Ant-Man and the Wasp: Paul Rudd, Peyton Reed tease sequel direction

Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang assembled as part of Team Cap in the upcoming Captain America: Civil War, but his Ant-Man is also returning to the big screen with another super-pairing.

Speaking on the red carpet at the Civil War premiere Tuesday in Los Angeles, Rudd and Ant-Man director Peyton Reed gave an update on plans for the film’s sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, including the direction for the latter character — aka Hope Van Dyne, played by Evangeline Lilly.

“Evangeline is an amazing actress. The first movie was really about her coming into her own as a hero, even though we didn’t see her suit up yet,” Reed said. “So we’re so excited about now being able to show her fully formed and what she is as a superhero. Her power set, how she fights, and what are the injustices that matter to her that she wants to right. That’s part of the really fun thing of the next movie.”

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Marvel boss Kevin Feige has said he opted not to have Lilly’s character appear in Captain America: Civil War, a move Reed says allows her to properly take the spotlight in Ant Man and the Wasp.

“It just didn’t make sense for Wasp [to be in Civil War] because there’s so many characters in this movie, and you really want to see her become a hero and really spend time with her,” Reed said. “She’s a complicated character and a rich character. We’re really, really having fun writing that.”

Plans are still in the early stages for Hope, Scott, and the rest of Ant-Man and the Wasp, Reed noted. “We’re pretty early on still. … We all holed up and we’ve been doing these sessions and structuring the movie. So we’re in the structural phase now, and it’s fun.”

He added, “The challenge in Ant-Man and the Wasp is just topping everything that comes before. But that’s a challenge I think with every Marvel movie, with every hero movie. You don’t want the audience to get bored and feel like, oh man, I saw that in the last movie. You always got to give them something different.”

As Rudd put it, “We’re just getting started. We’re working on it for a little while. Coming up with some ideas … It’s creatively fulfilling, and challenging, and daunting, and exciting, more than anything.”

Ant-Man and the Wasp is slated to arrive in 2018.

—Reporting by Scott Huver