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Real heroes. Not actual size. In a story set between the events of Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Civil War and Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War, Scott Lang is trying to balance his chaotic home life as a father with his responsibilities as the heroic Ant-Man. But when Hank Pym and Hope Van Dyne present him with a new mission involving mysterious secrets from their past, he teams up with Hope as she takes on the mantle of the Wasp. Can they work together? How does Hank Pym’s former colleague, Bill Foster, fit into all of this? And who is the Ghost?

THE OFFICIAL MARVEL MOVIE SPECIALS Thor: Ragnarok Black Panther Avengers: Infinity War Ant-Man and the Wasp Captain Marvel (March 2019)

TITAN EDITORIAL Editor Jonathan Wilkins Senior Editor Martin Eden Assistant Editors Tolly Maggs & Jake Devine Senior Designer Andrew Leung Art Director Oz Browne Contributors Natalie Clubb, Darren Scott Senior Production Controller Jackie Flook Production Supervisor Maria Pearson Production Controller Peter James Senior Sales Manager Steve Tothill

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CONTENTS

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CONTENTS

CONTENTS 06 14 18 24 30 34 36 40 44 48 52 56 58 60 64 68 72 80 82 88 92

Peyton Reed - Directing in Detail The Short Story So Far Paul Rudd as Ant-Man Evangeline Lilly as The Wasp Michael Douglas as Hank Pym Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost Laurence Fishburne as Bill Foster Michael Peña as Luis Walton Goggins as Sonny Burch Judy Greer as Maggie Lang Abby Ryder Fortson as Cassie Lang Randall Park as Agent Woo Tip “T.I.” Harris as Dave Bobby Cannavale as Paxton David Dastmalchian as Kurt Shepherd Frankel / Production Design George Cottle / Stunts Ivo Coveney / Costume Design Andy Park / Visual Development Kevin Feige / President of Marvel Studios

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PEYTON REED THE DIRECTOR

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PEYTON REED THE DIRECTOR

Peyton Reed DIRECTING IN DETAIL After the worldwide success of Ant-Man, it makes sense that director Peyton Reed would return to helm Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp. As it turns out, he’s got quite a few surprises up his sleeve...

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP | 7

nt-Man and the Wasp Movie Special: How was the irst Ant-Man experience for you? The irst Ant-Man was a whirlwind. It was a great whirlwind, though, because it was so quick. It gives you energy as the director, and that energy ilters down to every department. This time around we have more time, which is a thrill, and we’ve established these characters. Now we get to see what happens to them next – particularly Scott Lang, who not only had the events of the irst Ant-Man, but also appeared in Captain America: Civil War. So we deal with all of that in this movie.

01 Peyton Reed and Paul Rudd check their scripts on set with Executive Producer Stephen Broussard 02 The X-Com team in a more tactile environment 03 Reed and Broussard work on a scene

How do you incorporate the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) into part two? The irst Ant-Man is a deliberately smaller, more intimate movie, and it really takes place in its own corner of the Marvel universe. You have Sam Wilson appear, but that’s really the only major link to the larger MCU. I like that about the universe. In Ant-Man and the Wasp we’re doubling down on that. Scott, Hope, and Hank –

“Captain America: Civil War just scratched the surface in terms of Giant-Man powers.” 8 | ANT-MAN AND THE WASP

we had to talk a lot about what the point of entry to these characters was in Ant-Man and Wasp and what’s happened in the intervening time. And, of course, the one thing the audience knows is that, “Wait... Scott Lang – last I saw of him he was in a prison underwater somewhere”. There is, of course, the hint that Captain America busts them out, and presumably he takes the Ant-Man/Giant-Man suit with him. But that’s really all we know. So that was one of the big challenges; for the little amount of time that Scott Lang was in Civil War, we had to take into account what that meant for these characters going forward. We landed on a really fun way to ind Scott and Hope at the beginning of the movie, and Hank as well. It takes into account the events of Civil War, but that’s about it. It still operates in its own corner of the MCU. What about Hank and Hope’s relationship? We talked a lot about Hope’s point of entry in this movie because for the whole irst movie she’s clearly the more qualiied person to put on the suit – and she’s not allowed to until the very end. Hank reveals that he and Hope’s mother were, at one point, working on this suit, and now he’s going to carry on that work with Hope. So in Ant-Man and the Wasp, Hope van Dyne inally has this thing that she’s wanted for so long. You’ll ind at the beginning of the movie that she is a very different Hope to who you saw in the irst movie.

