Wasp's not to like?
It feels a little unfair to look at Ant-Man & The Wasp too hard--it's not that the Marvel Cinematic Universe's lovable goofball screw up isn't charming in his own right, but being less than three months out from Avengers: Infinity War makes a new Ant-Man movie feel like being ushered out of a funeral straight into a Chuck-E-Cheese, complete with giant Hello Kitty Pez dispensers and wisecracking sidekicks.
It's not Scott Lang's fault, of course. After all, he wasn't even around for Infinity War, so we can't exactly blame him for being off having zany misadventures while the universe hangs in the balance. But still. To say Ant-Man & The Wasp is a little awkwardly timed would be putting it lightly.
The MCU might be in shambles, but the show really must go on, and Infinity Gauntlet-powered universe sundering or otherwise, we're about to head straight into a brand new Marvel solo movie. So it's time to catalog exactly what we want (and, realistically, what we expect) come July 6th.
10. Some Sort of Infinity War Connection
This one probably goes without saying. Given the aforementioned awkwardness in timing and the abrupt shift in tone between Infinity War's conclusion and Scott's general irreverence, we're going to need some kind of acknowledgement that Thanos and the Infinity Stones are a thing. Whether this means a post credits stinger that ties everything together or just some sort of shout-out in the actual movie itself to Cap's team of fugitive Avengers (the likes of which Scott ditched in favor of a plea deal, according to Natasha and Steve) doesn't actually matter. There just needs to be something.
Oh, and a hint at the real title of Avengers 4 wouldn't be too bad, either.
9. A Not-So-Friendly Ghost
Between Killmonger in Black Panther and Thanos in Infinity War, Marvel has had a shockingly good run with their infamously lackluster villain roster and it's up to Ant-Man and Wasp's new foe, Ghost, to keep that trend running. We don't know much about her from the trailers other than she apparently suffered some sort of accident and can now phase through solid material (and, naturally, uses that ability to steal things), so it's difficult to make the call if she's going to end up a memorable baddie or another forgettable one-and-done.
In the comics, Ghost is creepy (and typically male) villain and occasional anti-hero, so Ant-Man & The Wasp certainly has a lot of wiggle room to work in when it comes to translating elements from page to screen.
8. Enter Janet Van Dyne
It's been pretty obvious that Hank Pym's lost wife, Janet, was going to be making her live action debut eventually, especially after all the foreshadowing about Jan's disappearance in the first Ant-Man film. Since then, the news that Michelle Pfeiffer had been cast officially broke and more recently still Pfeiffer's Jan has even been given her very own character poster to highlight her presence in the movie.
However, just confirming that Jan will play a featured part in Ant-Man & The Wasp isn't enough. We're going to need a solid showing from Jan's role to expand (and add a little age diversity) to the MCU's still shallow roster of female heroes. With any luck, Jan's story is going to be more than just a thinly veiled MacGuffin to motivate Hope and Scott to act. We'd really like to see her become a presence in the MCU for a good long while.
7. Goliath Rising
Laurence Fishburne is set to play Bill Foster, otherwise known in the comics as Black Goliath and later Giant-Man, a superhero who winds up with size manipulation powers of his own. Fishburne's been largely absent from most promotional material and only briefly glimpsed in the trailers and when he has been featured, he only mentions working with Hank Pym on the "Goliath program" in the past. It's likely that his role in the film won't be all that large, but we'd still really love to at least see some hints of a Goliath arriving in the present day MCU in earnest--maybe in Avengers 4? We can dream.
6. The Quantum Realm
Speaking of Jan, her story introduces a whole new arena for the MCU to play in: the Quantum Realm, or the "microverse" as it's known in the comics. We learned in the first Ant-Man that Jan had been lost to the Quantum Realm after shrinking down too small--a place where time and space become irrelevant as you just continue to shrink forever.
It's a pretty bleak fate, but one that is (apparently) going to be undone--and an idea that opens the door to a whole new space for the MCU to play in. With a little more definition, the Quantum Realm could be a means to work all sorts of new and fresh material into future films.
5. More of Hank Pym's Past
With both Howard Stark and Peggy Carter officially out of the picture and Nick Fury reduced to ash at the end of Infinity War, Hank Pym represents one of our last links to the early years of S.H.I.E.L.D and the genesis of the superheroic community in the MCU. Not to mention his comics history is full of rich (and often morally dubious) stories to mine inspiration from. An expanded role for Hank in Ant-Man & The Wasp could help build towards moments in the 1990s-set Captain Marvel and pave the way for even more prequel material somewhere down the line.
4. More Luis
Michael Pena's Luis stole the show in Ant-Man as the fast-talking, easily sidetracked sidekick for Scott's out-of-costume criminal activity. He's been spotted in the trailers already, so there's no risk of Luis not being in this next movie, but we already need more. Besides, his now trademark rapid-fire recaps could be a hilarious way to get new viewers up to speed with Scott's adventures.
3. A Young Avengers Nod Or Two
One of Scott's biggest motivators is his young daughter, Cassie, with whom he struggles to connect after his stint in prison. She's too young to be much more than an elementary school kid here in the MCU, but in the comics, Cassie has a long history as a superhero in her own right. With similar powers to her dad, Cassie's most well known as a member of the Young Avengers team with the codename Stature.
Obviously, it'll be a few years before live action Cassie is old enough to join any teams, but we'd really love a few Easter Eggs that point in that direction.
2. Hope In The Spotlight
Perhaps one of the most frustrating things about Ant-Man was its general lack of self awareness for Hope Van Dyne's heroic arc. For some reason, her father was more inclined to trust a random petty thief with his technology than his own daughter who'd trained her whole life for this moment. Thankfully, that's obviously getting at least partially rectified with Hope finally getting her own outfit and powers as the titular Wasp, but it's going to take more than just a costume and a codename to get her back on equal footing with Scott. She's going to need some serious time in the spotlight to really balance out her time in the shadows.
1. A (Real) Heroic Turn for Scott
Scott Lang isn't exactly A-List superhero material, but that's largely by design. His origin as set up by his first solo venture was really designed to make him more of a lovable goofball who made good than a real hero. His time spent helping Steve in Civil War, however, really started to show his potential in the MCU community at large.
We'd love to see Scott really growing into his own identity as a costumed vigilante now that he's got a another chance in the spotlight. If Ant-Man is going to stick around, he's going to need to become more than just a second stringer who lucks into helping the big names out when they call on him--he's got to prove that he's actually motivated (and serious) enough to make his own mark.
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