What's next for Paul Rudd's Scott Lang/Ant-Man after Avengers: Endgame? Ant-Man 3 isn't the only way he could return, although Rudd has encouraged fans to campaign for Marvel to make that movie. He could pull a Hulk, so to speak, and pop up in other characters' films in Phase 4. Or maybe Ant-Man 3 will show up in Phase 5. Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige already introduced the Phase 4 slate, and we have some idea of what could be ahead for Phase 5, but Ant-Man's role in all of it is still up-in-the-air.
Here's what MCU architect Kevin Feige said when asked about Marvel's further plans for Paul Rudd's Ant-Man:
The chess pieces were arranged very purposefully after Endgame. Those that are off the board are off, and those that are still on, you never know.
Well, Scott Lang is still "on the board," I suppose, per Kevin Feige's words to the New York Times. Ant-Man played a pivotal role in Avengers: Endgame, after Scott was freed by the true hero of the movie. He ended Endgame with his Ant-Man and the Wasp co-stars at Tony Stark's funeral.
Scott Lang also got to spend more time bonding with his now teenage daughter Cassie (Emma Fuhrmann). She grew up while he spent five years stuck in the Quantum Realm. Thankfully only five hours passed for him, but Scott and Cassie clearly have a lot of catching up to do.
Another Ant-Man movie could also help us check in on Ava Starr/Ghost -- actress Hannah John-Kamen seemed like she was teasing some kind of return -- and hopefully bring back Michael Peña's hilarious Luis. Michael Douglas said there's been talk of another Ant-Man, and Michelle Pfeiffer is open to an Ant-Man 3 return, but nothing official has been announced.
Paul Rudd has the new Netflix series Living with Yourself coming up October 18, with Rudd playing two characters. Kevin Feige talked about Rudd for the New York Times as part of an interview previewing that upcoming series. In the interview, Feige talked about how Rudd got cast as Scott Lang to begin with:
Scott Lang was a criminal — we meet him coming out of jail. But also, he has a child, and you’d need somebody who could be funny and do action and who you would feel for as the father of this little girl.
Kevin Feige noted Paul Rudd's comedic background definitely helped, since the chess pieces he put on the board were always leading toward that major two-part Avengers teamup. As Feige recalls Marvel's thinking....
One day, this person might need to do a scene with Robert Downey Jr.
Yes, and one other day this person might need to coin the term "America's ass"! Scott Lang's Ant-Man came out in 2015 and continued in Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Avengers: Endgame.
The two Ant-Man solo movies haven't made major money compared to their $1 billion counterparts, but they are still some of the funniest and most heartwarming movies in the franchise. However, there's no saying Ant-Man is owed a trilogy. Plenty of characters haven't gotten two movies -- or even one -- at this point, so I'm not surprised if the priority is on other characters over Ant-Man 3. But that doesn't mean Scott Lang and company couldn't sneak into several other stories, whether on the big screen in the MCU Phase 4 or Phase 5 or on Disney+ through the many new stories ahead.
It looks like Paul Rudd is down to voice Scott Lang/Ant-Man in the What If...? series, but that very cool animated show will just imagine how things would change if events happened differently in the MCU. It's not actually advancing Ant-Man's canon storyline.
Other than that, do you think there's a way we'll see Scott Lang/Ant-Man in any of the confirmed upcoming MCU movies -- Black Widow, The Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Spider-Man 3, Thor: Love and Thunder -- or sequels for Black Panther and Captain Marvel?
What about upcoming MCU TV shows The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision, Loki, Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, or She-Hulk?
I guess we'll just have to wait and see what Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige plans for Ant-Man -- assuming Feige has time now that he's back producing Spider-Man 3 in addition to the rest of the MCU films, as well as making a Star Wars movie. Keep up with all things MCU with our handy guide.
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