Ant-Man Director Teases Yellowjacket Could Still Be Alive

Screen Rant

By John Atkinson

Published Jul 8, 2018

Ant-Man director Peyton Reed suggests that Corey Stoll's Darren Cross, aka Yellowjacket, could still be alive in the MCU's Quantum Realm.

With Ant-Man and The Wasp officially in theaters, director Peyton Reed teases that original Ant-Man villain, Yellowjacket, may still be alive. Though the sequel sees Scott Lang team up with The Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) in order to tackle a threat of an entirely different skill-set in Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), the first film operated as a very traditional origin story by MCU standards, with the titular Ant-Man squaring off against a villain with abilities identical to his own.

The character of Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), who later adopted the title (and suit) of the villainous Yellowjacket, was last seen in the climactic moments of Ant-Man. Having taken Cassie, the daughter of Scott Lang, hostage, he was confronted by the second-generation Ant-Man. On the verge of defeat, Scott was forced to go sub-atomic in order to infiltrate the Yellowjacket armor. Sabotaging it, the suit began to shrink uncontrollably, leading to Cross's apparent demise.

Speaking to Screen Junkies, however, Reed has revealed that things may not be as they seem, and that Yellowjacket may still be lurking out there somewhere. When questioned about the infamous trend of disposal villains in the MCU, and the tendency of earlier installments to kill them off, he had this to say:

"Well, I mean, you guys are making a massive assumption. There's an assumption here that I'm not quite comfortable with. If you watch his death in the first Ant-Man, the suit is compromised...he shrinks and goes into a thing. I mean, he could be somewhere down there in that quantum realm."

Corey Stoll as Darren Cross explaining shrinking technology in a laboratory in Ant-Man

While this is far from confirmation that Yellowjacket will eventually return in the MCU, it's interesting to think about. At the moment, the movies have yet to bring back their dead villains. On the page, everybody from Iron Man to Bucky Barnes have ventured back and forth from the after life. In the films, though, death seemed to stick... for the most part. That could all be about to change in the wake of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4. Spider-Man, after all, was seen to perish as a result of Thanos's infamous snap, but Tom Holland is already hard at work on Spider-Man: Far From Home. Similarly, it would be hard to imagine Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 wrapping up James Gunn's cosmic trilogy as an Infinity War prequel.

While it had already been confirmed Yellowjacket wouldn't return for Ant-Man and The Wasp, it's certainly possible for him to come back in the future. Reed's reference to the Quantum Realm is especially noteworthy. After all, it's no secret that people can survive in the Quantum Realm for decades, with Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) having been trapped there since before the events of Ant-Man. While fans weren't particularly enamored with Yellowjacket - especially when compared to such villains as Loki and Erik Killmonger - there is certainly potential for bringing things full-circle in a potential Ant-Man 3. And while Peyton Reed himself expressed (and then retracted) a dislike for Yellowjacket, there could be ample opportunity for the director to retool and repurpose the character, this time with a singular vision. Plus, the effects of being trapped in the Quantum Realm can turn him into a much more satisfactory, compelling, and potentially even terrifying figure.