What To Expect From Ant-Man 3
As the Ant-Man 3 February 2023 release date draws near, Marvel continues to drop more clues about what audiences can expect from the movie that opens MCU Phase 5. Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang/Ant-Man has certainly come a long way since he was introduced back in MCU Phase 2’s Ant-Man, released back in 2015. Before he became an Avenger, Scott Lang was a master thief who ended up taking part in the experiments of Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) involving a super-suit that allows him to shrink in scale but increase in strength. Ant-Man was praised for its sense of humor and got a sequel in 2018, titled Ant-Man and the Wasp, with Evangeline Lilly reprising her role as Hope van Dyne a.k.a. Wasp. In Avengers: Endgame, it was Scott Lang who spurred the defeated Avengers back into action against Thanos using Dr. Pym’s quantum technology, triggering the convoluted Endgame time heist and becoming a crucial player in the end of the Infinity War Saga.
In 2023’s Ant-Man 3/Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the MCU dives deeper into the quantum realm and continues the story of the unlikely Avenger. In addition to reintroducing Loki’s Jonathan majors as the overarching Multiverse Saga villain Kang the Conqueror, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania also features Freaky and Detective Pikachu star Kathryn Netwon as grown-up Cassie Lang. Scott’s daughter, recast to Newton from Avengers: Endgame’s Emma Fuhrmann, could finally be donning her comic book mantle of Stature, Stinger, or Ant-Girl. These are just some reasons many MCU fans are so excited about Ant-Man and the Wasp’s next big screen outing though, so here’s the Ant-Man 3 release date, cast, story details, and everything else audiences need to know about Quantumania.
Ant-Man 3 Release Date
When is Ant-Man 3 coming out? The Ant-Man 3 release date is on February 17, 2023. After MCU Phase 4 closes with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ant-Man 3 will open the MCU Phase 5 slate. Ant-Man 3 will then be closely followed by the Disney+ show Secret Invasion – the MCU’s first official crossover event – and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – the third and last Guardians of the Galaxy movie. While it currently is pegged to open the MCU Phase 5 slate after Phase 4 finishes with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the new Ant-Man movie had multiple delays and repositions prior to the Quantumania February 2023 release date becoming set in stone.
Ant-Man 3/Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was originally slated as an MCU Phase 4 movie, which obviously fell through. Marvel then moved the Ant-Man 3 release date to the middle of MCU Phase 5 – July 28, 2023 – which was later assigned to The Marvels/Captain Marvel 2 instead. With Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania serving as the real introduction of the Multiverse Saga’s big bad – Kang the Conqueror – and tackling the real potential of the Quantum Realm, Ant-Man 3’s current place at the beginning of MCU Phase 5 actually seems a much better fit for Scott Lang’s continued adventures.
Ant-Man 3 Cast
While the changes in the Ant-Man 3 release date instilled a sense of uncertainty in expectant viewers, Comic-Con 2022’s Ant-Man 3 cast reveals assured audiences that the project was indeed still on track. The main characters of the Ant-Man franchise will be returning to reprise their roles. Paul Rudd (Scott Lang), Evangeline Lilly (Hope van Dyne), Michael Douglas (Hank Pym), Michelle Pfieffer (Janet van Dyne), and Kathryn Newton (Cassie Lang) are all going to be a part of Ant-Man 3/Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The new movie will also involve the feature-movie debut of Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror. Bill Murray also joins the cast in a yet-undisclosed role. In addition, the mutated, powerful, bulbous-headed Marvel mainstay MODOK will be in Ant-Man 3.
Ant-Man 3 Story Details
The MCU hasn’t really explored the Quantum Realm, so Ant-Man 3 will be a good opportunity to do so. The full Ant-Man 3 story hasn’t been revealed, but the first trailer gave clues as to what the broad-strokes plot will entail. After their roles in the Infinity Saga, Scott and Hope have become celebrities, and it’s notable how a fan mistakes Scott for Spider-Man. Though it seems inconsequential, this Spider-Man: No Way Home reference in Ant-Man 3 could indicate that the movie will tackle the interactions between magic spells and quantum energy within the MCU. Meanwhile, Scott’s daughter Cassie attempts to reach other lost individuals with a device that sends signals to the Quantum Realm, which results in Scott, Hope, Janet, Hank, and Cassie all getting sucked into Quantumania. There, they meet Kang, who seems to hold the key to their chances of returning home.
The first Ant-Man 3 trailer strongly suggests Kang tries to lure Scott into accepting some kind of Faustian bargain in exchange for leaving the Quantum Realm. It’s entirely speculative at this point of course, but the trailer does seem to set up Scott making a mistake of the same level as Star-Lord did when he enraged Thanos and broke Mantis’ concentration in Infinity War. It’s still unknown how Kang or a variant of him will arrive in the MCU’s Earth-616. Hopefully, for Scott’s sake, the villain poised to take the Multiverse by storm in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars isn’t unleashed on an unsuspecting reality from the Quantum Realm because Ant-Man wants to get his daughter and adoptive family home.
The First Ant-Man 3 Trailer Is Here
The first official Ant-Man 3 trailer arrived in October 2022, offering a longer look at the Quantum Realm, which Janet refers to as « a secret universe beneath ours. » Surrounded by colorful and swirling portals that most likely lead to different places and timelines across the multiverse, a hidden city built with advanced technologies lies within the Quantum Realm — populated by strange aliens, mysterious humanoids, and whoever Bill Murray’s Ant-Man 3 character ends up being (still no word on this from Marvel or Murray). Apart from Bill Murray’s MCU debut, the Ant-Man trailer also gives audiences the first footage of Kathryn Newton as Cassie Lang, who in several shots is suited up like her dad. In the comics, Cassie Lang became the legacy Marvel superhero Stature after Ant-Man’s death. She went on to become a Young Avenger, and later took the name Stinger. Perhaps most importantly, the Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania trailer finally reveals Kang the Conqueror in all his comic book-accurate glory, complete with Kang’s trademark purple and green armor. The Ant-Man 3 trailer ends with a tease of Kang making a proposal to Scott, the exact nature of which remains a mystery. One thing that was clear — unlike the Avengers fans on Earth, Kang had no confusion about Ant-Man’s identity.
