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Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was first announced by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige at Disney's Investor Day 2020, alongside a slew of other projects such as The Marvels (2023) and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022). The film will be the third installment in Peyton Reed's Ant-Man trilogy, which began with Ant-Man in 2015.
Originally believed to be part of Phase Four of the MCU, the film was later confirmed by Feige at San Diego Comic-Con 2022 to kickstart Phase Five, and Comic-Con attendees were shown exclusive footage from the film.
The first official trailer was released online on October 24, 2022, and there is a lot to unpack. This article will discuss what we can expect from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and more.
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania will return to screens in February 2023 with familiar faces
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is scheduled to be released on February 17, 2023. The film was originally slated for 2022, but development changes and newer additions to the MCU calendar led to the film being delayed, first to February 17, 2023, and later to July 28, 2023, before returning to the February date.
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Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, David Dastmalchian, and Randall Park are expected to reprise their roles as Scott Lang (Ant-Man), Hope van Dyne (Wasp), Hank Pym, Janet van Dyne, Kurt Goreshter, and FBI Agent Jimmy Woo in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.
Newcomers include Kathryn Newton as Cassie Lang (replacing Emma Fuhrmann, who portrayed the character in Avengers: Endgame), Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror (after playing his variant He Who Remains in Loki), who will serve as the overarching villain of the Multiverse Saga, William Jackson Harper, and Bill Murray, the latter two in undisclosed roles.
What to expect from the film
From the trailer, we see that Scott is now celebrated as a hero for his role in saving the earth alongside the Avengers from Thanos. His daughter Cassie discovers a way to communicate with the Quantum Realm via a device, despite Janet van Dyne's fears, only for the device to activate and pull all of them into the dimension. Hope asks Janet what she's afraid of, and she hints that there's more history than we know.
The Quantum Realm setting
After only getting glimpses of it in the first two installments, Quantumania will dive deep into exploring the realm and its inhabitants. Fans can look forward to amazing colors and a visually captivating world. In the comics, the Quantum Realm is a whole other universe dubbed "The Microverse." Marvel could not legally use the name in the films due to a popular toyline called Micronauts that originated in the 1970s in Japan.
As depicted in the trailer for Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, the Realm looks as if it has a city or kingdom in it that is ruled by a monarch, whose identity is not yet known.
In the comics, the Microverse (Quantum Realm) was founded by Prince Wayfinder of Ithaka, the last of the Ithacons, who, after escaping Haamin's slaughter, used the Sword of the Star to save his people by transporting them to the prehistoric era, and when they couldn't be sustained, used the remaining energy to create the Microverse and transported them there to reside.
We can also expect to understand more about how the Realm works with regards to the flow of time and lifestyle.
MODOK makes his MCU debut
Popular Marvel Comics villain MODOK (Mental Organism Designed Only For Killing) will make his MCU debut. It is currently unknown what kind of role he will play in the film, as we have yet to see any footage of him. It is rumored that he is Darren Cross (Yellowjacket), played by Corey Stoll, who was last seen in the first film, where he shrank to a subatomic level.
In the comics, MODOK is a former A.I.M (Advanced Idea Mechanics) scientist named George Tarleton who underwent a medical experiment to increase his intelligence. While the procedure was successful, it enlarged his head and stunted his body, forcing the use of a hoverchair for mobility.
More of Janet van Dyne's history
Given that Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania will be primarily set in the Quantum Realm, we can expect Janet van Dyne's history in the Quantum Realm to be fleshed out after only being touched upon in Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018). As Hank Pym tells Hope in Ant-Man (2015), Janet got lost in the Quantum Realm in the 1980s after shrinking to subatomic levels in an attempt to stop a nuclear missile and save her husband while on a mission with him for S.H.I.E.L.D.
It will be interesting to see whether she has encountered or worked with Kang before or with Bill Murray's character.
While Murray confirmed that he's playing a villain in the film, details about his character have not yet been revealed. He is rumored to be playing an obscure Marvel Comics character named Krylar, a Microverse scientist who designed a machine that amplified a person's worst fears. This character appeared in one issue of The Incredible Hulk (#156), where he teamed up with the Hulk only to be killed.
A darker tone and potential character deaths
The first two Ant-Man movies were light comedies with some dark undertones, much like the first two MCU Spider-Man movies. However, fans can expect Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania to have a darker tone.
One notable thing about Phase Four was that it killed off people close to the lead characters for character development. Given that Kang is the main antagonist, the movie might take a similar route, albeit one that is much more extreme. While it is rumored that Scott will die, Hank Pym will also likely bite the dust.
While Ant-Man and Wasp's future appearances are unconfirmed, they will undoubtedly play a role in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty in 2025.
