Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania screenwriter Jeff Loveness recently compared the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel to an infamous unmade Dune movie.
Loveness likened the third Ant-Man installment's Quantum Realm setting to something out of Alejandro Jodorowsky's unrealized Dune adaptation in an interview with Empire. "It's a fun place," he said. "It's a limitless place of creation and diversity and alien life. It's Jodorowsky's Dune within Marvel." Jodorowsky acquired the rights to adapt Dune in the 1970s, however, mounting production costs coupled with the Chilean-French filmmaker's insistence on a 10-hour-plus runtime ultimately scuttled the project. Concept artwork created for Jodorowsky's Dune has since been made public, allowing the canceled film to influence the likes of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.
In the same interview, Loveness also discussed the original pitch for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Specifically, the scribe recalled how the production team decided that the movie should boast the kind of high-stakes story most fans associate with another MCU franchise. "The first discussion [the production team] had was, 'What if Ant-Man is accidentally in an Avengers movie by himself?'" Loveness said. This tracks with previous comments by director Peyton Reed, who said he lobbied Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to allow him and his team to get away from previous installments' post-Avengers "palate cleanser" reputation with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
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Feige has since stated that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania's more prominent place within Marvel Studio's next phase reflects its protagonist's similar trajectory within the MCU itself. "We wanted to kick off Phase Five with Ant-Man because he'd earned that position," he said. "To not simply be the back-up or the comic relief, but to take his position at the front of the podium of the MCU." Reed was present when Feige made these remarks and added that the third Ant-Man movie will demonstrate its more ambitious scope by introducing one of the most formidable threats the MCU has yet seen: Kang the Conqueror.
Creed III star Jonathan Majors is set to portray Kang in the film and recently teased how different the supervillain is from other MCU baddies. "Kang adds tonal diversity, real conflict and real friction," Majors said. "You're being introduced to a new vibration in the MCU. There's conflict -- not just mano-a-mano, not just hero and villain, but 'your way of life' and 'my way of life.'
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania arrives in theaters on Feb. 17, 2023.
Source: Empire