When Iron Man first hit theaters in 2007, the concept of serialized storytelling and a shared universe seemed like a pipe dream. But the Marvel Cinematic Universe is now a decade old, so crossovers and references are consistently being made with each new blockbuster. The latest MCU movie to hit the silver screen is Peyton Reed's Ant-Man and The Wasp, which ran alongside the events of Avengers: Infinity War. The movie's post-credits scene had major implications for the greater shared universe, although it turns out that Chris Evans' Captain America was part of the original plan for the movie. Peyton Reed recently revealed his idea to bring in Steve Rogers, in order to hilariously reference the events of Civil War. As he tells it,
Early on, we had a version where we were going to do a quick version of the tarmac fight from Civil War, with some ridiculous thing where, you know, Captain America has Ant-Man as a baseball and throws him. Because the whole thing is Luis' version of events, right?
Does anybody else have some serious FOMO right now? While it wouldn't have made a major impact on the events of Ant-Man 2, this planned cameo was a great way to bring in other Marvel hero, while still keeping with the comedy-heavy tone of the Ant-Man franchise.
Peyton Reed's comments to Radio Times will no doubt entice the many Marvel fans who have been shelling out money for each new blockbuster over the past decade. While the MCU produces consistently great content, crossovers and references to past movies help validate the fandom. There has been a ton of money thrown at Marvel studios by the fans over the past decade, and moments like the planned Captain America cameo in Ant-Man and The Wasp prove that its still worth the time and money to get to the theater.
Ultimately due to where Ant-Man and The Wasp sat on the overall Marvel timeline, it was nearly impossible to feature tons of references or crossovers to the rest of the universe. But that's also where the franchise shines, as it has a tone unique to anything else that the studio brings. And while fans had to wait until Ant-Man 2's post-credits scene to get that sense of serialized storytelling, it paid off with one of the best bonus scenes of the entire MCU.
Ant-Man mostly told a capsulated story, but did feature a major crossover when Anthony Mackie's Falcon showed up for a brief battle with the title character. Having a bonafide Avenger arrive on scene is exciting stuff, so Peyton Reed has already provided enough crazy moments to the fans with the larger ensemble of the MCU.
Ant-Man And The Wasp is still in theaters now, even if Captain America doesn't make an appearance. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
