ant-man and the wasp

Ant-Man and the Wasp isn’t scheduled to hit theaters until next July, but with Marvel gearing up to start production this July, you’d think that everyone who’s returning from the first film would know about it by now. That’s not the case for both Michael Peña and Judy Greer, neither of whom seem to know if they’re coming back for the Ant-Man sequel. Your guess is as good as theirs.

We knew from the title that two actors would definitely be returning to Ant Man and the Wasp: Paul Rudd, who plays Ant Man, and Evangeline Lilly, who plays Hope van Dyne a.k.a. the Wasp. Michael Douglas enjoyed his stint as original Ant Man Hank Pym, and was enthusiastic about possibly returning but didn’t know for sure. That is, until today, when he revealed that, yes, he would indeed be coming back for the second one.

The addition of Ant-Man was one of the best parts of Captain America: Civil War, and his self-contained solo debut was a far cry from the Very Big And Huge movies of the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ant-Man’s director Peyton Reed actually thought the the character’s narrative was too pint-sized for these other big superhero movies, and recently revealed that, had he had his way, Ant-Man wouldn’t have appeared in Civil War at all.

We’ve yet to see Hope Van Dyne make her on-screen debut in the Wasp suit, but don’t expect it to happen in the form of a cameo. Evangeline Lily’s character didn’t make an appearance in ‘Captain America: Civil War,’ leading fans to wonder just when the character would suit up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The most likely place we’d catch up with her seemed to be ‘Avengers: Infinity War,’ but it turns out we’ll have to wait a little bit longer.

It’s a testament to the Marvel Cinematic Universe that Ant-Man was a critical and commercial success despite its highly publicized production issues. While many of the other films in the series deal with world domination or destruction, Ant-Man lowered the stakes a little bit and gave us an old-fashioned heist film about a group of lovable losers and an evil corporation. And none of these losers were quite so lovable as Michael Pena’s Luis, who stole an entire film from both Michael Douglas and Paul Rudd.

Superhero movies are a dominant force in modern blockbuster cinema, but with so many heroes appearing on our screens it can be tough to keep up with the release calendar. To help make it a little easier for superhero fans to know which weekends to keep free over the next few years, designer Dylan Todd has created this infographic featuring all the upcoming releases from Marvel Studios, Fox, Sony, Warner Bros and more, starring characters from the DC Universe, the Marvel Universe, the X-Men books, Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Valiant Universe, and more.

A few months ago, Adam McKay didn’t seem so sure about his involvement with Ant-Man and the Wasp, though he did say he wanted to return for Marvel’s upcoming sequel. McKay came on board the first Ant-Man a bit late in the game, helping Paul Rudd with some rewrites when director Peyton Reed replaced Edgar Wright, but it looks like The Big Short director will be on board from the get-go this time around.

While doing the rounds to promote his financial crisis film The Big Short, Adam McKay hinted that he might be back to script Ant-Man and the Wasp — as it turns out, not only is McKay reporting for scripting duties on the sequel, but he’ll be re-teaming with Paul Rudd, and the pair will have a little additional help from uncredited Ant-Man writers Gabriel Ferrari and Andrew Barrer.

As far as Marvel films go, Ant-Man wasn’t as weird as Guardians of the Galaxy, though the brief trip to the Quantum Realm gave us a taste of the potential weirdness to come. Director Peyton Reed is returning to helm Ant-Man and the Wasp, and promises that things will definitely get more strange in the sequel, while newly-released concept art from the first film shows early — and very different — designs for the Yellowjacket suit.

Ant-Man director Peyton Reed recently confirmed his return to helm the sequel, which will feature Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly reprising their roles as Ant-Man and the Wasp in the appropriately-titled Ant-Man and the Wasp. While we haven’t gotten confirmation that any of their co-stars from the first film will be joining them, Michael Douglas seems to suggest that we can count on another appearance from Hank Pym.