Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Not Bringing Back Major Marvel Character for Sequel

Marvel Studios’ Phase Four film slate has already made its mark due to how different it is from the previous three phases. The studio began to strut their stuff with the magnificent WandaVision and closed out the year with the almost perfect Spider-Man: No Way Home. Phase Four is nowhere near through as the studio begins to prep for the release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and with post-production on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania underway.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is one of the more interesting projects Marvel Studios will release. The film’s villain Kang The Conqueror, played by Lovecraft Country star Jonathan Majors, made his debut during the season finale of Loki, and the events of the series set up some pretty big things for the Ant-Man and the Wasp sequel. Quantumania has a lot of great things going for it, but it appears that the cast will be a man down. The Suicide Squad star David Dastmalchian has revealed that he will not be returning for the Ant-Man threequel.

“It doesn’t look like it… But that’s okay,” Dastmalchian told Screen Rant when that asked about his return. “I know they’re making something incredible. I can’t wait to see what Peyton does next. He’s one of my favorite directors… He’s been so busy. I have tried to stay in touch, but he’s making an incredible film right now.”

Quantumania is expected to focus on the Quantum Realm, so it would actually make sense for Scott Lang’s cohorts to not appear. The Ant-Man sequel seems like it’s going to be the most action-packed film in the trilogy, with scribe Jeff Loveness dishing on a scene that uses the same technology as The Mandalorian. Loveness revealed to Bridger Winegar’s I Said No Gifts! Podcast an insane action sequence that involves Evangeline Lilly’s Wasp.

“I had one of those things where I felt like a French person watching that train movie,” he said. “There was a complicated running sequence where the Wasp, very small, she flies around, she’s going through the forest and the camera’s moving with her and it tracks on the screen, so it just kind of looks like a legitimate shot from the movie, and it’s very jarring to have this gigantic screen moving like a camera. It kind of was! Especially in goggles, I don’t recommend throwing an Occulus on your head and jumping into an all CG environment.”

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is set to hit theaters on July 28, 2023. The film will star Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Bill Murray, Kathryn Newton and Jonathan Majors. Not much is known about the films plot, but it is said to explore the Quantum Realm and features Majors as Kang The Conqueror. 

What do you think about David Dastmalchian not appearing in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @NateBrail up on Twitter!