After playing a small (no pun intended) but crucial role in ‘Ant-Man’, the Wasp is set to play a major role in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ (as you may have guessed from the title). Not only will Hope van Dyne be taking up the mantle in the sequel, the original Wasp, Janet van Dyne, will also be appearing in the film. But while Janet is being properly introduced in the sequel (in which she’ll be played by Michelle Pfeiffer), this isn’t exactly her first appearance.

Janet’s incarnation of the Wasp appeared only fleetingly in ‘Ant-Man’, having been lost in the sub-microscopic Quantum Realm years prior. As such, her role relegated to brief flashbacks. Or was it? In a sequence toward the end of the film, Ant-Man begins shrinking uncontrollably after sabotaging Yellowjacket’s suit, ultimately finding himself in the Quantum Realm. Throughout this sequence, viewers are treated to a kaleidoscope of trippy imagery, including a figure that resembles the Wasp’s silhouette. It’s hard to tell though, given the surreal nature of the scene’s visual effects. And it would hardly be the first time enthusiastic fans saw something that wasn’t there, right?

Wrong! Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige confirmed in a conversation with ScreenRant that the mysterious figure is, in fact, Janet, further confirming that she was placed there to set up ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’:

“In the first film it was, we got a glimpse of it for people who like to go through frame by frame, there was a little silhouette of Janet as the Wasp in there, which is a big story element in this movie.”

The “big story element” that Feige refers to is the rescue of Janet from the Quantum Realm. Even without this newly confirmed cameo, that plot point is hinted at throughout the ending of ‘Ant-Man’, particularly Scott’s closing conversations with Hank Pym.

While the Quantum Realm is most famously accessible by shrinking, as seen in ‘Ant-Man’, there are other ways to get there. Most notably, ‘Doctor Strange‘ director Scott Derrickson has confirmed that the Quantum Realm is among the myriad dimensions glimpsed when Strange first meets the Ancient One. This is also of interest in that the Quantum Realm sequence in ‘Ant-Man’ was described at the time as a test run, of sorts, for the effects that would be seen in ‘Doctor Strange’.

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.