Marvel Studio’s Ant-Man debuted earlier this year to positive reviews and respectable box office numbers. This week, the mega-successful film studio has announced that the film will be getting a sequel, titled Ant-Man and The Wasp. According to IGN, Ant-Man and The Wasp is going to be released in theaters on July 6, 2018.
Ant-Man was the conclusion to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase two, with Captain America: Civil War being the beginning of Phase three. Ant-Man starred Paul Rudd, aka Scott Lang, as the title character, taking over the superhero mantle from Hank Pym, played by Michael Douglas. Lang, a thief fresh out of prison, is trained and mentored by Dr. Pym to pull off an important heist – one that will ultimately save the world and lead Lang back to being apart of his estranged daughter’s life. Evangeline Lily also starred in the film as Hope van Dyne, playing a version of the famous comic book heroine The Wasp, the daughter of Hank Pym and the original Wasp, Janet van Dyne.
In a post-credit scene in the movie, Hope is given a custom-made Wasp costume, setting the stage for the character to suit up as a hero in future films. The character made her first appearance in Tales to Astonish #44 in 1963, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Janet has the ability to shrink just like Ant-Man, but she is also able to fly by means of her insect wings, and she can also emit bioelectric energy blasts. She later became one of the founding member of the Avengers, along with Hank Pym, as well as having served as a leader of the superhero team.
All that excitement aside, the announcement of the sequel does mean that a couple of Phase three films are going to be changing their release dates. For instance, Marvel’s Black Panther project has moved up five months to February 16, 2018, when it was originally slated to be released in July of 2018. Captain Marvel has changed its release date from October of 2018 to March 8, 2019. In addition to this, Marvel Studios used this announcement to confirm that they will be releasing three more films that have yet to be titled, in May, July and November of 2020.