Ant-Man And The Wasp should be a very different kind of movie for Marvel Studios – and the reason why is right there in the name. The film will be the first from the company to feature two titular heroes – and they happen to not only be partners in saving the world, but also romantically linked. It makes the duo special within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it’s an element that director Peyton Reed is excited to explore in the upcoming sequel.
I recently had the pleasure of hopping on the phone for an interview with the Ant-Man filmmaker, and it was while discussing all of the various ins and outs of Ant-Man And The Wasp that Reed discussed the way in which the new film will utilize the special relationship between Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang and Evangeline Lilly’s Hope van Dyne. I asked the director if there were certain parts from Ant-Man comics that couldn’t fit in the first movie and that he was excited to include in the sequel, and he used this as a jumping off point to discuss the bond that makes the two shrinking heroes special:
I’m excited because I feel like in the second one, we’re going to be able to start with this notion that comes from the comics, which is the idea of Ant-Man and Wasp being a partnership, both professionally and also personally. That’s great, and something that you don’t have as much of in the Marvel universe. You can talk about Captain America and Falcon are partners, but this is a romantic partnership.
The first Ant-Man is an origin story in many respects, and certainly one of them is the blossoming relationship between Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne. The two of them initially start off as "frenemies" –being on the same team, but Hope resenting Scott for the permission he’s granted to use the Ant-Man suit – but working together ultimately softens their bond. By the end of the movie, Hank Pym catches the two of them making out, and we know that they have taken things to a new level. Of course, then there’s the mid-credits scene that revealed the two would soon be working together as superheroes as well.
Peyton Reed explained to me that the guiding principal with Ant-Man And The Wasp is "let’s give the audience something different and satisfying in a different way," and the two-level relationship that exists between the eponymous superheroes should definitely provide that. Reed will begin working with the film’s screenwriters in earnest next month – banging out all of the story beats and themes – but it definitely sounds like they’re going into the work with the right perspective.
Ant-Man And The Wasp will be in theaters July 6, 2018.
