy.

It is unclear how far along production is on this fun-sized sequel, but based on Lilly's eight question marks in her caption, the storyline remains even more unclear. Here are a couple things to expect as Lilly calls it Ant-Man and the Wasp 2:

"The Blip" Consequences

We see in Ant-Man and the Wasp that Hope, Hank, and Janet all vanished during Thanos' 2018 snap, leaving Scott the only one alive in the Quantum Realm. All these characters missed out on five years of their lives, including Scott, so expect to see this reconnected family struggle to adjust to the new world. It is also important to note that Janet had been in the Quantum Realm for over 20 years before she dusted away, so she's got a lot of catching up to do. Perhaps she will make a list similar to Steve Rogers' from Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Quantum Chaos

Invented by Hank Pym and perfected by Tony Stark, Quantum travel is one of the most intriguing and strange actions in the MCU. There is still so much unknown about how the Quantum Realm works, what it is capable of, and who else could be trapped in it .

The assumption is that Kang will appear because of the Quantum Realm in some way, especially considering the title of the film. This may not even be his first MCU appearance, as rumors point to the villain making his first entrance during the Loki Disney+ series . This makes sense as we know Loki will explore multiple realities and timelines, perhaps Kang will be attempting to conquer one or two of them. Then in Quantumania we may see Kang's first attempt to take over Earth-19999 (MCU's main reality).

Release Date
February 17, 2023
Platform
Theaters
- About The Author: David Thompson
As an editor, writer, and podcast host, David is a key member of The Direct. He is an expert at covering topics like Marvel, DC, Star Wars, and business-related news following the box office and streaming.