Director Peyton Reed says the upcoming  sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp will feature a "fully formed" Wasp to partner with Ant-Man. A distinctively different film than previous MCU offerings, 2015's Ant-Man not only boasted a fun, heist element, but had an infectious brand of humor thanks to the natural comedic sensibilities of star Paul Rudd. And if the film itself didn't generate enough excitement for Marvel fans, a soaring mid-credits scene introduced a second generation version of the Wasp that all but set up the foundation for the sequel.

The big screen pairing of the tiny, winged characters was made official less than a month after the release of Ant-Man when Disney and Marvel Studios announced that Ant-Man and the Wasp was coming in July 2018. In the original film, Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) recounted for Scott Lang (Rudd) during his training to become Ant-Man that he once donned the suit and that his wife, aka the Wasp, was tragically lost during a mission together. Pym eventually confessed the long-held dark secret to his resentful daughter, Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), and in the film's mid-credits scenes, he revealed for her an updated yet unfinished Wasp prototype suit.

In a new interview with Collider, Reed discussed the natural pairing of Scott and what promises to be a huge development of Hope's character. He says:

“It’s something we’re excited about. For me as a comic nerd, I always thought of Ant-Man and Wasp as a team and that’s a lot of what the second movie is really about is how they work together, what their personal and professional relationships are like. To show her finally fully formed in this movie is really exciting. We really get to introduce this character into that universe. I mean we’ve introduced the character, but we haven’t seen her with her full power set and everything, so to me she’s not a supporting character in this movie. It’s every bit as much her movie as it is Scott Lang’s."

Ant-Man stars Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly

The inclusion of a "fully formed" Wasp for the Ant-Man sequel shouldn't come as a huge surprise, since the title of the film clearly suggests that the film is going to be about more than Scott this time. Still, Reed's description of the Wasp in the sequel will be more than welcome to fans, especially those looking for a bit more diversity in the MCU.

Lilly, who was a strong supporting character in Ant-Man, easily proved that she had the gusto to wear the Wasp's suit and more than earned lead character status for Ant-Man and the Wasp. It's a clear sign that Marvel – which took a huge step forward by green lighting Captain Marvel with Brie Larson in the lead – is fully committed to highlighting the importance of female superheroes in the MCU. Could a Black Widow solo movie be next?

Next: Writers’ Strike 2017 Won’t Affect MCU Phase 3

Source: Collider