This year's San Diego Comic-Con had a few surprises in store for fans. With a Wonder Woman sequel officially green-lit by DC and Marvel announcing that the Skrulls would have a major role in Captain Marvel, the news just kept on coming for fans of the comic book movie genre.
Marvel had already disclosed a few years back that the Ant-Man sequel would be titled Ant Man And The Wasp. As it's still very much in pre-production, there has understandably not been much news. Thanks to Sdcc2017, we now have confirmation that Michelle Pfeiffer, incredibly will be playing Janet van Dyne, the lost wife of Hank Pym and mother of Hope van Dyne. Pfeiffer wasn’t the only casting announcement, however, as it was also confirmed that Laurence Fishburne will be playing Dr. Bill Foster/Goliath.
Not only that, the film's main villains have also been confirmed: Walton Goggins (Sons of Anarchy) will be playing villain Sonny Burch and Hannah John-Kamen (Game of Thrones) will be portraying the Ghost. But who are these villains and how might they be used in the movie?
Who Is Sonny Burch?
Played by Walton Goggins, this Marvel villain first appeared in 2003’s Iron Man 3 Vol. 3. A newer villain in the Marvel comics, Burch is a man who’s considered a supplier to the U.S. government. As the former chairman of Cross Industries, he’s a weapons contractor who deals mostly in technology and logistics. He also has a strong relationship with one of Stark’s colleagues-turned-villains, Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger, who was played by Jeff Bridges in the first Mcu film.
While the film itself may not make mention of Stark's former business partner, the film will most certainly make mention of Cross Industries, however. Even though Darren Cross’s facility was obliterated in the first Ant-Man film, this doesn’t mean that Burch will somehow try and reinvigorate the company. Still, expect his ties to the business to factor in heavily in this film. A revenge plot against Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne for blowing up his former company wouldn't be too farfetched.
Who Is The Ghost?
The Ghost, played by Hannah John Kamen is a Marvel comic-book villain who first appeared in 1987’s Iron Man #219. Yet another Iron Man villain, Ghost was at one point a promising data engineer who created advanced computer chips that could hold more data and rarely overheat. In an incredibly unimaginative turn, Ghost named this new technology GhostTech.
The Ghosts’s executives unfortunately used the technology to make themselves even wealthier by creating such items such as tickets to sporting events. The Ghost didn’t take this too kindly and infused their body with the technology to create a cyberpathic connection by which to gain more access to the main computer system.
With having the power to go through firewalls, finding ways into an internet security, and hacking into just about any network makes Ghost a challenging foe. Her special suit also enables stealth mode by utilizing a cloaking device. It's this intangibility that makes this Marvel villain extremely dangerous. Ant-Man and the Wasp are going to have their hands full against this foe.
How Might These Villains Be Utilized In The Film?
With little story to go off of, there’s not much we can decipher right now. However, if the powers, abilities, and bios are anything to go off of, we can at least expect what appears to be another heist film. The first Ant Man film's story revolved around Hank Pym needing someone to steal his Pym Particle technology back from the bad guys. Thankfully Paul Rudd's Scott Lang and Evangeline Lilly's Hope van Dyne were successful.
This second time around, with a man who’s a weapons supplier for the U.S. government and a woman who’s extremely smart with technology, it will be up to Ant-Man and the Wasp to outwit and outmaneuver them.
