Having just crossed $2 billion at the box office, it still doesn’t feel like Avengers: Infinity War is in the rearview mirror, but we’re already on to our next MCU film - Ant-Man and the Wasp. With the movie hitting theaters on July 6th, it’s finally time to share the details we learned during our Atlanta set visit. Do keep in mind this set visit took place in September 2017, so while the events of Infinity War will no doubt change the course for every single character in the MCU, the snap hadn’t become the hottest topic of conversation just yet!

Plus, this new chapter in the Ant-Man series takes place in the aftermath of Captain America: Civil War anyway! Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is aiming to steer clear of superhero responsibilities and instead, focus on being a good father. While it’s of the utmost importance to him to stay on the straight and narrow, when Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) come to him with an urgent mission, Scott has to suit up and help them out.

That right there is merely a light synopsis of what we’ll cover in Ant-Man and the Wasp. During our visit to set, we got a slew of additional information from the cast and crew, and you can catch all the highlights in the full “things to know” breakdown below.

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Image via Marvel Studios

Ant-Man and the Wasp is a mix of road movie, search-and-rescue movie, action movie, and romantic comedy. Director Peyton Reed explained that when he first started figuring out what this movie would look and feel like, things like After Hours and Midnight Run came to mind. The urgency comes from the mission to rescue Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer). “It's an impossible thing scientifically, but also if there's urgency and there's maybe a window of time they have to do it. It's about collecting the people, the things, everything they need to do that.” Reed also added, “The first movie, really, the template was more of a heist movie and this wanted to be a little more of like an Elmore Leonard vibe where we have villains, but we also have antagonists, and we have these roadblocks to our heroes getting to where they need to be, and getting what they need for this mission.” On top of that, Reed teased that some of Ant-Man and the Wasp will feel like a two-hander action movie and other parts more along the lines of a two-hander romantic comedy.

The movie will feature more of San Francisco. Sure, the first Ant-Man took place in San Francisco too, but now that the character is well-established, Reed is aiming to explore the city more, well beyond Hank Pym’s house. He explained, “I just wanted to open the movie up and get out and take advantage of San Francisco because that felt like a different texture for the MCU that Ant-Man sort of occupies this corner of the universe and we wanted to really get outside and explore those elements.”

They’re taking a cue from The Empire Strikes back. There will be a period of time that passes between the first and second Ant-Man films. “I know that everyone who's ever made a second installment of something refers to The Empire Strikes Back as the gold standard, but as a kid, I was 16 when that movie came out, and I loved that they really leapt ahead.” Reed continued, “The heroes are somewhere else now and the audience has to kind of catch up to what's going on and what happened, and they’re forwarded in terms of their character, but also in terms of their circumstances and that felt like something we really wanted to do.”

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Image via Marvel Studios

As for how that pertains to the specifics of Ant-Man and the Wasp, Reed is leaning on the events of Captain America: Civil War. “My first questions were - what did Hank and Hope know about Scott going off and dealing with that situation with The Avengers and did they know about it? How did they feel about it? And surely this would've caused some kind of tension at worst and rift at best between the characters because Hank Pym's very clear in the first movie about how he feels about Stark and how he feels about The Avengers and being very protective of this technology that he has. So that seemed like a really ripe sort of place to start in terms of character development."

Ant-Man and the Wasp deals with the ramifications of Captain America: Civil War and uses the events of that film as a jumping off point. Here’s how Reed put it: “What I'm really happy about is, we're free to tell sort of our free-standing story. Once we establish that as the leaping off point, this thing is going on over here with huge personal stakes and huge other stakes that are really separate of what's going on with Infinity War.”

Hank isn’t happy Scott took the suit to fight in Civil War. Douglas told us, “Yeah, he's pretty pissed off about that. He really is. I would say that largely sets the initial tone between Scott and Hank on this one.”

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Image via Marvel Studios

Hank and Hope are also considered criminals because of the events of that movie. As Lilly explained, “Because of Germany, because of what happened in Civil War with Captain America, they're a little bit on the run.” She added, “We have technology that would be considered a superpower in the Marvel-verse. At that point in time, you're not allowed to have that independently. So yeah, our life is dramatically changed not for the better, in our opinion.”

