It’s always a challenge for a sequel to outdo the original. There must be bigger laughs, lengthier action sequences or in this case, a gigantic Ant-man. Paul Rudd is back as the pin-sized hero and this time, he has company. At the end of Ant-man, we saw Evangeline Lilly’s Hope Van Dyne looking at what seemed like The Wasp’s costume, and in this sequel, she is a full-blown superhero herself.
In this outing, Marvel’s 20th film, the dynamic duo will attempt to dive into the Quantum Realm in hopes to save Hope’s mom, the original Wasp, who may be still alive, and trapped there for three decades.
Here are 7 things to know before you head out to catch it:
1. Its timeline in the MCU
Originally, we had thought that Ant-man will appear in Avengers: Infinity War because some eagle-eyed folks spotted him hanging on the Infinity Gauntlet.
However, as we now know, he didn’t. So where is he? OK, so as far as know, this sequel takes place two years after the events of Captain America: Civil War. When Scott Lang appeared as a gigantic ant-man at the airport in the Capt vs Ironman battle and got caught. So expect to hear quite a bit of Berlin references in this movie. Also, this sequel should be taking place right before Infinity War.
2. Who’s the original Wasp?
We learned about Hank Pym’s wife, Janet Van Dyne, getting lost in the Quantum Realm on a mission in the first Ant-man movie, but that was it. In this movie, the original Wasp will surface, in the form of Michelle Pfeiffer, who’s making a career comeback.
Pfeiffer was Lilly’s choice to play Hope’ mother, “having Michelle Pfeiffer as my mom was kinda one of my geek fantasies.” Although Michael Douglas, who plays Hope’s father Hank, lobbied for his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones for the role. Sharon Stone was also considered.
3.Girl Power
The Wasp was supposed to be introduced in Captain America: Civil War, but the producers decided to halt that. They didn’t want her to be as a side note and wanted to flesh out her story. And so, in the 10 years of Marvel movies, and being its 20th film, Ant-Man and the Wasp is only the second MCU movie with a female protagonist. The first was Thor: Ragnarok last year, with Tessa Thompson as the fearless Valkyrie.
4. Get ready for a different Hope
In Ant-Man, Hope Van Dyne was all sorts of cynical and resentful. She is cynical about her father putting more faith in an ex-con rather than her, questioning him every step of the way. She’s resentful because she feels she is far more superior to Lang in her capabilities. In this sequel, Hope makes a 180-degree turn. Knowing that Lang survived his trip into the Quantum realm brought her hope that her mom may still be alive. Channelling her namesake, she is determined to save her mom at all costs. And she is in charge.
5. Who are the newbies, Ghost and Bill Foster?
Not much is revealed of Ghost, except that we know the actress playing this ghostly figure is Hannah John-Kamen, last seen playing a henchman to Ben Mendelsohn's baddie role in Ready Player One. She has the ability to phase through objects and in the comics, Ghost is actually a male character. The decision to make her a female stems from the fact that gender isn’t a factor in the character.
Bill Foster, played by Laurence Fishburne, is an old friend of Hank Pym and was once Pym’s assistant on the Project Goliath. There’s an underlying tension between Foster and Pym. In the comics, Foster is also known as the Giant Man, although he’s never gotten as big as Ant-Man did.
6. Fast-talking sequence?
Who else loves that fast-talking sequence voiced over by Luis (played by Michael Pena) in the first movie? It’ll make a return in the sequel, and it’s a whole lot funnier, so watch out for it.
7. Post-credit scenes
As with all Marvel films, there are bound to be post-credit scenes, and in this one, there’s two, one mid-credit scene and one after all the credits have done rolling. So, stay until the very end!
Catch some highlights of Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly when they were in Taipei for Ant-Man and the Wasp's press conference, the first stop of the film's promotional tour:
