The Marvel Cinematic Universe came to a head in April 2019 with the release of Avengers: Endgame. Over a decade and 22 films after Iron Man first flew across the big screen in 2008, our heroes came together for an epic battle against the Mad Titan Thanos and his armies in the biggest crossover in cinematic history.
It was a Herculean feat by Marvel Studios and Disney, but the MCU must go on — and with many of our favorite heroes surviving the showdown with Thanos, it didn’t take long for Marvel to confirm (at an epic San Diego Comic-Con 2019 presentation) that the likes of Doctor Strange and Thor would be receiving solo sequels in Phase 4. Among the more glaring omissions to the lineup, though, was a third solo vehicle for Scott Lang — the diminutive (and, when the mood strikes him, enormous) hero known as Ant-Man.
Rumors abounded throughout 2019 that Lang (Paul Rudd) and his partner Hope Van Dyne, AKA the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), would return for another caper — but nothing solidified until November, when The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Peyton Reed, director of the tiny Avenger’s first two solo flicks, would indeed return for a third. Ant-fans rejoiced, but they also had a few questions. Will there be more Quantum Realm craziness? Will Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his wife Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) return? Will Scott’s buddy Luis (Michael Peña) explain some circumstance or another in exhaustive and hilarious fashion? Details are so far slight, but here’s everything we know about Ant-Man 3.
As you may have guessed, there has so far been no release date announced for Ant-Man 3, but we can take a guess as to the general time frame thanks to comments made by Douglas to Collider shortly after the flick was confirmed. Speaking about his upcoming projects, Douglas said that “January 2021 is our date for starting another Marvel” — and while he didn’t specifically mention Ant-Man 3, we think we can safely assume that he was referring to the three-quel.
Another theory is that the film will be integral to finally introducing the Fantastic Four into the MCU. This notion, popular among fans, is interesting given the fact that Feige’s closing comments at San Diego Comic-Con after announcing the Phase 4 lineup were, “I didn’t even have time to talk about the Fantastic Four.”
The theory posits that the Marvel’s First Family have spent decades trapped in the Quantum Realm, which of course was introduced to the MCU in the Ant-Man films. It suggests that Lang and Van Dyne will come across the Fantastic Four — who were sucked into the realm in the course of experiments carried out by Reed Richards, AKA Mr. Fantastic, in the ’60s — while exploring said Realm, and restore them to their proper size.
Here is a video from FilmArtsy explaining the new leaked plot of Ant Man 3, watch now! Enjoy! 🙂