ScreenCrush’s Comic Strip is a weekly roundup of the hottest superhero movie news items. From Marvel to DC and points in between, if it pertains to costumed comic-book heroes, we’re covering it here, bringing you our expert analysis. This week, director Edgar Wright reveals his "homework" for 'Ant-Man,' rumors point to an expanded Marvel TV universe, and new production details on 'Batman vs. Superman' drop.

'Ant-Man'

To Steal an Ant-Man
Marvel Animation
loading...

Now that Edgar Wright has found his Ant-Man in Paul Rudd, the director can now hunker down and get this Marvel Phase 3 superhero flick made. But that means he has to do his homework first!

On Sunday, Wright revealed a screenshot (shown above) from an episode of Marvel's animated series 'Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes,' titled "To Steal an Ant-Man," on his blog. The shows the first appearance of Scott Lang, who, in the episode, steals Hank Pym's Ant-Man suit to rob a bank. It seems likely that this'll be used as inspiration for the coming live-action 'Ant-Man,' hitting screens July 31, 2015. It also seems likely that Scott Lang will be used as the main protagonist instead of Hank Pym, and with Paul Rudd in the lead, it'll surely be an interesting ride.

Marvel TV

Guardians of the Galaxy photo
loading...

Aside from Marvel's thriving big-screen endeavor, its small-screen properties are growing, as well. The studio already has live-action series for Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Daredevil, Jessica Jones and a culminating 'The Defenders' miniseries event in the works on Netflix, the first to drop in 2015, but Marvel seems to have a couple more ideas in mind.

For one, according to Comic Book Movies, 'Guardians of the Galaxy,' which will become mainstream with this year's James Gunn-directed feature film, is getting animated for the small screen. While more confirmation is needed, this seems perfectly likely as Marvel already has 'Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes' and 'Ultimate Spider-Man' to coincide with their big-screen renderings.

And secondly, rumors have hit the fan that Marvel is moving forward with its long-considered 'Agent Carter' TV series, which would see Hayley Atwell reprise her Agent Peggy Carter character, first introduced in 'Captain America: The First Avenger,' in her own series.

"All Hail the King" One-Shot

All Hail the King Ben Kingsley
Marvel Studios
loading...

Back in the day, 'Iron Man 3' star Ben Kingsley (The Mandarin) teased that he did some additional work for Marvel, which would soon be revealed to be a new One-Shot short film. Now, as 'Thor: The Dark World' readies itself for a Blu-ray and DVD release, it seems that we'll soon see Kingsley's secret project!

Amidst the list of Blu-ray extras for 'Thor: The Dark World,' Marvel revealed a One-Shot film titled "All Hail the King." On first glance it seemed to be related to the Alan Taylor-helmed sequel, but 'Iron Man 3' scribe Drew Pearce teased otherwise:

While this is by no means a confirmed statement, it does seem likely. If you need more convincing, Bleeding Cool seems to have the evidence all mapped out.

'Batman vs. Superman'

Batman Superman Wonder Woman
DC Comics
loading...

It was a given that DC and Warner Bros.'s upcoming 'Batman vs. Superman' would be a large-scale production, already with the likes of Henry Cavill's Superman, Ben Affleck's Batman and Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman entering the same cinematic space. And the budget for said event is looking to be just as grand as the characters themselves.

As Michigan Film Office public relations manager Michelle Grinnell tells Inquisitr, 'Batman vs. Superman' will be the largest production to be filmed in Michigan to date -- even larger than 'Oz, The Great and Powerful' -- at a budget of $131 million!

Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane will also reprise their roles from 'Man of Steel' for 'Batman vs. Superman,' but a few more roles still remained to be filled. The latest rumor is that Dwayne Johnson, who recently revealed he met with Warner Bros. about an under-wraps DC project, is in contention for a role, though it seems more likely that he was referring to the long-gestating 'Lobo' film. In 2012, he confirmed talks of his potential involvement.

DC Comics
DC Comics
loading...

Elsewhere, Batman-on-Film.com (via io9) has declared a rumor about the film that'll surely throw fans of Wonder Woman into a tizzy. According to the site, which has proven in some circumstances to be a reliable source for certain Batman-related content, reports that Wonder Woman's appearance in 'Batman vs. Superman' will be "on par with Scarlett Johansson's first appearance as Black Widow in 'Iron Man 2,'" meaning it'll be more of a "cameo-plus type of role that will (hopefully) serve as a springboard to a solo Wonder Woman movie." But that's not the worst of the rumor -- remember how in 'Man of Steel,' the Kryptonians searched other planets to establish "outposts"? Well, the site claims that "the 'Amazons' of this cinematic DCU will be descendants of those 'ancient Kryptonians' who attempted to set up Kryptonian outposts throughout spacedom thousands and thousands of years ago."

For the sake of Wonder Woman herself, let's hope these rumors are proven false as quickly as possible. Batman-on-Film.com even states, "Nothing should be taken as confirmed news." [UPDATE: And just like that, Badass Digest reports that this is complete BS. Thanks the heavens!]

Production on the film will begin later this year, which means more casting announcements will be made official in the coming months. So stay tuned!

More From ScreenCrush