With Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania -- the third film in Marvel Studios' Ant-Man saga -- drawing ever closer to its theatrical release, producer Stephen Broussard has confirmed that hushed conversations regarding a fourth entry are already taking place.
"We're already thinking about it," Broussard told ComicBook.com. "It's like, every movie's its own battle and you bear the scars of making it and wanting to make it great. But hope springs eternal and you start to put yourself back together after the journey of making the movie. You're like, 'Yeah, what if we did X and what if we did Y?' Like the wheels start turning, you can't help yourself. I don't want to say anything about specifically what those are, but yeah, you can't help yourself. Those conversations, those whispers have already started to happen between myself and [Ant-Man series director] Peyton [Reed] and [Marvel Studios president] Kevin [Feige]."
Quantumania is set to premiere in theaters later this month on Friday, Feb. 17. In addition to kicking off Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the film serves as a sequel to 2015's Ant-Man and 2018's Ant-Man and the Wasp. Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly and Michael Douglas reprise their roles as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, Hope van Dyne/the Wasp and Hank Pym, respectively from the first two films. Michelle Pfeiffer reprises her role as Janet van Dyne from Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Moreover, Quantumania stars franchise newcomer Kathryn Newton, who takes over the role of Scott's daughter, Cassie Lang -- a character Marvel Comics fans also know as the superhero Stature, a member of the Young Avengers. An eight-to-10-year-old Cassie was previously portrayed in the first two Ant-Man films by Abby Ryder Fortson. Emma Fuhrmann later played a teenage Cassie in the 2019 MCU crossover film Avengers: Endgame, which takes place after a five-year timeskip. Director Reed previously confirmed that Newton's version of Cassie is 18 years old during the events of Quantumania.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Sets the Stage for the MCU's Future
Of course, Newton isn't Quantumania's only significant addition to the Ant-Man franchise. The fast-approaching threequel also stars Jonathan Majors as main antagonist Kang the Conqueror, a major, time-traveling villain from the pages of Marvel's comic books. Majors previously portrayed He Who Remains, a multiversal variant of Kang, in the Season 1 finale of Marvel Studios' Disney+ original series Loki in 2021. Following the defeat of Thanos in the aforementioned Endgame, Kang is expected to be the MCU's new big bad moving forward.
In fact, the next Avengers film is even named for the iconic villain. Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is currently slated to premiere in theaters on May 2, 2025 as part of Phase Six of the MCU. The Kang Dynasty will be followed by Avengers: Secret Wars, which is itself currently scheduled for release on May 1, 2026 to close out Phase Six. Quantumania screenwriter Jeff Loveness is attached to pen the script for The Kang Dynasty, which will be directed by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings helmer Destin Daniel Cretton. Meanwhile, Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness scribe Michael Waldron is attached to write Secret Wars.
In the meantime, an official synopsis for Quantumania reads as follows: "In the film, which officially kicks off phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Super-Hero partners Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) return to continue their adventures as Ant-Man and The Wasp. Together, with Hope's parents Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), the family finds themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought was possible. Jonathan Majors joins the adventure as Kang."
Marvel Studios' Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania opens in theaters on Feb. 17.
Source: ComicBook.com