The dust hasn’t settled on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but rumblings about the future are already being heard. They might even debunk some of those rumors about Scott Lang’s death you might have seen floating around.
In an interview with ComicBook.com, Marvel Studios’ VP of Production and Development Stephen Broussard confirmed that there are already talks about a fourth Ant-Man movie, though he insisted that nothing is set in stone.
“We're already thinking about it,” Broussard told ComicBook.com. “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.”
Broussard added that he can’t disclose the specifics, but “whispers” are already being exchanged between Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige and director Peyton Reed. “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 Peyton and Kevin.”
While the majority of Marvel’s biggest solo heroes get three movies at most, Phase Four has seen more flexibility with how characters appear and remain in the universe. Chris Hemsworth’s Thor led a fourth movie, Thor: Love and Thunder, and there’s now an open door for a fifth. While Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye hasn’t starred in his own movie, he did have a solo series on Disney+ in late 2021.
There are no set rules, and characters don’t have to be limited to three films. It seems up to the actors themselves whether they’re still interested in wearing skintight costumes and working in front of green screens.
No spoilers here, but a fourth Ant-Man movie seems to indicate that Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang may not meet his doom after all. In the lead-up to Quantumania, fans have observed that the movie’s darker and more somber tone relative to previous Ant-Man movies suggests a major character’s death, with Scott Lang perhaps being the one to kick the bucket. Why else would Marvel sell his memoir? It would also set up his daughter Cassie to join the Young Avengers, and it would adhere to the comics’ plot more closely.
But a sequel to Ant-Man, with director Peyton Reed still attached, means fans can relax a little. Paul Rudd isn’t going anywhere. Yet. Well, maybe. We still don’t know for sure, but for his part, Rudd told Empire in a recent interview, “I think there’s more story to tell here ... They’re having those conversations in rooms that I don’t have keys to.”
Whether fans actually want a fourth Ant-Man will depend on how many flock to Quantumania. Reviews are still under embargo, but social reactions seem mostly positive, albeit not overly enthusiastic. If there is a fourth Ant-Man movie, Marvel will hopefully find a way to really stir its Pym Particles to create something astonishing.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will open in theaters on February 17.
