michael-douglas-ant-man-slice

Well folks, it's official! Hank Pym is coming back for Marvel's upcoming Ant-Man sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp. Which is a relief, because considering the title it'd be super weird if Hope Van Dyne's retired superhero father just suddenly wasn't around anymore. Michael Douglas has confirmed via his Facebook account that he will indeed reprise his role for Peyton Reed's follow-up, saying it's time to "start growing the goatee", and revealed that filming is scheduled to begin this July.

Mostly I'm just reeling that Michael Douglas has a Facebook. Douglas will return alongside Paul Rudd, Michael Pena and Evangeline Lilly, who will finally get to suit up as The Wasp. The fact that Douglas' return was ever a question makes the two-time oscar winning actor a bit of rare bird in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where actors are usually required to sign large multi-picture contracts. Douglas however, only signed a single-picture deal.

The news doesn't come as much of a surprise, however, and not just for the narrative points I mentioned earlier. We caught up with Douglas back in 2015, and at the time he confirmed he was already in negotiations for the sequel and was openly happy to return (if also openly hoping for a bit of a smaller role). Here's what he told us,

I just got a call recently and they wanted to negotiate for a sequel. I thought, “That’s great!” Hopefully, I won’t have to carry quite as much exposition and dialogue as the first one, but I had a wonderful time doing it, just a great, great time. The cast was fantastic. Paul [Rudd], Evangeline [Lilly], Michael Pena, I’m sure they’ll probably be back. If they can scrape Corey Stoll off the wall, I’m sure they’ll want him too, he’s such a good villain. And crew wise too, Peyton [Reed]. It was a lovely experience, so I welcome it. I chuckle at being involved in a movie that already has a release date in 2018. It’s hard to conceive of that, but it’s all good, all the way around, it’s all good.

Ant-Man and the Wasp is slated for release on July 6, 2018.

ant-man-michael-douglas
Image via Marvel Studios
ant-man-michael-douglas-paul-rudd-evangeline-lilly
Image via Marvel Studios
ant-man-paul-rudd-michael-douglas
Image via Marvel Studios