Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania Star Reveals Paul Rudd’s Marvel Advice

Marvel Studios is going into the new year pretty strong after wrapping up their recent phase of movies set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Phase Five is set to begin with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and wrap things up with Thunderbolts so the future looks pretty bright. Quantumania is the next big film from the studio which will feature the main antagonist of The Multiverse Saga, Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). We will also see Cassie Lang in a more prominent role and she has also been recast. Kathryn Newton (Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, Big Little Lies) will play Cassie in the movie taking over the mantle from Emma Furhmann. Newton recently had a chat with The Wrap and she revealed what advice Paul Rudd gave her when she joined the MCU.

“You know, we fell right into Cassie and Scott immediately. And we had some rehearsals, Paul was doing some improv, and I would just do a little bit,” Newton told the trade. “And when we started filming, we did a couple scenes with Michael [Douglas] and Michelle [Pfeiffer] and Evangeline [Lilly], and Paul and I were on our break. And he was like, ‘Listen, I can tell you’re funny. Just don’t hold back.’ He’s like, ‘If I could say one thing, don’t finish this movie and wish that you didn’t try that joke. Just don’t hold back, do it all.’ He’s like, ‘It’s a movie. At the end of the day, they’re gonna cut it if it’s not funny, and they might use it if it is.’ And I was like, ‘Really? On a Marvel movie, you can try things? And he’s like, ‘Yes.’”

The next Marvel Studios film to be released will be Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quatumania. Empire Magazine recently had a chat with director Peyton Reed about how the stakes have risen going into Quantumania. “People felt like, Oh, these are fun little palate cleansers after a gigantic Avengers movie,” Reed told the outlet. “For this third one, I said, ‘I don’t want to be the palate cleanser anymore. I want to be the big Avengers movie.’”

“I grew up a real Marvel comics nerd, and there are a handful of antagonists in the Marvel comics universe who are all-timers,” Reed continued. “Loki, obviously. Doctor Doom from the Fantastic Four. And Kang the Conqueror. In conversations with Kevin Feige and Marvel, it was like, I want to put Ant-Man and Wasp up against a really formidable villain in this movie, and so we’re doing Kang the Conqueror.” 

“In the comics, Kang has dominion over time, he’s a time traveler. His situation is a little bit different in this movie, which I won’t spoil for you, but he’s someone who, [while] we live very linear lives, from childhood to death, Kang doesn’t exist that way,” the director smirked. “It struck me as interesting to take the tiniest Avengers — in some people’s minds maybe the least powerful Avengers — and put them up against the most powerful force in the multiverse.”

The studio describes the film as follows: “In the film, which officially kicks off phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Super-Hero partners Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) return to continue their adventures as Ant-Man and the Wasp. Together, with Hope’s parents Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), the family finds themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought was possible. Jonathan Majors joins the adventure as Kang.”

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will hit theaters on February 17th, 2023!

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