Ant-Manis gettinga sequel, folks—but there’s a twist! Marvel Studiosannounced todaythat it will be dropping anAnt-Manfollow-up on August 24, 2025, smack in the middle of Phase Three, but it won’t be titledAnt-Man 2. For the first time in Marvel Studios history, a sequel is being named after the property’s heroine, as the sequel is officially calledAnt-Man and the Wasp.Paul RuddandEvangeline Lilywill be reprising their roles as Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne, respectively.
This is kind of great news. Many rightfully argued thatAnt-Manwas really Van Dyne’s story, so it’s excellent to see that she’ll be getting her due in the follow-up. The studio has no details regarding whether directorPeyton Reedwill be returning, but only four filmmakers in Marvel Studios history have come back to helm their follow-ups—Jon Favreau,Joss Whedon,James Gunn, andThe Russo Brothers—so it wouldn’t be entirely surprising if Marvel enlisted someone else to take the helm. Come to think of it, this might be the perfect film to hire a female director to steer the ship.
There was no guarantee that Marvel would be moving forward on anAnt-Manfollow-up. The movie was the studio’s third lowest-grossing film, just behindCaptain America: The First AvengerandThe Incredible Hulk, but if there’s one thing Marvel has, it’s patience. The picture nabbed $409.8 million worldwide during its run, and while it’s not exactly top-tier Marvel quality-wise, it’s impressive that it turned out as well as it did following the tumultuous development period and original director/co-writerEdgar Wright’s exit. The main reason Marvel was makingAnt-Manin the first place was because Wright had a very specific take he was excited about, so they were essentially left with a project that may or may not have been greenlit had Wright never brought it up.
But thanks to the charisma of Rudd and some swell direction on Reed’s part,Ant-Manwas a solid single or double for the MCU, and now Marvel will get a chance to craft their ownAnt-Manfilm from scratch. I’d argue that in its altered form, the original should’ve just been completely retooled to make Van Dyne the protagonist, so here’s hoping her role in the sequel is bolstered significantly. The title is a solid indication that this will be a two-hander, so we’re off to a great start.
Rudd will next be seen in the MCU as part of the massiveCaptain America: Civil Warensemble, during which he’s expected to be part of the new Avengers team.Ant-Man and the Wasp’s release date makes it the next film afterAvengers: Infinity War – Part 1so it will be interesting to see if A. Lang is a significant part ofInfinity Warand B. Van Dyne joins the crew for eitherPart 1orPart 2of the game-changing saga.
What do you think, folks? Are you eager to see a newAnt-Manmovie? Who would you like to see direct? What comics storylines do you want to see tackled? Sound off in the comments below.
