‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ is the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and should be a welcome reprieve following the death-a-thon of ‘Avengers: Infinity War’. After all, the first ‘Ant-Man’ was one of the lightest, funniest installments in the entire franchise and it looks as though the sequel will continue down that path. So far, critics are loving it, giving it a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.
That’s what the critics had to say, but what about the stars themselves? The cast of ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ and director Peyton Reed, producer Stephen Broussard and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige clue you in on how returning favorites are doing in the sequel and what to expect from the new additions.
Ant-Man/Scott Lang (Paul Rudd):
After his exploits with the Avengers in “Captain America: Civil War,” Scott Lang, the good-hearted ex-con, finds himself under house arrest. But when he faces the decision to once again don the Ant-Man suit, Scott is conflicted, as he is struggling to find a way to get his life back on track and be the best possible father to Cassie that he can be.
According to Rudd:
“One of the things that I really like about playing this character is that Scott is thrown into these extraordinary circumstances of shrinking and flying around on ants and dealing with life-threatening situations. I’ve always tried to sustain his way of dealing with everything with a sense of humor and a carefree attitude. I think it gives an audience a fun ride to see somebody like Scott Lang take in all of this craziness. So, for me, that’s fun to play.”
The Wasp/Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly):
Now a fugitive with her father, Hank, the brilliant scientist has used her time in hiding to master her new role as The Wasp, but she isn’t quite ready to team up with Scott for their most important mission ever. But reuniting her family depends on it, so she is forced to seek his help.
In Lilly’s words:
“The relationship between Hope and Scott in ‘Ant-Man’ was really straightforward, and as an actress, I always knew very clearly where things stood. Hope couldn’t stand him for the majority of the film and then eventually realized he’s okay. ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp’ is a bit complicated, and a lot more challenging to know how exactly to hit the tone of their relationship. Hope just lives to be The Wasp but definitely harbors feelings of anger, hurt and resentment when Scott made the choice to go to Berlin without her. That’s the hardest thing for her to swallow, but she’s got this mission and she’s really focused on her mother, so the stakes are so high.”
Hank Pym (Michael Douglas):
As the original tiny Super Hero, inventor of the Pym Particle and founder of Pym Technologies, Hank Pym, now a fugitive with Hope, faces his most important mission ever as he confronts the repercussions of his past while trying to protect the future of his family.
Feige says:
“Hank and Hope have grown a lot closer since the first film. The adventure they went on, the catharsis that they experienced, has them in a much better place. Hope now wears The Wasp suit and is a hero in her own right. Hank has that joy of fatherhood seeing his daughter become this amazing hero. But at the same time, he now believes that he can find his wife in the Quantum Realm and has become obsessed with that and begins to invent new tech to try to contact her in the Quantum Realm.”
Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer):
Janet van Dyne is the original Wasp to Hank’s Ant-Man. An accomplished scientist in her own right, she saved millions of lives by disarming a missile bound for the United States. But in the process, she became lost in the Quantum Realm—a subatomic world beyond our own. Now her family believes they just might be able to bring her home.
Michelle Pfeiffer stated:
“I wasn’t familiar with Janet van Dyne before this and I loved that she’s such a seminal character in the Marvel comic-book world and that she was one of the founding members of the Avengers. I love that at this phase in my life I’m playing a superhero. I think it’s incredible. And the message that it sends to women of all ages and all demographics is that we’re strong and we’re independent and we’re capable, and vital parts of society. I love sending that message out in the universe.”
Ghost/Ava (Hannah John-Kamen):
This elusive foe poses the biggest threat to Hank and Hope as they try to unravel the truth from their past, but when Scott joins in he, too, becomes a target. Her reasons are personal, and Hank’s newest piece of technology is at the heart of it all.
According to Feige:
“As Hank continues to develop the technology to find Janet, Ava realizes that those new devices might be able to help her and put her out of this pain and make her tangible once again. That, of course, puts her in direct conflict with Hank, Ant-Man and The Wasp.”
Producer Broussard adds:
“We have a villain that doesn’t want to take over the world, or get rich or do anything that has these world stakes. It’s literally about survival that makes her a villain, and the complication is that she needs what our heroes need. So suddenly you have heroes and villains after the same thing for very grounded, relatable and emotional reasons.”
Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne):
Bill Foster is a former colleague of Hank and Janet’s who reluctantly becomes embroiled in Hank’s plan to reunite his family. Old animosities bubble up between the two scientists, whose approaches to their mutual research have led them down different paths.
Fishburne says:
“What initially excited me about the role of Bill Foster is that he is a scientist in his own right, a contemporary of Hank Pym’s with the same level of smarts and curiosity. The fact that I’d be playing scenes with Michael Douglas and be a foil to him was a big factor. I’ve never worked with him before, so who in their right mind would walk away from that?”
The X-Con Security Crew are back by Scott’s side in this sequel and as he drifts closer and closer to heroism, these three might be doing the same despite themselves.
Reed said:
“In the course of the Pym tech heist in the first movie, these guys have started to learn what it feels like to be heroes. And what does that mean for them now? So a big part of the movie is what these guys are doing, and what their lives look like now as they’re living on the up and up. They’re still a part of Scott’s life.”
Maggie Lang (Judy Greer), Cassie Lang (Abby Ryder Fortson) and Jim Paxton (Bobby Cannavale):
As Rudd describes their relationship:
“We have a very highly functioning family within all of this dysfunction. Maggie and Paxton provide some great comic relief in the film. There’s really a wacky, unconventional family dynamic that is interesting to me, and it’s something that you don’t see much in superhero movies. I think that the fun that Bobby, Judy and I have on set translates onto the screen.”
Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins):
Sonny Burch is a genteel but menacing gangster who dabbles in black-market tech. He has his sights set on controlling Hank’s newest piece of technology—and the billions of dollars it will bring him.
As newcomer Goggins stated:
“When Peyton first told me about the role, I was excited about what he had to say since I was such a fan of the first movie. To me it was a real opportunity to kind of play in the sandbox with a group of people with some extraordinary imaginations.”
Jimmy Woo (Randall Park):
FBI Agent Jimmy Woo is Scott Lang’s watchful keeper and heads up the team monitoring Scott to make sure he stays within the parameters of his house arrest.
Park is a lifelong comic fan and said:
“My favorite comics were the ‘X-Men’ and ‘Wolverine.’ I think that’s kind of what nabbed me, and I got into a lot of the Marvel titles from there on out.”
‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ buzzes into theaters next week on July 6, 2018.
Source: Comic Book Movie
