Last year, Screen Rant visited the set of Ant-Man and the Wasp at Marvel's Pinewood Studios outside of Atlanta. There, we talked to the cast and key creatives of the movie and got a chance to see some of the set pieces that will come into play. We also learned quite a bit about the Quantum Realm, the villainous Ghost, and the continual evolution of Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne as superheroes.
Taking place in a little over a day - before Avengers: Infinity War but after Scott's imprisonment in Captain America: Civil War - Ant-Man and the Wasp will throw up all sorts of obstacles for our heroes. In between that, they'll navigate their personal lives as they try to balance being costumed adventures with keeping their families together.
Related: Read Our Full-Lenth Ant-Man and The Wasp Set Visit Report
Thanks to our set visit, we know a great deal more about the film than has been revealed in marketing, so strap in and check out the 25 biggest things we learned.
Ant-Man & The Wasp Is About "One Bad Night"
While the first Ant-Man was all about Scott stealing Hank Pym's suit before finally earning his place as a superhero, he's now fully in the life thanks to his years of adventures. Modeled after a heist film, the original movie focused on a series of jobs that Scott and his various teams were attempting to pull off. Ant-Man and the Wasp will be much larger in scope now that more heroes, villains, and tech are involved, but it will still look to certain crime movies staples. Specifically, Ant-Man 2 is about one bad night.
Stephen Broussard (executive producer): The first film was a heist film, right. It was kind of this crime movie and we like - the Ant-Man franchise kind of lives in this crime adjacent world, you know, and so a lot of the films that we started talking about just as like inspiration and kind of how we wanna approach it and how we wanna do something new the same way, the heist movie felt new to the MCU. I don’t really know if it’s like a genre unto itself but movies have always been called ‘one bad night’ when something just goes terrible and just kind of spirals out of control.
Team Ant-Man Has A New Vehicle To Navigate The Quantum Realm
In the first Ant-Man, we saw both Janet van Dyne and Scott Lang turn off their size regulator to shrink down to the subatomic level. For Janet, this meant becoming trapped in the Quantum Realm. Scott, however, was able to escape such a fate and bring back the hope of recovering Janet. As the team unites to rescue the original Wasp, they'll be utilizing a new Quantum Vehicle to safely explore the treacherous dimension.
Peyton Reed (director): So we know that the most important part about that is the thrusting and the visibility. So not unlike the Sikorski helicopter, or the lightweight kinda ones that are really about the bubble. So we kinda looked into the vehicles that go submerged under water, because it's all about visibility. And in this particular case, it needs a thruster. That is visible and the landing mechanism. But we built this from just our research. And so that's kind of where we got ours from. That's how we evolved ours.
The Wasp's Suit Had To Change From The Post-Credits Scene in Ant-Man
Ant-Man and the Wasp won't be the first time we've seen Hope van Dyne's Wasp costume on screen. The post-credits scene from Ant-Man unveiled the work in progress and teased the rise of the hero in this year's sequel. But while the costume was something to behold, it was a pure CGI creation and the Wasp suit had to change when it came time for Evangeline Lilly to actually wear it.
Ivo Coveney (specialty costumes supervisor): That one was just beautifully CGI’d, and as is often the case we don’t have to worry about the human body. So, it is - as soon as you have to put it on the human body, you have to make it work. This is very faithful.
Laurence Fishburne May Suit Up As Goliath in Ant-Man and the Wasp
In the comics, Dr. Bill Foster is the size-changing hero Goliath. But with Laurence Fishburne in the role, we may see the scientist retired from the superhero life like Hank Pym. We did learn, however, that the two scientists used to work together on what would eventually become the Pym Particle. That and the tease from the Ant-Man and the Wasp trailer about Foster growing in size means the hero likely had a super-suit of his own. So will we see Fishburne suit up as Goliath?
Broussard: Maybe. The idea would be that perhaps they had worked together in the past on a lot of projects including some of the shrinking and growing tech. How that plays into this story, I think we’d rather leave unsaid for the moment.
Scott Took A Plea Deal After Civil War
Avengers: Infinity War saw a number of heroes sit out of Thanos' invasion of Earth. Where the Wasp was is unclear, but we know from the film that Scott took a deal and spent the movie presumably under house arrest. According to the minds behind the film, Ant-Man 2 will pick up with Scott having taken a plea deal following the events of Captain America: Civil War and Ant-Man's subsequent breakout courtesy of Steve Rogers.
