Peyton Reed, who’s been at the helm of both 2015’s Ant-Man and 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp, has signed on to return to direct Ant-Man 3.
Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly are expected to reprise their roles as Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne, and we expect the Wasp will be a major player with her name in the eventual title of this sequel, too.
The Hollywood Reporter brings the news, though they don’t have any word about potential plot details for the new sequel. Though the first two Ant-Man movies were only three years apart, it looks like it’ll be a slightly longer break between films for this third film in the franchise. THR says that the plan is for the sequel to shoot at the end of 2020 or beginning of 2021 for a likely release in 2022. Both Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder will shoot before Ant-Man 3 gets underway, leaving plenty of time for the MCU to change even more drastically than it already has after the events of Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Here’s what the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe looks like as of right now:
Black Widow (2020)
The Eternals (2020)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2021)
Untitled Spider-Man: Far From Home sequel (2021)
Thor: Love and Thunder (2021)
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
WandaVision
Loki
What If…?
Hawkeye
Those are the projects that have been announced for Phase 4, and it seems likely that Ant-Man 3 will be joining Blade, starring Mahershala Ali, as part of the studio’s Phase 5 titles, potentially alongside movies like Black Panther 2, Captain Marvel 2, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, a new Fantastic Four, and a relaunch of the X-Men, and additional Disney+ shows like Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk. The first two Ant-Man films were released in July, so this sequel is likely aiming for Disney’s already-claimed July 29, 2022 release date for an untitled Marvel movie.
It’s not surprising that Ant-Man and the Wasp would get another movie together. Marvel Studios has been fond of giving its marquee characters trilogies thus far, and in the aftermath of Endgame, these two are becoming more senior members of the team by default. And is there a chance that Ant-Man 3 leads into a Young Avengers movie? Scott Lang’s daughter Cassie grew up while he was trapped in the Quantum Realm, and with Kate Bishop being trained to become the new Hawkeye in the Disney+ show, I wouldn’t be shocked to see a younger roster of heroes start to emerge over the next few years. Perhaps Scott and Hope get in too far over their heads in Ant-Man 3, and it’ll be up to their younger counterparts to save the day?
There’s also no word yet on whether or not we’ll see Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly pop up in any other MCU-related project before Ant-Man 3, but we’re holding out hope for at least one appearance from that ant who loved playing the drums. That thing is obviously the key to whatever’s going on in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
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