Last month, Marvel announced that Ant-Man and the Wasp is heading our way in 2018, which of course means that Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly will reprise their roles as Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne, respectively. Beyond the eponymous protagonists, however, no other Ant-Man characters have been officially announced to return, but no doubt new deals are being drawn up to bring back most of the old gang, including Michael Douglas.
It certainly appears that Douglas will return. Talking to Collider recently, he revealed that he has been contacted about bringing back Hank Pym. The actor said:
I just got a call recently – they want to negotiate for a sequel and I thought ‘That’s great!’ Hopefully, I won’t have to carry quite as much expositional dialogue as the first one but I had a wonderful time doing it. Just a great, great time.
Douglas went on to praise working with the other Ant-Man stars, and mentioned that he thinks Michael Peña will probably be back as Scott’s humorous partner-in-crime, Luis. Obviously more official discussions need to take place in the next couple months between Douglas and Marvel, but his enthusiasm is a good sign. While not exactly a record breaker, Ant-Man proved to be a hit globally this summer, so if Marvel can bring back one of the reasons for its success, so much the better.
It’s hard to imagine Ant-Man and the Wasp without Hank Pym. For one thing, as the inventor of the shrinking technology Scott uses as Ant-Man, he’s the best person to make sure it’s properly working or upgrade its capabilities. Plus, he was Ant-Man for several decades, so he no doubt still has plenty of advice to pass along. His daughter Hope is also now out in the field as a superhero, so he’ll likely want to keep tabs on her and assist in any way he can.
The sequel may also provide an opportunity to tell another personal tale for Hank. In Ant-Man, we saw how he lost his wife, Janet, during a mission more than 20 years ago, when she shrunk so small that she was lost to the Quantum Realm. Following Scott’s return from the same realm after his battle with Yellowjacket, Hank wondered if his wife may still be alive, but the matter was quickly left behind. Depending on what the plot for the sequel ends up being, we may see Hank try to retrieve her from the Quantum Realm. That would allow him to be more directly involved in the action, which, for Douglas, means delivering less of that expositional dialogue he’s not keen on.
Ant-Man and the Wasp hits theaters on July 6, 2018.