Hank’s new lab was built on a table. When Hank Pym builds a secret facility, it can’t be something along the lines of, let’s say, the new Avengers facility. What’s much more in-character for Hank is this idea of hiding in plain sight. Production designer Shepard Frankel told us, “You kinda get a sense of how a guy built this thing on his table where he took everyday materials and grew and built and put them into his lab small, and then when he grows the lab, they become big.”

This lab can actually be classified as an organism. Frankel explained, “In the corners of our space, you'll see walls that light up and move and kind of are active walls, and the idea is reinforcing the notion of, ‘Am I in a computer? Am I in a building? What's going on?’ This thing constantly thinking. So the building is an organism that's set up as something to service Hank Pym's current efforts. And there's a movement to the whole thing that's constantly happening so you don't - he's not there alone. The building’s set up to think for him, you know, to assist with all that. Not unlike a computer; an intuitive thought.”

Hank’s got a communication device in that lab. “He's created a communication device that feels like it's made out of oversized things that are familiar to us.” Frankel further explained, “If we were looking at the stars and charting how the stars kind of all talk to each other and orient us, this communication device is kind of trying to triangulate things in time and space by using various kind of waves, and all these peddles kind of speak to each other.”

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Image via Marvel Studios

Does Hank regret picking Scott over Hope? Reed noted, "We deal with it really head-on in the movie.” He continued, “The first movie is all about, ‘I have this technology and what happens to it? I'm too old to deal with this now, and to whom do I bequeath this to?’ In the first movie, the answer is right in front of his face the whole time - it's Hope.” He added, “ But, after the events of Civil War, Scott has proven to be somewhat unreliable in that regard. So, that's a big character thrust in this movie is a mentor who maybe is questioning his decision in a big, big way.” Douglas also added, “[He] still looks at Paul as not being the right choice for Hank's daughter, Hope. He still looks a little judgmental. Thinks she can do a little better.”

Hank and Hope are more of a team than they were before. Douglas explained, “She’s older. I think there's much more a sense of working together as partners, as a team, and then of course possible, the hope that Janet, Michelle, could still be alive in the quantum realm.”

Get ready for a very different Hope van Dyne. Scott’s a pretty easy-going guy. Even when things are dire, he’s okay inside. Hope on the other hand? Not so much. Here’s how Lilly put it: “Hope is generally not okay inside, but I think what's exciting about playing the Wasp now is there is this incredible satisfaction in Hope, something that she has been waiting for her whole life, which is essentially an affirmation from her father has come, and it came in the form of this mantle. It came in the form of this suit.” At the start of the film, she’s in a very different place emotionally. Lilly continued, “Hopefully you'll be able to see that and feel that instantly. I mean, to the extent that sometimes I get nervous that the world will watch and go, ‘Is that even Hope van Dyne? I mean, come on!’ But I think that that's wonderful to show that people do evolve and change, and that something as profound as your relationship with your father can have an effect on and a reverberation in every aspect of your life.”

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Image via Marvel Studios

Hope has her own mission in the movie. Right at the start, Reed and his team decided this movie isn’t Ant-Man with the Wasp. It’s Ant-Man and the Wasp. Reed further explained, “The mission that is happening with her, entirely separate of Scott, is vital. And it's her mission. It's not her dad's mission. It's her mission.” He continued, “Hank and Hope are working together, but it's really Hope leading in charge, and that was an important thing when we started talking about what was going on, is the what and why of this mission.”

What does finding Janet van Dyne mean to Hope? Here’s how Reed put it: “We kind of know what it means to Hank from the first movie, but what does it mean to Hope?” He added, “If she's now finally a fully fledged hero in her own right, and you're in a position like that, you know, you tend to kind of look for mentors or role models, and the one person that she would really turn to is not there.”

This is primarily a movie about finding Janet van Dyne. Over the course of the set visit, we heard a lot about different missions, villains vs. antagonists, and then some, but when Reed spoke to us, he confirmed, “The big mission is to find Janet. What that means ultimately for our characters on a personal level is one thing. What it means for the larger world is another thing. And all the other things are really, you know, stumbling blocks on the path.”

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Image via Marvel Studios

How do they know Janet is still alive? Douglas was stopped short before he could divulge any details but he did mention, “… we get a signal. Hope is certainly integral, but we get a signal that actually, through Scott …” Perhaps the communication device in Hank’s lab has something to do with it. And you can think of that like sending signals out to space, hoping someone or something pings you back. That’s what Hank is trying to do.

