Entertainment
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania director Peyton Reed excited for hero to step out of ‘margins’ and into Avengers status spotlight-Tori Brazier-Entertainment – Metro
‘That was exciting was to us.’
Director Peyton Reed is ready for Scott Lang to get the spotlight (Picture: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
Ant-Man director Peyton Reed has reflected on the journey of ‘unlikely’ con-man-turned-superhero Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) from the ‘margins’ to Avengers status across his three-film franchise.
Reed has directed the trilogy of movies, the first of which released in 2015, and with new release Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has also now been put in charge of officially kicking off Phase Five of the MCU.
The latest blockbuster Marvel movie finds hero Scott stuck in the Quantum Realm alongside his family, including daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton), partner Hope Van Dyne/Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), and her parents, Dr Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer).
Discussing how he balanced directing an Ant-Man movie with the larger responsibility of setting the stage for the next major story arc for Marvel, Reed revealed that a lot hinged on new supervillain Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), who is also set to appear in the next two Avengers movies.
Speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk at the UK gala screening, he explained: ‘I really approached it in the same way we’ve done all the movies, just tell the best, most exciting story that we can, and one of the most exciting things about this story is introducing Lang.
‘I personally love the idea that in the first Ant-Man, Ant-Man and Wasp were nowhere near being Avengers, they were kind of operating in the margins. And here they are front and centre and – as unlikely as it is – they’re the first two Avengers to encounter Kang the Conqueror.’
He’s excited about working outside the ‘margins’ (Picture: Samir Hussein/WireImage)
‘That was exciting was to us,’ he added.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars are currently scheduled for release in 2025 and 2026 respectively.
Despite the pressure resting on his shoulders and those of the cast, Reed was praised by actress Kathryn Newton for bringing a sense of ‘play’ to the set throughout production.
The 58-year-old, who also directed classic cheerleading movie Bring It On, said: ‘We tried to laugh every day. A big part of my job as director on a movie like this is to sort of shield the actors from all the crazy technical considerations so they can just be free and relaxed to try things.
‘We always do the version that we’ve scripted, but then we’ve learnt on these movies to do some improv and find new fun ways to go at it.
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‘With Paul at the centre of it, it’s always going to be fun, and with Kathryn, pairing them as father and daughter in this movie was really fun [too].’
‘These movies are long shoots, and they can be very difficult, so I really like to try and keep it fun for the actors,’ he shared.
Majors previously revealed that he spent ‘hours’ studying Tom Hiddleston – for his appearance as Kang variant He Who Remains in TV show Loki – and then Paul Rudd, in order to be the perfect antagonist to each character.
Paul Rudd plays con-man-turned-superhero Scott Lang (Picture: Reuters)
He told Metro.co.uk and other press at the Quantumania press conference: ‘The prep really comes down to who my director is, and who my hero is. Because as an antagonist, we’re following our heroes.
‘In this case, I had a few to kind of look at and break down, which is the fun part. I look at them and I figure out, okay, you can’t antagonise somebody if you don’t know who they are, if you don’t know what’s the opposite of them, if you don’t know what their hopes and dreams are. My objective is to do that – antagonise in order to get what I need to fulfil my life, my dream.’
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He continued: ‘So in Loki, I’m dealing with Tom. It was great – He Who Remains and Tom. I got to watch him the whole time. This opportunity came to me in lockdown, and so I studied Tom Hiddleston for hours a day.
‘And then when that was done, I went, “Okay, Paul Rudd, you’re up.” And I studied him, and I studied him, and I studied all his hero colleagues and co-patriots.’
Ant-Man And the Wasp: Quantumania releases in cinemas on February 17, 2023.
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MORE : Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania divides critics with low Rotten Tomatoes debut score
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