This last summer, the surprise critical hit from Marvel Studios was “Ant-Man”, a film that many had pegged as a possible flop after the tumultuous process that surrounded the film. As it turned out, the choice to use Scott Lang instead of Hank Pym as the titular character proved to be a smart choice, and audiences worldwide gave the film a box office total of over $400 million (that number will go up as the film has yet to open in China yet).
With faith high in the characters introduced, Marvel has chosen to speed up a potential sequel, and shake up their release schedule for Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Today, Marvel officially announced “Ant-Man and the Wasp” for a July 6, 2018 release date.
The date is an interesting choice, falling a mere three months after “The Avengers: Infinity War Part 1”. It will also mark the first time that a female Marvel hero will be in the title of a release. Previously, that honored looked to fall to “Captain Marvel”, but that film will not debut March of 2019.
With the film only a few years away, many have already started guessing what plot the film may follow.
With that in mind we have a mild SPOILER ALERT after the break.
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There are a lot of places Marvel can go with the sequel for the characters, but one that many fans are likely to look for is the fate of one Janet Van Dyne. In comics history Janet is the original Wasp, a founding member of the Avengers, and the wife of Hank Pym. Ant-man touched upon her existence as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and her disappearance became a strong emotional arc for both Hank (Michael Douglas) and Hope (Evangeline Lilly). With Scott (Paul Rudd) escaping the Quantum Dimension (an MCU friendly Negative Zone), it is possible that Janet may still be alive. Considering the film has the name “The Wasp” front and center in the title, there is a real chance that film will explore her fate and the Quantum Dimension in the process.
END OF SPOILERS
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The other exciting news stemming from the announcement were the next three dates for films in the MCU.
As of now, Marvel stuck a claim on May 1, July 20, and November 6 of 2020. That means that starting in 2017 we can expect three Marvel movies a year for the next four years.
Coupled with Netflix series “Jessica Jones”, “Daredevil”, “Luke Cage”, and “Iron Fist”, as well as the ABC weekly shows “Agents of SHIELD”, “Agent Carter”, “Damage Control” and a potential Mockingbird spinoff, Marvel has become a full-fledged behemoth for entertainment.