There will be a big bad in Ant-Man and the Wasp. But is it Ghost? Reed said, “There is a big bad that has a very unique relationship to our characters. And I know you know that the character Ghost is in the movie, and that we've adapted the character from the comics in a way that we feel is really unique to our movie, and very much tied into this universe. So, she becomes a really, really crucial part of the story in a way that I can't really reveal yet.”

Don’t expect the Ghost from the comics. Executive producer Stephen Broussard began, “Hannah John-Kamen has been announced for playing a new interpretation of Ghost, which was a classic character created by Bob Layton, which was primarily an Iron Man villain based on more technology that was tech based.” He added, “Traditionally in the comics, Ghost was a character of mystery. You didn't really know the alter ego of that person, you didn't know their real name. We thought that was a cool opportunity to create a character that was all about mystery, and kind of what the origins, what is the backstory, what is the goals and agendas of this person, was a great vehicle for the story we wanted to tell because Ghost, in the comics itself was a mystery.” He also teased that their rendition of Ghost “is on a mission at odds with our heroes on this journey, but of a similar goal, of a similar aim at the worst possible time for Scott Lang.”

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Image via Marvel Studios

As for the look of Ghost, that’s actually right in line with the source material. Broussard revealed that Ghost’s power set will be the same as in the comics and also dubbed her suit not a reinterpretation, but rather a modernization. "I think our design team, our original development team … does a great job I think of sticking to the classic tropes - what they look like in the books and sort of actually going, ‘Oh, that's a pretty good realization of what that might look like in the real world.’ And certainly that's the case with Ghost who is, when you think of Ghost, you think of the hood, you think of the white suit and everything like that. And Hannah wears it very well. She's awesome. She's really, really badass.”

Who is Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne)? Reed began, “Bill is a former colleague who really was involved early on with Pym in a thing called Project Goliath.” He also added, “They were both involved with SHIELD at some point, but one guy’s sort of stepped away and taken a more academic approach.” That one guy is Bill Foster and he wound up teaching quantum physics at Berkley. Expect to see some sort of rivalry between Hank and Bill because Reed likened them to Steve Jobs and Bill Gates explaining, "Two scientists who are both geniuses in quantum physics and quantum mechanics, but maybe have a Mac, PC rivalry about what the approach to delving into the quantum realm might be.”

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Image via Marvel Studios

Could we possibly see Bill Foster suit up? Broussard didn’t want to spoil anything but he did tease, “Maybe. Maybe, maybe. The idea would be that perhaps they had worked together in the past, you know, on a lot of projects. Including some of the shrinking and growing tech. How that plays into this story, I think would rather leave unsaid for the moment.”

Who better to protect your home than ex-cons? This time around, Luis (Michael Peña), Kurt (David Dastmalchian) and Dave (T.I.) are trying to go legit - but while working within their skillset. Broussard told us, “Post Ant-Man, they're kind of trying to go legit basically. And what's happened is, Luis, Curt and Dave and Scott when he gets out, have started a business called Ex-con Home Security. Who better to protect your house than ex-convicts? And that's kind of the brass ring waiting for Scott if he can survive this movie. He’s like, ‘If I get out, if I get out of house arrest, if I keep my nose clean, I got a real job, I'm starting a business, everything's going to be great, and it's another kind of goal, desired finish line for him that's complicated by the events of this movie.”

SCENE OBSERVATION

In addition to checking out the set for Hank’s new lab, we also got the opportunity to watch the team film a scene that takes place in a van - or rather, a mobile lab for Hank. Remember, Hank and Hope are on the run so they’ve got to keep moving in order to keep clear of Agent Woo (Randall Park) and the feds.

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Image via Marvel Studios

It seems as though this is Scott’s first time in the mobile lab because the first thing he asks Hank is, “You get your tech at a restaurant?” Right after that, the door on Scott’s side opens. It’s Hope! She asks, “We good?” Hank replies, “We’re good, yeah.” She tells him she’ll be right back and then Scott turns to Hank and says, “She seems more intense.” Hank tells him, “She hasn’t seen her mother in 30 years and she’s so close to finding her. How would you be?” After that, it’s some awkward silence until Scott reaches out to grab something and Hank swats his hand away.

No big plot bombshells there, but it was a moment that showed off more of that amusing comedic tension between the characters from the first film.

Now that you’ve got 22 things to know about Ant-Man and the Wasp, how about even more information and interviews from set? Check out the links below for more content.

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