Broussard: Our film would sort of pick up after that and the sort of in-between story that we’re telling, the back story that would assume when this movie starts would be that Scott, being a family man, well-established in the first film and sort of feeling like he got in over his head in his adventure during Civil War basically said, ‘Not for me. No, thanks. I don’t wanna go on this adventure.’ Went and sort of plead down a plea bargain out of this misunderstanding he got himself in and so part of the of that was basically put under house arrest. So, that’s when the film opens he’s under house arrest. He has an ankle bracelet. He can’t leave his apartment.
Rescuing Janet From the Quantum Realm May Have Larger Ramifications
When it comes to Hank and Hope in Ant-Man and the Wasp, the attempt to rescue Janet is a no-brainer. With Scott proving you can survive being in the Quantum Realm, the crew will be motivated and inspired to free their loved one. But while Janet breaking free will be great for our heroes personally, it was hinted during our set visit that rescuing Janet could have larger consequences.
Reed: The big mission is to find Janet. What that means, ultimately, for our characters on a personal level is one thing and what it means for the larger world is another thing. And all the other things are really stumbling blocks on the path. There is a big bad that has a very unique relationship to our characters.
Scott Lang Is More Concerned With Being a Father Than a Superhero
Ant-Man proved that Scott Lang is the typical hero. Even before donning the suit, he helped to take down corporate corruption while at the same time breaking the law. Once out, his origin story entailed once again doing something illegal. And while taking down Yellowjacket was a worthy cause, destroying a building in the process was hardly by the book. But Scott also showed he was willing to do whatever it takes to protect his daughter Cassie, which is part of the reason he took the plea deal after Captain America: Civil War. So while Ant-Man will be back in action before long, Scott Lang is more focused on being a father than anything else, according to Paul Rudd.
Paul Rudd: Well, I like the idea of playing a superhero that is not innately heroic or super in any way, just you know, a regular person. And I like the idea also of not embracing the role because of all of the difficulties that we come along with having to be so badass, and how it would affect your life and how would it affect your relationships and certainly your being a responsible parent, and so to kind of wrestle with those questions. We did a little bit in the first one, but you know, it’s certainly now more pronounced.
Ant-Man and the Wasp Are Two Very Different Superheroes
We got a taste of the difference between Scott and Hope in the first movie, especially as the younger van Dyne tried to continue her father's training of the new Ant-Man. Luckily, Ant-Man and the Wasp will be a two-hander, allowing Hope to properly step up as a costumed hero and show why she was born to it. Even though the sequel will see the two team up, Evangeline Lilly says Ant-Man and the Wasp are very different superheroes.
Evangeline Lilly: Hope Van Dyne and Scott Lang are two birds of a very, very different feather. They can both shrink. I mean, of course, Scott is just incredibly lovable, easygoing, and relaxed about things. Even when things are as dire as they can be, you have this sense that they're kind of okay inside. Hope is generally not okay inside. But what I think is exciting about playing the Wasp is there is this incredible satisfaction in Hope, something that she has been waiting for her whole life, which is essentially, an affirmation from her father has come.
Scott Is the Key to Rescuing Janet from the Quantum Realm
While Scott was off cavorting with the Avengers, it's presumed Hank and Hope were getting the Wasp off the ground and starting the search for their missing family member. But at some point, they'll need the help of the new Ant-Man. So while he's trying to focus on being a dad and not breaking the Sokovia Accords, it turns out Scott will be integral to rescuing Janet from the Quantum Realm. Of course, that means Hank and Hope will have to swallow their pride and ask him for help. Though no one was able to reveal much about the mission, Michael Douglas did tease the inciting incident.
Michael Douglas: We sort of get a signal...actually through Scott - So it’s an integral part, but we get a signal that she might still be alive.
The Quantum Realm Is a Trippy, Interplanetary Place in Ant-Man 2
Executive producer Stephen Broussard was able to reveal quite a bit about Ant-Man and the Wasp, especially in regards to the mysterious Quantum Realm. Though the first Ant-Man introduced the subatomic dimension and the climax showed just what it was like down there, we still don't know a ton about it. It's clear, however, that it will play a large part in the MCU to come, meaning the Ant-Man franchise has some work ahead of it in developing the location. Like the first movie, the Quantum Realm will be very trippy, but it will also have a space-like quality to it as the team explores the environment.
Broussard: In a lot of ways we’re almost approaching it like interplanetary in a weird way, you know what I mean? Like, as if you could go down there and experience another world and that if you kept going maybe you’d find other things or if you came back up it’d be completely different at this level.
