Surprise, Marvel fans.
Thought you’ve seen the last of Scott Lang aka Ant-Man? As New York Comic-Con kicks off today, Marvel has announced that its “Ant-Man” movie will be getting a sequel.
Following his debut as a superhero in this year’s “Ant-Man“, Scott will shrink into the size of an ant while possessing the strength of a human again in the sequel to his solo film.
However, he won’t be the only superhero to appear in the 2nd “Ant-Man” film. For the first-time ever, Dr. Hank Pym’s daughter Hope Van Dyne will pop up in the sequel as The Wasp. As such, the sequel is naturally titled “Ant-Man and the Wasp”.
The addition of the sequel to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Phase Three forced the studio to shift the release dates of other films.
“Captain Marvel” was supposed to the first film Marvel Studios named after its heroine. With the addition of the “Ant-Man” sequel, it now becomes the 2nd film to be named a heroine as its release date has been pushed back from 2nd November 2018 to 8th March 2019. It’s a smart move from Marvel as Warner Bros. was rumoured to be releasing Ben Affleck’s solo Batman movie on the “Captain Marvel” old date.
“Black Panther” will now hit the theatres 5 months earlier as its release date has also been shifted from 8th July 2018 to 16th Feb 2018. It’s also the earliest in a year a Marvel movie has ever debuted.
Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lily are expected to return to the sequel to reprise their respective roles as Scott and Hope. Lily’s character would follow in her mother’s footsteps and don The Wasp’s suit.
The announcement did not really come as a surprise because “Ant-Man” has earned USD 410 million worldwide. However, it is unclear whether director Peyton Reed would return to helm the project.
So far, he only tweeted about the announcement:
Good morning. https://t.co/VE9cXNFyPL
— Peyton Reed (@MrPeytonReed) October 8, 2015
Marvel also announced that 3 new untitled movies will be released in 2020.
The full amended movie slate is as follows:
- Captain America: Civil War – 6th May 2016
- Doctor Strange – 4th November 2016
- Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – 5th May 2017
- Thor: Ragnarok – 3rd November 2017
- Spider-Man Reboot – 28th July 2017
- Black Panther – 16th February 2018 (Previous release date: 6th July 2018)
- Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1 – 4th May 2018
- Ant-Man and the Wasp – 6th July 2018
- Captain Marvel – 8th March 2019 (Previous release date: 2nd November 2018)
- Avengers: Infinity War – Part 2 – 3rd May 2019
- Inhumans – 12th July 2019
- Untitled Marvel Movie – 1st May 2020
- Untitled Marvel Movie – 10th July 2020
- Untitled Marvel Movie – 6th November 2020
Before the release of “Ant-Man” sequel, Rudd will be seen as the miniature-sized superhero again in “Captain America: Civil War” on 6th May 2016.
