Ant-Man's next big Marvel venture Ant-Man and the Wasp isn't going to hit theaters until the summer of 2018. Still, we've seen a little bit from the movie, including the brand new Wasp costume that Evangeline Lilly stuffed herself into during filming. We knew the movie would be a team-up film between the two superheroes, but now we've seemingly learned another detail. It looks like Ant-Man and the Wasp is being billed as Marvel's first rom-com. Elena Brodskaya, a VP for Studio Marketing at Disney, had this to say at a Russian International Film Marketing Event.
[It's] the first romkomom from Marvel.
Romkomom, as in rom-com. According to a translation over at the Russian site Kinometro, Marvel seems to be billing Ant-Man and the Wasp as a romantic comedy, and not only that but the first romantic comedy. The first Ant-Man movie sets up the idea that Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne could be a good match, as their fun banter peppers the first movie with humor and sets up a potential romance in Ant-Man and the Wasp. The fact there will be a romantic component in the upcoming sequel is not a huge shock, but if Marvel is setting the movie up more like a rom-com and less like a super action-filled adventure movie that could be a different sort of setup than what we've seen prior.
I will say there have been plenty of notable romances in Marvel movies in the past. Looking at the X-Men franchise, there's Jean Grey and Wolverine. Thor and Jane Foster had a romance. Vision and Wanda are into each other. Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter had a very memorable romantic storyline. Pepper Potts and Tony Stark have also romanced one another across multiple movies. Plus, I'd also entertain the idea that Deadpool is totally a romantic comedy, albeit a really raunchy one, as Wade Wilson's entire goal in the movie is to reconnect with Vanessa. That's not even getting into every major and minor romance, either.
Still, if a rom-com is next on the agenda, it would really go a long way to sort of explain how superhero movies are evolving. They aren't exactly their own genre. In fact, Logan recently strove to be a Western, and the upcoming X-Men: New Mutants is expected to be a straight-up horror feature. Although there can be pitfalls to romantic comedies if they are structured in cliche ways, why not also include rom-coms in the Marvel Universe?
Ant-Man and the Wasp recently wrapped production, and will spend some time in post-production before heading to theaters on July 6, 2018. If you'd like to take a look at what we know about the upcoming movie, head here. In the meantime, you can also catch Marvel's upcoming endeavor Black Panther, which will hit theaters on February 16, 2018.
