Ant-Man may not be the biggest character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, popularity-wise at least—but when he becomes Giant-Man, he’s definitely one of the larger characters physically. Still, he’s an integral part of the shared superhero domain and Marvel definitely has plans for him moving forward. He is an Avenger after all. So here comes Ant-Man 3. Only it has officially been titled Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania.
What are those plans exactly? Marvel is nothing if not secretive, so we don’t know a ton. With the launch of the new streaming service Disney+, a number of familiar Marvel Cinematic Universe faces are set to get their own episodic series. It’s been confirmed, however, that we’ll see more miniature adventures on the big screen as Ant-Man 3 is definitely in the works.
Armed with that knowledge, we decided to take a deep dive into everything we know so far about Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania. Again, Marvel plays things pretty close to the vest when it comes to information, and we’re still in the early goings, so what we know is rather limited.
PAUL RUDD AND EVANGELINE LILLY RETURNED FOR ANT-MAN 3
Ant-Man wouldn’t be Ant-Man without Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang. The perpetually 25-year old looking 50-year old IS Ant-Man. Rudd embodies the character with charm and wit, even when things seem most dire. It was Lang, if you remember, whose return got the Avengers kick-started again. So, it’s a relief to know Rudd will be returning to his Ant-Man attire for Ant-Man 3.
Plus, since the name is in the title once again, we know Evangeline Lily is back in the role of Hope van Dyne or the Wasp. These two are headed towards another adventure, this one at least butting up again (or fully in) the Multiverse. Lilly has said that this movie will deal some with her character’s fragility though it wasn’t detailed exactly how that would be the case.
Looks like we will also see the return of Michael Douglas aka Hank Pym, given that Douglas already has confirmed his return.
Michelle Pfeiffer is confirmed to return as Janet Van Dyne.
Also new to Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania will be Kathryn Newton. She’ll be playing the grown up Cassie Lang. We saw grown up Cassie very briefly in Avengers: Endgame, but there she was played by someone else. They’ve decided to recast.
What about the others? As of right now, it doesn’t look like past cast members like Michael Peña will be back in Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania as the extremely talkative Luis nor Judy Greer as Scott’s ex-wife Maggie.
JONATHAN MAJORS JOINED THE ANT-MAN 3 CAST
Ant-Man and the Wasp won’t be facing off against some minor villain in Quantumania. Marvel is bringing in one of their most memorable and deadly bad guys from the comics: Kang the Conqueror.
He’ll be played by Jonathan Majors. Prior to working in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Majors was probably best known for his recent work in the Spike Lee movie Da 5 Bloods or his role in the canceled series, Lovecraft Country. You can see Jonathan Majors for Loki on Disney+ in the photo below.
BILL MURRAY JOINED MARVEL IN THIS MOVIE
Though it was supposed to have been kept a secret, Bill Murray ended up spilling the beans that he was joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe and would be appearing in Ant-Man 3.
It started with him making a reference to having worked with director Peyton Reed. This was apparently a slip and folks put two-and-two together to surmise that he had taken part in filming for this movie.
Murray then went on to confirm that this was the case, tongue-in-cheek admitting that he really was supposed to have kept this under wraps. Regardless, he’s in the MCU now and will take part in the film. Ultimately, he played Lord Krylar.
ANT-MAN 3’S LOGO
The unusual logo for Paul Rudd’s third Marvel movie has caught attention online. No one is quite sure what to make of the writing.
PEYTON REED IS DIRECTING AND WILL HAVE A MARVEL TRILOGY
The third time’s the charm, just like the first two. Yes, Peyton Reed will be back to direct Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, making this his third Ant-Man while also making Reed the first director to claim the title of Trilogy director.
The first two movies performed well at the box office and with critics so it’s no surprise to see him back here.
THE ANT-MAN 3 RELEASE DATE IS FEBRUARY 17, 2023
When will fans get to sit down in a theater and watch Ant-Man 3: Quantumania?Ant-Man 3: Quantumania was originally scheduled to release in movie theaters on February 17, 2023. However, that date has now changed.
The official release date for Ant-Man 3: Quanumania was now February 17, 2023.
EVANGELINE LILLY FACED CONTROVERSYLEADING INTO THIS FILM
Evangeline Lilly is set to co-star in Ant-Man 3 but that was briefly put in jeopardy when she made not-so-great headlines in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic and blew up social media by saying some things which made people think she thought the Coronavirus was a hoax.
