Ant-Man and the Wasp

Ant-Man and the Wasp is a 2018 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Scott Lang / Ant-Man and Hope Pym / Wasp. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the sequel to Ant-Man (2015) and the 20th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Peyton Reed and written by the writing teams of Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, and Paul Rudd, Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari. It stars Rudd as Lang and Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne, alongside Michael Peña, Walton Goggins, Hannah John-Kamen, David Dastmalchian, Tip "T.I." Harris, Judy Greer, Bobby Cannavale, Randall Park, Abby Ryder Fortson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, and Michael Douglas. In the film, the titular pair work with Hank Pym (Douglas) to retrieve Janet van Dyne (Pfeiffer) from the Quantum Realm.

Talks for a sequel to Ant-Man began shortly after that film was released. Ant-Man and the Wasp was officially announced in October 2015, with Rudd and Lilly returning to reprise their roles. A month later, Ant-Man director Reed was officially set to return. He had joined the first film later in its production and was excited to develop this one from the beginning. He also looked forward to introducing Hope van Dyne as the Wasp in this film, and insisted on treating Lang and her as equals. Filming took place from August to November 2017, at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia, as well as Metro Atlanta; San Francisco; Savannah, Georgia; and Hawaii.

Ant-Man and the Wasp had its world premiere in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on June 25, 2018, and was released in the United States on July 6, 2018, as part of Phase Three of the MCU. The film was a critical and commercial success, receiving praise for its performances (particularly those of Rudd and Lilly), humor, and levity, and grossing over $622 million worldwide. A sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, was released in February 2023.

Plot

Two years after Scott Lang was placed under house arrest due to his involvement with the Avengers, in violation of the Sokovia Accords, Hank Pym and his daughter Hope van Dyne briefly manage to open a tunnel to the Quantum Realm. They believe Pym's wife Janet van Dyne might be trapped there after shrinking to sub-atomic levels in 1987. When he had previously visited the Quantum Realm, Lang had unknowingly become quantumly entangled with Janet, and now he receives an apparent message from her.

With only days left of house arrest, Lang contacts Pym about Janet, despite the strained relationship they have because of Lang's actions with the Avengers. Hope and Pym kidnap Lang, leaving a large ant with Lang's ankle-monitor on as a decoy so as not to arouse the suspicions of FBI agent Jimmy Woo. Believing the message from Janet is confirmation that she is alive, the trio work to build a stable quantum tunnel so they can take a vehicle to the Quantum Realm and retrieve her. They arrange to buy a part needed for the tunnel from black-market dealer Sonny Burch, but Burch realizes the potential profit to be made from Pym's research and double-crosses them. Donning the Wasp outfit, Hope fights off Burch and his men until she is attacked by a quantumly unstable masked woman. Lang tries to help fight off the "ghost", but the woman escapes with Pym's lab, which has been shrunk down to the size of a suitcase.

Pym reluctantly takes Hope and Lang to visit his estranged former partner Bill Foster, who gives them a way to locate the lab. After they find it, the "ghost" captures the trio and reveals herself to be Ava Starr. Her father, Elihas, was another of Pym's former partners. Elihas and his wife died during an experiment that caused Ava's unstable state. Foster enters and reveals that Ava is dying and in constant pain as a result of her condition. They plan to cure her using Janet's quantum energy. Believing that this will kill Janet, Pym refuses to help them and escapes with Hope, Lang, and the lab.

Opening a stable version of the tunnel, Pym, Hope, and Lang are able to contact Janet, who gives them a precise location to find her but warns that they only have two hours before the unstable nature of the Quantum Realm separates them for a century. Using a truth serum, Burch learns the trio's location from Lang's business partners Luis, Dave, and Kurt, and informs a contact at the FBI. Luis warns Lang, who rushes home before Woo can see that he is violating his house arrest. Pym and Hope are arrested by the FBI, allowing Ava to take the lab.

Lang is soon able to help Pym and Hope escape custody, and they find the lab. Lang and Hope distract Ava while Pym enters the Quantum Realm to retrieve Janet, who he finds alive. Meanwhile, Lang and Hope are confronted by Burch and his men, and following a lengthy chase across San Francisco, Ava regains control of the lab, allowing her to begin taking Janet's energy by force. Luis, Dave, and Kurt incapacitate Burch and his men so that Lang and Hope can stop Ava. Pym and Janet return safely from the Quantum Realm, and Janet voluntarily gives some of her energy to Ava to temporarily stabilize her. Lang returns home once again, in time for a now-suspicious Woo to release him at the end of his house arrest. Ava and Foster go into hiding while Burch and his men are arrested and confess due to being injected with Burch's truth serum.

In a mid-credits scene, Pym, Hope, and Janet send Lang into the Quantum Realm to harvest quantum energy in a plan to help Ava remain stable. Before they can retrieve Lang, the other three turn to dust.