PEYTON REED THE DIRECTOR

How do you keep the new tricks and effects fresh? We have a lot of tricks in this movie that the audience hasn’t seen before. Captain America: Civil War just scratched the surface in terms of the Giant-Man powers, and in this movie they have made advances on the suit. You’ll see AntMan-size action and Giant-Man-sized action – and you may see a lot of different size action in between... The other thing is that there’s just an ininite amount of types of ants at Hank and Scott’s disposal to do things, which is fun to play around with. Then you have Wasp, and she’s someone that we’ve never seen in action onscreen. That’s been great in terms of iguring out the choreography of how she moves, how she ights, how she lies, and just her character as a hero – she’s a very different Hope Van Dyne in this movie. It’s really, really exciting to see these two ight in tandem together – trying to work out how they coordinate their power sets and ight together in a way that really does work. And they’re incredibly powerful when it does work. As a ilmmaker you’re always looking to up your game in everything, including the action sequences and taking the audiences to places they haven’t been before. We scratch the surface of the Quantum Realm in the irst movie, and we’re going to explore that a bit more in this movie. Are you still going to play with scale a lot? Absolutely. I love the Ant-Man universe because it’s not taking place in outer space and it’s not taking place in

Asgard; it’s the real, mundane, boring, normal world – but we get to experience it from these weird, radically different perspectives. And that is what’s really, really fun about it. There’s something really childlike about the AntMan power, because it puts you down on the loor where kids play with action igures. For example, that sequence in Civil War… When you talk about Super Hero movies and the wish fulillment

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP | 9

PEYTON REED THE DIRECTOR component, and then you’re a kid, and you’re watching Ant-Man rip the wing off a jet airliner in a way that feels so realistic, that’s really, really invigorating. That’s a huge part of the magic of these movies.

What were the biggest challenges in making Ant-Man and the Wasp? Scott and Hope; where we see them at the beginning of the movie is quite different from where they end up at the end of the movie. How’s that for being vague? But the idea is really that they have to igure out what their attitude about being heroes is. There’s stuff we deinitely set in motion in the irst Ant-Man, particularly with regards to Hank Pym and what’s next for him, having passed on the torch of AntMan and having launched Wasp on her own road to being a hero. That’s a big part of the story as well. Also, through the course of this adventure our characters are plagued by different things in each of their pasts that come back to revisit them. Where are Scott and Hank currently in the larger MCU picture of things? One of the things to bear in mind about Ant-Man and the Wasp is that this is post-Civil War’s Sokovia Accords. So just as Hope is about to come into her own as a hero, she also has to igure out what it means to be a hero in the world of the Sokovia Accords. As for Hank, I think it’s fair to say that at the beginning of the movie he is not very happy with Scott Lang for having exposed the AntMan suit technology to the Avengers. This is Hank’s worst nightmare. Maybe Hank is having second thoughts about whether Scott is up to the challenge of being Ant-Man. That was an important thing to consider in Civil War. Scott’s actions in that movie have real ramiications on the characters in this movie. What are the enhancements to the costumes? One of the cool things about the MCU is that the hero suits are always changing and developing, and they’re

04 Reed directs Paul Rudd on a bluescreen set with backgrounds to be added 05 Ghost provides the movie with a relatable villain

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always pushing the tech forward. There have deinitely been some changes to the Ant-Man suit since Ant-Man and even since Civil War. In this movie, Scott’s struggling with what it means to be Ant-Man, and Hank Pym has a separate mission. He’s got a new set of concerns that he’s dealing with, and unfortunately, one of the things that means is that he’s not had as much time to forward the Ant-Man tech as he’d like. Or to put it another way, he hasn’t necessarily done the quality control on the suits that he might have done normally. Hank is usually a stickler for quality control and making sure everything works, but he’s a little distracted, and it’s not always the best thing for the Ant-Man suit... Are we going to see new or familiar faces dropping by? There are some new faces in Ant-Man and the Wasp and faces that Marvel Comics’ fans will certainly recognize. They are faces that haven’t been featured in the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet, but that’s one of the things that’s really exciting to me – just like it was exciting to introduce Hank Pym in the irst Ant-Man. We placed Hank Pym retroactively into the MCU’s history of SHIELD – he’s there with Howard Stark, and he also knew Peggy Carter... It was really fun to take Michael Douglas and plop him irmly into the history of this universe. We do more of that [in this ilm]. It’s safe to say you’re

PEYTON REED THE DIRECTOR

“It’s safe to say you’re going to meet a character who Marvel Comics fans will certainly know...” going to meet a character who Marvel Comics fans will certainly know from Hank Pym’s past, and from the Avengers’ past. And then you’re going to be introduced to another character that may or may not be familiar to a lot of Marvel fans. But it’s a character that enters the movie in a very different way to how the character exists in the comic universe. This character creates some really serious issues for all of our heroes in this movie. Is humor still a big part of the Ant-Man experience? I think humor is a big part of the Ant-Man universe and will continue to be in Ant-Man and the Wasp, particularly with Paul. It was fun to see Civil War and see Scott Lang appear in that movie, and as the story’s really not about him he could just make jokes and have fun. Paul and I have talked a lot about how there was an onus on us in the irst movie – particularly in the irst half of the movie –

