‘Ant-Man’ Director Peyton Reed in Talks to Return for ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’

Just a couple of weeks ago Marvel readjusted their upcoming slate of films, shifting the release dates of Black Panther and Captain Marvel to allow room for Ant-Man and the Wasp, the official sequel to this year’s Ant-Man. It seemed a bit obvious that director Peyton Reed would return (especially when he tweeted about the sequel), though Marvel hasn’t made anything official until today.

THR reports that Reed is officially in talks with Marvel to return for Ant-Man and the Wasp, just days after we learned that Ant-Man is Marvel’s biggest film to date…in China, anyway. Although Ant-Man didn’t quite capture the success of previous MCU efforts, the film was a huge success overseas, and with Reed’s involvement from beginning to end on the sequel, the follow-up could very well prove more successful than its predecessor.

Reed famously came on board the first Ant-Man after Edgar Wright departed the project over creative differences with Marvel, with Adam McKay and Paul Rudd revising Wright and Joe Cornish’s existing script to fit Reed’s vision.

Ant-Man and the Wasp will see Evangeline Lilly’s Hope VanDyne taking up her mother’s heroic mantle as the Wasp opposite Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang / Ant-Man.

Marvel recently shifted their upcoming schedule, pushing Black Panther back to February 16, 2018 and Captain Marvel back to March 8, 2019 to allow for Ant-Man and the Wasp to hit theaters on July 6, 2018. In addition, the studio announced dates for three untitled movies in 2020.