Compared to all the other megastar Marvel heroes, Ant-Man is the definition of a grower not a shower—the guy stays relatively contained to his own miniature universe, quietly racking up sequels as his more famous peers live, die, and hang out together.
Perhaps the ever-likeable casting of Paul Rudd is responsible for that, too, making Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp some of the MCU’s more modest blockbusters (an oxymoron, but still).
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will take the characters simultaneously bigger and smaller than ever before when it hits cinemas on July 23, 2023. That’s a bit of a wait for MCU obsessives, but there’s plenty of clues and comic-book context to work from in the meantime.
Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly will return as our two title characters, with Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer also back as mentors/parents Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne.
Freaky star Kathryn Newton has been cast as Scott’s daughter Cassie Lang, a part previously played by Emma Fuhrmann.
Most exciting of all are the new villains the gang will face in Quantumania: The Harder They Fall lead Jonathon Majors already appeared as an alternate timeline version of Loki named Kang The Conqueror, and Bill Goddamn Murray has been cast as an undisclosed villain too.
That’s casting news worth getting hyped for, as MCU fans on Twitter are already doing. Only 500+ days to go!
538 days till Ant-Man and The Wasp #Quantumania pic.twitter.com/Z6aUedRgoX
— Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania News (@QuantumaniaNews) February 6, 2022
One tricky element is Lilly as Hope Van Dyne, one of our title characters The Wasp: she’s recently taken up a strong anti-vaccine stance, potentially making her position in the MCU uncertain for future appearances. Inverse compares the actor to Letitia Wright, a Black Panther performer in a similar position, saying that “like Wright, Marvel probably can’t simply fire Lilly or diminish her role.”
Hm. Maybe the gang can use some quantum magic to shrink into their own immune systems for an educational scene in the newest Ant-movie??
