Ant-Man & The Wasp Is Just What We Need After Infinity War

Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Avengers: Infinity War.

Perhaps the most eagerly anticipated movie of 2018, Avengers: Infinity War has opened to grand acclaim. The movie was expected to do well, but few expected it to shatter the all-time record for earnings made during an opening weekend. Despite this and everything else the movie accomplished, there was one question that eclipsed all others once the movie was over: where were Ant Man & The Wasp?!

Scott Lang - the engineer turned thief who became the second Ant-Man - barely merited a mention in Avengers: Infinity War. It was said in passing that both he and Clint "Hawkeye" Barton managed to negotiate a plea deal that placed them under house arrest following their escape from prison in the closing scenes of Captain America: Civil War. No mention at all was made of Hope Van Dyne or Hank Pym, who developed the technology that allowed Scott to become Steve Rogers' secret weapon during the battle that split The Avengers.

It's no accident that Scott, Hope and Hank were kept out of the action during Infinity War. In fact, there are several reasons why Marvel Comics' smallest heroes were held in reserve to close out the 2018 release schedule.

This Page: How Ant-Man & the Wasp Fits in With Infinity War

Ant-Man & the Wasp Is Set Before Infinity War...

Avengers Infinity War Ant-Man Wasp Captain Marvel

One important thing audiences must realize is that Ant Man & The Wasp is going to be set immediately after the events of Civil War, long before The Infinity War begins in earnest. We don't know the precise plot of the movie, but we do know that it will center around the problems that arise for Hank and Hope after Scott's actions exposed their technology to the world at large - no pun intended. We also know that the Federal Government will be chasing after Hank and Hope, along with at least one technologically empowered thief, The Ghost.

Given the timeline of events in Infinity War, it's not surprising that Scott and Hope might not be called in by Captain America to join The Battle of Wakanda. With the rush to action, Steve Rogers barely had time to get the allies that were with him to Wakanda, let alone start calling in the reserves. It's also clear that whatever happens in Ant Man & The Wasp will be kept low-key enough that it doesn't ping on the radar as everyone still thinks that Scott is living a peaceful life under house-arrest like Hawkeye.

...But Is Going To Set Up Avengers 4

Despite being kept apart from Infinity War, we do know that the events of Ant-Man and The Wasp will lead in to the fourth upcoming Avengers movie. The key clue to this is that Michelle Pfeiffer - who has been cast in the role of the original Wasp, Janet Van Dyne - is scheduled to appear in Avengers 4 along with Michael Douglas as Hank Pym.

The final fate of Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne is unclear (they may number among those erased by the snap of Thanos' fingers) but it has been confirmed that the classic Ant-Man and Wasp will be on-hand to join the rest of the original Avengers line-up from the comics, including Iron-Man, Thor and The Hulk. It is suspected that their fate - and the plot of Avengers 4 - may tie into The Quantum Realm, where Janet Van Dyne disappeared before the events of the original Ant-Man.

It is also speculated that The Quantum Realm may tie into the plot of the upcoming Captain Marvel movie. Like Ant-Man and The Wasp, Captain Marvel will also be set out of sequence with the movies that preceded it, acting as a prequel to the Marvel Cinematic Universe at large with its 1990s setting.

Ant-Man Is A Palette Cleanser Franchise

Another reason that the Ant-Man & The Wasp characters were kept out of the action of Avengers: Infinity War was that they were needed to serve a higher purpose beyond building the body count. Scott Lang, Hope Van Dyne and Hank Pym were intentionally held in reserve so that their next adventure could be used to clear the air after the dark denouement of Infinity War.

Astonishing as it may seem given the wide success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe today, there was a time when the original Ant-Man movie seemed to be something of a gamble. It was felt that one could make an engaging war movie based around Captain America or establish a grand cosmic opera around the aliens who inspired Norse mythology in Thor... but who wants to watch a superhero movie about a guy who shrinks and talks to bugs?!

The first Ant-Man movie succeeded in spite of its goofy premise precisely because it took a joke of a character and ran with the joke. Paradoxically, by refusing to take its concept or its hero seriously with its comedic tone, Ant-Man was able to establish itself and its characters as being worthy of respect. Much of this can be credited to Paul Rudd's masterful skills as a comedic actor and his ability to turn Scott Lang from a figure of ridicule into a sympathetic protagonist we wanted to see succeed.

The humorous tone of Ant-Man was precisely what was needed following Avengers: Age of Ultron - a somewhat dour movie that ended on a major down-note, despite the assemblage of The Avengers. Quicksilver was dead, The Hulk was lost, Tony Stark was on the verge of giving up heroism entirely in the wake of his nearly destroying the world with his efforts to save it and Thor was so disturbed by his dark visions of a coming evil that he left the team it in order to seek out this unseen enemy. After so much darkness and despair, a little lighthearted humor was needed to remind everyone just how much fun comic book movies can be.

We Need Fun Marvel Now More Than Ever

This is why Ant Man & The Wasp is the perfect film to follow Avengers: Infinity War. It's always darkest before the dawn, as the old saying goes, and things are dark indeed for the heroes of The Marvel Cinematic Universe with Thanos having accomplished his goal while devastating their ranks. To borrow a snarky comment from a Marvel hero from another, so-far unaffiliated franchise, "So dark! Are you sure you're not from the DC Universe?"

Comedy is a tricky thing to pull off and that's especially true of comic-relief meant to balance the darker aspects of an action movie. Indeed, one of the few criticisms of Infinity War was how out-of-place Chris Pratt's performance as Star-Lord seemed relative to the rest of the film. Still, based on what we've seen so far of Ant-Man & The Wasp, it appears that it will be the perfect comedic antidote to the despair-inducing ending of Infinity War and a reminder that superheroes can be as fun as they are inspiring.