When Marvel Studios announced their plans for the next few years at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 and D23 Expo 2019 this past summer, they confirmed futures for a lot of our favorite heroes, including Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Thor and more. One question that fans were left asking, however, was, “Where is Ant-Man?” Neither of those events confirmed what the future would hold for the beloved Paul Rudd character, but now the good news is that a new film centering on the tiny superhero has been given the green light.
The Hollywood Reporter revealed not only that the untitled project (for now being referred to as ANT-MAN 3) is in active development, but also that Peyton Reed, the filmmaker behind ANT-MAN and ANT-MAN AND THE WASP, has closed a deal to direct. And while a release date has not been set yet, production is aiming to start up in the latter months of next year or in early 2021, which means that the project will likely be on the slate for 2022.
As of right now, the full picture of what the 2020 Marvel Cinematic Universe schedule will be is not entirely clear. We know that BLACK PANTHER 2 (also not the finished title) is currently set to come out on May 6, 2022, but that’s just one of three dates that have been carved out by the franchise. Marvel Studios also announced that they will be putting out new movies on February 18, 2022, and July 29, 2022, but they haven’t said exactly what projects will be getting those dates.
That leaves the February 2022 release date to potentially be occupied by GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, CAPTAIN MARVEL 2, BLADE or THE FANTASTIC FOUR… or perhaps it will wind up being an entirely new project that we know nothing about at this point.
When we last left Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) at the end of AVENGERS: ENDGAME, they were working to put their lives back together following the existence-altering events of "the blip." Things will be very different for them going forward, as in the case of Scott, his daughter, Cassie (Emma Fuhrmann), has basically become a teenager overnight in his perception. And for Hope, she now has the chance to actually spend time with both of her parents following the return of her long-lost mother, Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer).
Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas (as inventor Hank Pym) are all expected to reprise their roles, and we’ll keep you updated with more details about ANT-MAN 3 as they become available.
