New 'Ant-Man and the Wasp' Images Released

Marvel Studios has debuted new images from Ant-Man and the Wasp, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly.

The first still sees Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and new partner the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) racing into action, with ex-con-turned-superhero Scott Lang riding atop a member of his ant army while Hope van Dyne soars under her own power.

A second still finds the duo unmasked in their new uniforms, as the pair find themselves "hell-bent" on rescuing Hope's long-lost mother, Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer), from the mysterious Quantum Realm.

"Scott entered the Quantum Realm in the first film and came back, which is something they thought was impossible," Lilly said.

"The question has arisen, 'Can Janet come back?' So the entire film, my character is hell-bent on finding a way to get into the Quantum Realm and bring her back."

The Ant-Man sequel marks Pfeiffer's first foray into the comic book movie genre since Tim Burton's Batman Returns, where she played elusive femme fatale Catwoman.

"It was really interesting to bring her in and get her up to speed on all the mythology and her place in this world," said Peyton Reed, back in the director's chair for the super-sized sequel.

Also joining the franchise is Marvel Cinematic Universe newcomer Hannah John-Kamen (Ready Player One), who boards as the film's villain: Ghost.

"The Ghost character could be male, female, anything, so it just seemed more interesting to us [to cast a woman]," Reed said.

"Ghost's primary power is the ability to 'phase,' which allows Ghost to move through solid matter. She has all sorts of strange versions of that phasing power — it proves quite difficult for Ant-Man and Wasp to deal with."

Ant-Man and the Wasp will also further expand the shared MCU with low-level criminal Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins), S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) and Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne), a former colleague of scientist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas).

Lilly's Wasp isn't the first female superhero out of this still-expanding universe, but she is the first to be named in the title of a Marvel Studios movie — something Lilly acknowledges as a big deal.

"It means a lot to me," Lilly said. "If I'm honest with myself, I feel a lot of pressure to make sure that it is everything that the world wants it to be."

Ant-Man and the Wasp opens July 6.