Marvel Fans Fear Huge Flop as ‘Ant-Man’ Star Paul Rudd Films Third Movie Again

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Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) in Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania

Credit: Marvel Studios

Next month, the new wave of Marvel stories will begin with the return of Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) from director Peyton Reed.

News out of the Marvel camp this week has spurred some thoughts — and worries — about the forthcoming superhero sequel.

Ant-Man in 'Ant-Man and the Wasp'
Credit: Marvel Studios

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Back in 2015, Paul Rudd debuted as Scott Lang/Ant-Man in Ant-Man. Multiple appearances later, including Captain America: Civil War (2016), and Avengers: Endgame (2019), as well as his own co-led sequel with Evangeline Lilly’s Hope van Dyne AKA Wasp, has left Rudd as one of the fan-favorite characters in Kevin Feige’s sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe.

On February 17, fans will return to the big-screen MCU for the first time since November’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) with Phase Five’s inaugural movie, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The Marvel movie, part of the new Multiverse Saga, brings back Rudd and Lilly as the titular duo as well as introduces Emma Fuhrmann’s Cassie Lang replacement, Kathryn Newton, and sees Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer reprise their respective roles as Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne.

The main cast of 'Ant-Man and the Wasp'
Credit: Marvel Studios

The Big Bad, a villain so intense Peyton Reed has firmly stated that this movie is not a “palate cleanser”, is Kang the Conqueror, played by Jonathan Majors. Following his first appearance in Loki, albeit as He Who Remains, fans have been waiting for Majors to return to the screen and Quantumania looks to offer a lot of Kang and a lot of the Quantum Realm.

With just a month to go until the big reveal, anticipation is growing for the sequel but reports have come in pointing to the fact that reshoots are happening. It’s not unusual for Marvel, or any studio, to perform reshoots during post-production as the editing and final cut process continues but fans are still offering their thoughts on what feels like a similar process to what happened with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) where last minute reshoots took place and the movie released to a lukewarm reception. Multiverse of Madness did, however, go on to earn close to a billion dollars at the global box office.

Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer (left), Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange (Middle), and Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez (right)
Credit: Marvel Studios

Comic Book Movie shared the reshoot image, which looks relatively minor compared to the narrative many are expecting to see next month. Even so, fans like Akhil V. (@AkhilVenkatesh9) have weighed in on the process:

I need Ant-Man 3 to be at least around 2hr.20mins. The reason is simple. It is for Kang & the beginning of Phase 5. Not happy with #DoctorStrange2 run time & many reshoots. I heard Ant-Man 3 reshoot started yesterday/today. Slightly getting [Doctor Strange 2] vibe. Hope #AntMan3 will be good.

@loudestvirgo echoed the above sentiments, saying:

they’re doing ant-man reshoots a month before release…one thing about marvel…

Written by Jeff Loveness, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will also star Bill Murray in a currently undisclosed role. Murray hit the headlines recently after he shut down the production of Aziz Ansari’s Being Mortal. The Searchlight Pictures movie, based on the non-fiction book of the same name, came to a halt when a young female staffer officially complained about the Ghostbusters star after he allegedly straddled her and kissed her on the mouth. Murray previously said that the act was a joke gone wrong and that the studio was launching an investigation. As of now, the actor is still attached to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Bill Murray in 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania'
Credit: Marvel Studios

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Again, reshoots are common but what is intriguing is the proximity of the reshoots to the debut of the movie. As the report shows, the scene looks relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, and it will be interesting to see if anything else from the teaser and trailer footage is changed or removed in the final product.

As for Kang, so far we know he will be a lasting component of the MCU with an appearance in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (2025).

Are you looking forward to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania? Let us know in the comments down below!

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