Ant-Man And The Wasp

If you’re anything like me, you had plenty of questions running through your mind when you walked out of ‘Avengers: Infinity War‘, chief among them “Wow, did they really just do that?!” But that initial burst of incredulity sooner or later gives way to questions about the future. Namely, just how exactly ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ is going to factor into all of that.

Well, we’ve recently had our first hints of how the upcoming film will fit into the bigger picture. Both executive producer Stephen Broussard and director Peyton Reed have suggested that ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ will take a similar approach to ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’, setting its action closer to its predecessor (or in this case, the last time we saw Ant-Man, which would be ‘Captain America: Civil War’) than to the present day of the Marvel universe. That would seem to suggest an outing that, for better or worse, is a smaller scale story, largely unrelated to (and likely taking place sometime before) Thanos upending the status quo.

But of course, this is the Marvel Cinematic Universe we’re talking about. “Everything is connected,” remember? Speaking in a promotional featurette introducing the Wasp (which can be found below), Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige notes that the film “connects directly to ‘Avengers 4’, and that “these characters are going to be very important going forward.” So what does that mean? Well, start speculating! Both are expected to appear in the film, but even if ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ takes place a year before ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, there could well be elements in the film that play into the ultimate resolution of ‘Avengers 4′. A piece of technology, a plot thread, maybe even something to do with the quantum realm. Your guess is as good as mine.

And as to the characters’ importance going forward? Well, in the comics both are founding members of the Avengers. It stands to reason they’ll both end up joining the silver screen Avengers at some point. The events of ‘Civil War’ have already teased that possibility with regard to Ant-Man, thought the producers of ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ have noted that the experience left him feeling as though he was in over his head. But who knows how long that will last. By the time the curtain falls on ‘Avengers 4’, Ant-Man and the Wasp may both be ready for the big leagues.

 

Be sure to check back with ScienceFiction.com for more on ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ as it becomes available!

Helmed by returning director Peyton Reed, ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ stars Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Pena, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Laurence Fishburne. The film is set to arrive in theaters on July 6, 2018.