As the Marvel Studios sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp continues filming in Atlanta, a new batch of set photos have hit the interwebs. This time around, however, we get our first look at a brand new character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Janet Van Dyne. Michelle Pfeiffer fills the role of Dr. Hank Pym’s (Michael Douglas) long lost wife, who disappeared in the Quantum Realm years ago while on a mission with Hank. The current thinking is that the plot of Ant-Man and the Wasp will at least in some part revolve around the search and rescue of Janet.
Given both Pfeiffer and Douglas’s hairstyles in these images, it looks as though they were shooting a flashback sequence. We’ve seen in the original Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 that Marvel Studios likes to flaunt cutting edge visual effects technology to de-age famous actors, and no doubt that’s what they’ll be doing here.
In comics lore, Janet Van Dyne donned her own suit as The Wasp, which her daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) will be wearing in this sequel. Peyton Reed returns to direct from a script by Gabriel Ferrari & Andrew Barrer (Ant-Man), Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers (Spider-Man: Homecoming), and star/Ant-Man co-writer Paul Rudd.
When it came to casting Janet Van Dyne, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige told us this summer that Pfeiffer was always their first choice for the role. They even discussed the prospect on the first Ant-Man:
“On the first film, we would talk about if we got to make another one showing Janet and having somebody ‘like Michelle Pfeiffer’. There’s a photo you see at the end of the first Ant-Man film where Hank Pym realizes Scott Lang was in the Quantum Realm, came back, and the wheels start turning could Hank go down there and find her? And he looks over at a photo and you see a young Hank, young Hope, and a young Janet whose face is covered by a hat. We used to say, ‘We have to cast somebody like Michelle Pfeiffer, wouldn’t that be great?’ And then we hit upon the brilliant idea to ask Michelle Pfeiffer. And we had a number of meetings and Peyton Reed pitched her the story, and very, very, very recently she said yes.”
Check out the set photos below, followed by that full interview with Feige about Pfeiffer’s casting. Ant-Man and the Wasp also stars Hannah John-Kamen, Laurence Fishburne, Walton Goggins, and Randall Park to look forward to, as well as the return of Michael Peña, Judy Greer, Bobby Cannavale, Tip “T.I.” Harris, and David Dastmalchian. Ant-Man and the Wasp hits theaters on July 6, 2018.
Here’s the official synopsis for Ant-Man and the Wasp:
From the Marvel Cinematic Universe comes a new chapter featuring heroes with the astonishing ability to shrink: “Ant-Man and The Wasp.” In the aftermath of “Captain America: Civil War,” Scott Lang (Rudd) grapples with the consequences of his choices as both a Super Hero and a father. As he struggles to rebalance his home life with his responsibilities as Ant-Man, he’s confronted by Hope van Dyne (Lilly) and Dr. Hank Pym (Douglas) with an urgent new mission. Scott must once again put on the suit and learn to fight alongside The Wasp as the team works together to uncover secrets from their past.
