'Ant-Man and the Wasp' Lab Is the Biggest Physical Set in the MCU

Hank Pym's lab is one of the cooler elements of Ant-Man and the Wasp. Not only can it shrink down to portable size, but there are some really interesting elements within the lab itself, and it seems that in order to make that lab come to life for the film it required the largest physical set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet.

Ant-Man and the Wasp was released on Digital HD home platforms on Tuesday and in the film's audio commentary with director Peyton Reed he revealed that the Pym lab set is the largest ever built for the MCU, somewhat funny considering it's for an Ant-Man movie.

"Now we see they're not in fact living in a run-down building, they have created this entirely new laboratory in which Hope and Hank are working on this amazing Quantum Tunnel," Reed said. "I should do a should-out here to Shepherd Frankel, our production designer. This is the largest physical set that's ever been built for a Marvel movie. It's a little counter-intuitive that Ant-Man and the Wasp has the largest physical set."

It's possibly somewhat counter-intuitive on a couple of levels. Not only is Ant-Man and the Wasp about "tiny" heroes, but the Quantum Realm itself is a vastly tiny world as well. The idea that it would take a very large space in the "real" world to develop a way to access one that is subatomic seems like something it wouldn't go together. And size itself isn't the only element of the lab that is interesting. There are visual elements of the lab that are fascinating as well, especially the clever way the lab is powered in the film.

An eagle-eyed fan noticed all the way back in the film's trailer in February that Pym powers his impressive laboratory in a pretty creative way: giant Duracell batteries. It's a power source that makes sense not just because of Pym's tech, but because batteries are a great way to run the lab without using on-the-grid electricity and potentially alerting the authorities, not to mention that a battery powered lab is a lot easier to shrink down and roll away with. It's a detail that Reed teased much earlier in the production process all the way back in 2016.

"We've actually been holed up in the room writing the movie -- myself, Paul Rudd, Adam McKay, Andrew Barrer, and Gab Ferrari," Reed told ComicBook.com. "So we're formulating the whole structure of the movie. And I can't really tell you too much yet, except there are going to be things in this movie that you've never seen in any movie before. It's going to be nuts!"

Ant-Man and The Wasp is available now on digital downloads and will be available Blu-ray and DVD on October 16, 2018. Captain Marvel will hit theaters on March 8, 2019, followed by Avengers 4 on May 3, 2019, and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5, 2019.