The third Ant-Man movie officially has its title. Previously known as simply Ant-Man 3, it is now officially Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which makes it sound like a psychedelic rock band. It's shockingly appropriate, really.
The news came down as one of a few dozen big revelations from Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios president, who unleashed a flood of Marvel news on December 10 as part of a presentation he gave at the Walt Disney Company's 2020 Investor Day event.
Alongside unveiling the new title, Feige confirmed that Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country) is playing the classic Marvel villain Kang the Conqueror in Quantumania. In Marvel's comics, Kang is a scholar from the 31st century, who rediscovers Doctor Doom's time travel platform and uses it to become a warlord, oppressing previous eras with technology from their future.
Kang spent a lot of time in the comics as a bit of a punchline overall, with a complicated continuity and a tendency to end up dead, but was reestablished as a genuine threat in the 2001 Avengers story Kang Dynasty. In it, Kang destroys most of Washington DC, which convinces the Wasp to surrender to him on behalf of the rest of the planet. Kang is then opposed and eventually taken down by an insurrectionist force of Avengers. This makes Kang the only villain in the mainstream Marvel Universe to have actually conquered Earth by force of arms. He'd make sense as a "big bad" for the next couple of Phases of the MCU, but is also historically enough of an underachiever that it won't be that surprising if he loses cold to Scott and Hope.
Kang's presence also suggests that the film will continue to explore the ramifications of time travel via the Quantum Realm, which Scott Lang invented basically by accident in 2019's Avengers: Endgame. Combined with the repeated clues that the next Doctor Strange and Spider-Man films will make heavy use of alternate universes, it's starting to look like Phases 4 and 5 of the MCU are going to get a little crazy.
Feige's presentation also revealed that the role of Scott's daughter Cassie has been recast since Endgame. In Quantumania, Cassie is slated to be played by Kathryn Newton (Big Little Lies, Freaky), who takes over the role from Emma Fuhrmann. Cassie herself has become a superhero in the comics, using Pym's size-changing technology just like her father, and is best-known as a member of the Young Avengers under the identity of Stature.
In addition to Newton and Majors, Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, and Michelle Pfeiffer are confirmed to be returning for the third Ant-Man film, along with director Peyton Reed. Quantumania's screenplay is slated to be written by Rick and Morty's Jeff Loveness. There's been no word yet about other cast members' return, such as Michael Peña as Scott's buddy Luis, also known as the primary reason anyone remembers the first two Ant-Man movies at all, or Judy Greer as Scott's ex-wife Maggie.
We also don't yet have a release date, aside from the general suggestion that Marvel is targeting 2022. Quantumania has yet to begin filming.
Source: Marvel Entertainment