There's no doubt that part of the first Ant-Man's success was the Marvel brand. By the time the movie hit theaters, the studio had proven themselves at the box office time and again with far zanier concepts. Still, the movie's star power certainly helped it do well. Mainly focused on the trio of Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lily, and Michael Douglas, fans have been hoping to see all three return for the inevitable sequel. Rudd was always a sure thing, and the film's tag ensured Lily would be back as Hope Van Dyne. That was reinforced when the sequel was given the name Ant-Man & the Wasp, setting up Lily's turn as a superhero and helping to address representation in Marvel films.

The one big question mark has been whether veteran actor Michael Douglas would return as the original Ant-Man, Dr. Hank Pym. He's seemed open about it in the past, but big-budget movie negotiations can always change things. Considering how much of his time in the first movie was spent providing exposition, however, it would have been a waste of the actor's talents if he never got another crack at the classic Marvel character. Luckily, those fears can now officially be put to rest.

Michael Douglas took to his Facebook to announce that he would, in fact, once again be portraying Hank Pym for Ant-Man & the Wasp, while also confirming the film's start of production.

Previous reports pegged the film's start date to be in June, but Douglas' post confirms it will in fact be July. We learned earlier today that pre-production would be starting very soon in Atlanta, so a mid-summer start of production makes sense. There's no word yet on what the plot of the film will involve, but we know it will be 'crazier' than the first one. Douglas also previously spoke about wanting to team up with Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye in a future film, so hopefully we'll get to see that come to fruition.

There's also the question of whether Pym will be on-hand during the upcoming battle against Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. We know the Wasp won't show up until Avengers 4, but whether that holds true of both Ant-Men, we're not yet sure. With pre-production about to begin and the film's start date around the corner, we should learn a lot more soon.

Stay tuned for all things Ant-Man & the Wasp, both great and small.

Source: Michael Douglas