It’s been a while since we’ve heard about ‘Ant-Man & The Wasp’, the upcoming sequel to Peyton Reed’s 2015 heist movie featuring Paul Rudd in the title role as the size-shifting superhero. And aside from Rudd’s Scott Lang and Evangeline Lilly’s Hope Van Dyne returning, we hadn’t heard much about the Phase Three film. But now as Disney prepares for the D23 Expo, some new information about the ‘Ant-Man’ follow-up has come to light.
First, in addition to Hawkeye making an appearance alongside his new buddy Scott Lang, director Reed and company may be bringing a classic character from the pages of Marvel Comics circa the 1950s to the big screen with the help of one of ABC’s biggest stars. According to Tracking Board, ‘Fresh Off The Boat’ star Randall Park is in line to play S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jimmy Woo in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’.
Created by writer Al Feldstein and artist Joe Maneely for Atlas Comics (a precursor to Marvel), Woo was first introduced as an FBI agent in the 1956 espionage comic ‘Yellow Claw’ (which was named for a “yellow peril” Communist Mandarin). Later, he became associated with other covert groups such as S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Atlas Foundation while dealing with threats like Godzilla (yes, the one you’re thinking about) and self-aware Life Model Decoys. Most recently, Woo has been focusing on the next generation of super-powered youth in Asia as the head of the Pan-Asian School For The Unusually Gifted in Mumbai.
This casting is interesting for a number of reasons. For starters, Park is a really fun actor that has had many hilarious roles throughout his career. However, he hasn’t had too many serious roles as of late. That’s not to say that he isn’t a good choice to play this secret agent type. In fact, I’ll bet that he’ll end up surprising many fans who are only familiar with his time on the Asian-American sitcom based on the life of badass chef Eddie Huang. And then there’s the fact that the report lists Woo specifically as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Considering that the peace-keeping organization has largely been absent from the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’, it will be interesting to see if and how this reintroduction will address Agent Phil Coulson’s escapades on ABC’s ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’. Finally, one has to wonder how Woo will cross paths with Lang and Van Dyne. Scott is kinda on the run after siding with Steve Rogers in ‘Captain America: Civil War’, so maybe that will play into Woo’s involvement in the film. Or maybe the insect-inspired duo are after the same foes as Woo and they meet up in more of a team-up capacity. Regardless of what the case may be, there is a chance that we might get some answers in Anaheim over the weekend.
As expected, Marvel will certainly have a presence at Disney’s D23 Expo. They announced that they would be bringing sets and props from ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ and ‘Black Panther’ with them, but when it comes to the studio’s presentation, who knows what kind of footage or teasers they could unveil? While it’s very possible that we might get a sneak peek at ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ will pop up a tiny bit around the convention halls. At least, the Wasp will as Marvel Studios’ visual development supervisor and concept artist Andy Park recently shared a D23 banner on Twitter featuring Hope Van Dyne’s new gear. Last seen during the post-credits scene of ‘Ant-Man’, Hope’s father Hank Pym gave his blessing for his daughter to hero up and broke out an unfinished update to her mother’s old gear for them to fix up. And fix up they did! Sporting a gold and black color scheme and a helmet that bears a close resemblance to the one worn by Lang in ‘Civil War’. You can check out Park’s banner in the tweet below:
#D23 1st glimpse at Wasp #AntManandtheWasp I LOVED concept designing & painting her! I’m there Fri at MarvelStudios booth. Who’s going? pic.twitter.com/7SooZzF6gA
— Andy Park-D23 Friday (@andyparkart) July 11, 2017
What do you think about Randall Park joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Agent Jimmy Woo in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’? How do you feel about Hope Van Dyne’s new look as the Wasp? And do you think Peyton Reed’s next superhero project will make an appearance at D23 over the weekend? Share your thoughts and theories in the comment section.
‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ starring Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly hits theaters on July 6, 2018.