An Ant-Man movie was always going to be a risky venture for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Scott Lang's solo film proved to be incredibly successful when it debuted in 2015. Many key ingredients led to this unexpected superhero victory, but the most seemingly important aspect of Ant-Man that allowed it to work with audiences was its smart use of humor. That's something that Ant-Man and The Wasp will continue when the film debuts in 2018, and the highly-anticipated sequel will achieve that, in part, by bringing back David Dastmalchian's Kurt. The actor recently attended the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 premiere and confirmed the character's appearance, saying:
Peyton Reed is here and I just got a chance to speak with him the other day and it sounds like Kurt is going to be returning to Ant-Man's world and will be appearing in Ant-Man and the Wasp. And we are very very very excited.
David Dastmalchian's recent comments to ET pretty much confirm what most of us were hoping to learn about Ant-Man and The Wasp: Kurt is going to return to bring his VERY Russian sensibilities (and technical know-how) to Scott Lang's team. We already know that Michael Pena will come back as Luis as well, which means T.I.'s Dave is the one element of the Three Wombats left to be confirmed for the sequel. Given the fact that the Wombats are small-time criminals who work in close collaboration with Scott Lang on larcenous activities, the assured returns of Kurt and Luis make it seem increasingly likely that Ant-Man and The Wasp will similarly go all in on the heist format that made the first film so endearing.
That sense of reunion will extend beyond the Wombats, as well. Aside from Kurt and Luis, Ant-Man and The Wasp is also expected to bring back Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne and Michael Douglas as Hank Pym in front of the camera, as well as director Peyton Reed behind the camera. Additionally, the project also recently announced that comedy icon Adam McKay would return to help work on the film's screenplay. As the old saying goes: if it isn't broken, don't fix it.
Over the course of the last decade, David Dastmalchian has become one of the most reliable character actors in the entire superhero genre. With credits in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, The Flash, and Gotham -- in addition to his role as Kurt in Ant-Man -- he has become one of those actors who continuously delivers scene-stealing performances, even when he doesn't receive top billing. With a strong foundation established in the first film, all eyes are on Dastmalchian to continue his run as a fan-favorite Marvel side character.
With Kurt now set to return in Ant-Man and The Wasp, it seems that all of the vital elements for another round of success are slowly but surely coming together. We will have to wait and see for ourselves when the long-awaited Ant-Man sequel makes its theatrical debut next summer on July 6, 2018.
