Last night, nearly three full months after the first Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania trailer dropped, a new Quantumania trailer premiered, which was surprisingly dark and serious, but nonetheless quite cool. The latest chapter of Scott Lang’s journey will see him, his daughter Cassie, Hope van Dyne, Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne sucked into the Quantum Realm and tangling with a variety of strange threats, including Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror, Thanos’ successor as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s overarching villain.
We’re now just a little over a month until the third Ant-Man movie kicks off the MCU’s Phase 5, but along with this latest preview to tide fans over, some intriguing new information has come to light. It turns out that two of Quantumania’s returning actors are playing brand-new characters.
David Dastmalchian
Until now, David Dastmalchian has left his imprint on the MCU as as Kurt, a member of the, as Hank Pam described them, “Three Wombats,” alongside Michael Peña’s Luis and T.I.’s Dave. These three appeared in the first two Ant-Man moves, and Dastmalchian also voiced Kurt in an episode of What If… ?. In June 2022, Dastmalchian said he wouldn’t return for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but by the following November, a theater standee for the threequel included his name. Now it’s been officially announced that while Dastmalchian will indeed be back for Quantumania, only it won’t be as Kurt.
Instead, David Dastmalchian will play someone named Zeb in the upcoming Marvel movie, though no details about the character have been revealed. Given how much time we’ll be spending in the Quantum Realm, one can presume that he’ll be a denizen of that microscopic dimension, but it’s anyone’s guess how he’ll fit into the story, including whether he’ll be an ally or enemy to our heroes. On another note, maybe there’s still a chance that Dastmalchian could also cameo as Kurt in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, with hat brief appearance explaining why he, Luis and Dave aren’t involved in the main story.
Corey Stoll
Back in 2021, a report surfaced that Corey Stoll, who played main antagonist Darren Cross, a.k.a. Yellowjacket, in the first Ant-Man movie, would return in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. However, rather than simply reprise Cross in his normal form, Stoll would instead appear as MODOK (Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing), the big-headed Marvel villain who Patton Oswalt voiced in the character’s short-lived animated series, which can be watched with a Hulu subscription. While MODOK’s appearance in Quantumania was confirmed last summer through exclusive footage shown at San Diego Comic-Con, the newest trailer included a brief look at an unmasked MODOK, and sure enough, his visage looks like Stoll’s, albeit stretched out and sitting in a floating chair.
What’s unclear at the moment is whether Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s MODOK is a transformed Darren Cross or if Corey Stoll is playing MODOK as a completely new character. When we last saw Darren in the first Ant-Man movie, his Yellowjacket suit has been sabotaged by Scott Lang, resulting in him shrinking uncontrollably until he just disappeared. For years, Darren has been presumed dead, but perhaps he was instead transported to the Quantum Realm and was somehow transformed into MODOK. On the other hand, if David Dastmalchian can appear in Quantumania as a new character, perhaps the same goes for Stoll, and MODOK is not tied to Darren in any way.
All our questions about Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will be answered once it starts playing on the big screen on February 17. Until then, use your Disney+ subscription to rewatch the Marvel movies in order and check out the streaming service’s various Marvel shows.