Partly as a result of that controversy and also perhaps out of Marvel’s intense desire to replace a lot of their white actors with people of color, there were rumors that Evangeline Lilly was being eliminated from the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Ant-Man 3: Quantumania.
However when Marvel announced that the title of this movie would be Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, they put rumors of Evangeline Lilly being phased out to rest. The wouldn’t put “Wasp” in the title of the film if they were trying to phase the Wasp out.
After being the brunt of so much outrage Evangeline Lilly stepped up to apologize. That apology might have saved her and kept her in the franchise. Here’s her statement…
“I want to offer my sincere and heartfelt apology for the insensitivity I showed in my previous post to the very real suffering and fear that has gripped the world through COVID19. Grandparents, parents, children, sisters and brothers are dying, the world is rallying to find a way to stop this very real threat, and my ensuing silence has sent a dismissive, arrogant and cryptic message. My direct and special apologies to those most affected by this pandemic. I never meant to hurt you. When I wrote that post 10 days ago, I thought I was infusing calm into the hysteria. I can see now that I was projecting my own fears into an already fearful and traumatic situation.“
As outlined on her Instagram post she has now started social distancing just like everyone else.
And here’s what the Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania star said in the first place that got people so mad…
…people freaked out over the idea that she wasn’t self-quarantining her family. When one woman in the comments got specific and asked Evangeline to stay home and help “flatten the curve”, would be Ant-Man 3 star Lilly refused to back down. Here’s how she answered…
“I bet we would completely agree on what we want and what we are trying to avoid, and then would challenge each other thoughtfully about how to achieve that. I’m having those conversations daily with people in my inner circle and am always considering and reconsidering my position. Where we are right now feels a lot too close to Marshall Law [sic] for my comfort already, all in the name of a respiratory flu. It’s unnerving.“
It’s worth noting that Evangeline Lilly currently lives with her elderly father, who has stage four leukemia. That puts him in one of those high-risk groups for the virus.
Despite the hatred being flung her way Evangeline remained polite and courteous. She says…
“I appreciate your engagement and the meaningful discourse. Let’s be vigilant right now. And kind. Watchful and gracious — keeping a close eye on our leaders, making sure they don’t abuse this moment to steal away more freedoms and grab more power, but gracious with each other as we try to navigate the unknown dangers of a modern, global world and power structure. Stay in touch. We’re in this together. Thank you for listening. I have heard you.“
Later Evangeline Lilly decided to go a little further with her comments saying, “I think we all need to slow down, take a breath and look at the facts we are being presented with. They do not add up to the all-out, global lockdown, control, pandemoniac and insanity we are experiencing. I hope that people will find their peace and sanity where you are soon.”
Lilly, who nabbed a partial title role in the second Ant-Man movie, Ant-Man and the Wasp, was a full go for Ant-Man 3 until her headline-making Instagram.
The fall out has been huge, most notably coming from Game Of Thrones actress Sophie Turner, who responded to Lilly’s Instagram in a short video she posted alongside husband Joe Jonas, in which she admonished Lilly and told her and her followers to “stay inside and don’t be f*cking stupid.”
She also had this to say to Lilly, without mentioning her by name, “I don’t give a f*** about your freedom… You could be infecting other people, other vulnerable people around you by doing this. So stay inside guys!”
After Lilly’s comments a lot of her former co-stars are joining in on attacking her and her place in Ant-Man 3. In particular her Lost co-star Maggie Grace has decided to take her to task. Here’s what she had to say…
“There’s no need to panic, but at the same time this is about all of us – the vulnerable, the immunocompromised, older folks. Sure, it’s a free country, but how about choosing to exercise some of that wonderful freedom to have some compassion, trust the extensive science here and not overwhelm the health system. No doctor should have to choose which patients get life-saving care and which patients get sent home to die – the sort of triage that is sadly happening in Italy right now. Please out John Hopkins, Stat News, think about how these small decisions affect your dad and those in your community as ventilators run out – and as you use your influence on such a large group of other people. I say this with all humility, please rethink this. Your kids will be just fine without going to gymnastics, I promise.”
A trusted and proven inside source for Giant Freakin Robot shares that, due to her recent comments, Marvel is considering whether Ant-Man 3 should be their final movie with Evangeline Lilly.