06 The nature of Ant-Man’s powers gives Reed licence to create thrilling action sequences 07 Evangeline Lilly as the Wasp, the first female title character in a Marvel Studios movie

to set up Paul Rudd as an action hero. It was the irst time Paul had really played a character like that, and, of course, he got into amazing shape and his performance was terriic. But, we wanted him to be a little more subdued, a little more laconic in the irst half of the movie. So he’s a bit more of a straight man in the movie, particularly the irst half, but he gets plenty of laughs and he’s great. But now that we’ve done that heavy lifting, I think the second movie its going to be every bit as funny, if not more so. What can audiences look forward to this time around? There are a lot of things that excite me about Ant-Man and

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP | 11

PEYTON REED THE DIRECTOR 08

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PEYTON REED THE DIRECTOR

“In terms of the shrinking and growing, we’re going nuts in this movie. It’s crazy.”

the Wasp, but I think the biggest is to see Wasp herself; to see Hope van Dyne as a fully-formed hero in this movie. They’ve certainly talked about the fact that she’s the irst female hero in the title of a Marvel movie. For me, to get to igure out all of the things that go into any hero, working really closely with Evangeline and developing what the power set of Wasp is going be in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, her ighting style, her attitude… It has really, really been fun. To be able to advance the relationship and the rapport between Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne in their personal lives and their lives as heroes, that’s really, really fun. And there’s also Hank Pym, who, for me, is on the Mount Rushmore of Marvel’s iconic scientist hero characters. To see what happens to him in this movie is really, really fun too! But in terms of the shrinking and the growing, we’re going nuts in this movie. It’s crazy. We’re doing some action sequences that you obviously would not see in any other movie because they’re so speciic to these characters and to their powers. What was different about the production of this ilm compared to the irst? I think after having done a movie called Ant-Man, which is a tricky proposition as to whether audiences are gonna accept Ant-Man as a hero, it gives a little conidence now to move forward with these characters and make a movie where some truly weird stuff can happen, or where the movie can take a diversion into something that’s overtly comedic or overtly musical, and go in some very strange directions. I like that about it, and I like that we’re making this movie at a studio that gets psyched about that stuff. I’m thrilled that Marvel Studios is run by people who are creatively hungry and really want to take chances because they don’t want to repeat themselves. They want to do different types of movies, and it’s up to us to really come to them with some really insane ideas. It really is a huge difference as a creative person, and as a ilmmaker, to have that support system.

08 Ant-Man and the Wasp in action!

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A SHORT STORY SO FAR Scott Langâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journey from small-time thief to big-time hero led to him standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Captain America...

A SHORT STORY SO FAR...

r. Hank Pym is an exceptional scientist who used to work for S.H.I.E.L.D., but resigned after discovering their attempts to replicate his suit that can shrink the wearer down to the size of an ant and possibly beyond. Years later, he discovers that his protégé Darren Cross is trying to replicate the suit’s abilities in a new suit called the Yellowjacket. After being forced out of his own company by Cross and his estranged daughter, Hope Van Dyne, Pym hatches a plot to steal back his technology, ensuring the powerful super suit doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

ENTER SCOTT LANG After being released from prison, the well-meaning thief Scott Lang inds himself unable to land a job due to his criminal record. Discovering that his ex-wife has become engaged to a police oficer, Jim Paxton, Lang is told that if he can’t pay child support, he will not be allowed to see his daughter. In desperation, he takes on another heist. Lang inds himself back at his apartment in possession of the target of the heist - what appears to be an old motorcycle suit. His curiosity getting the better of him, he tries on the suit and triggers a button. Suddenly, he’s shrunk down to the size of an ant. After inally working out how to return to his normal size, Lang’s terrifying experience drives him to smuggle the suit back to where he stole it from. Unfortunately for him, the police are ready and waiting. Pym, presenting himself as a lawyer, smuggles the AntMan suit to Lang’s prison cell to allow him to escape. With no other choice, Lang shrinks down and escapes with the help of an army of ants. All of this was part of Pym’s plan to test Lang and see if he was worthy of the suit. Having proven himself, the real mission begins….

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A SHORT STORY SO FAR...

THE REAL MISSION Lang has been recruited to use the Ant-Man suit to steal the Yellowjacket suit from Cross. Hope reluctantly agrees to help Pym by spying on Cross. However, she still resents her father for holding back the truth of what happened to her mother. After they train Lang together, demonstrating to him how the suit grants him super strength and the ability to control ants, Pym reveals the truth to her. Pym used to be Ant-Man, and his wife, Janet, used a similar suit to become the Wasp. In a mission to stop a Russian nuclear missile, Janet had to shrink to a subatomic state to stop the missile, but then she became lost forever in the Quantum

Realm. He shares his wish that the same fate doesn’t befall Hope, and they reconcile. Cross has a grand unveiling for his perfected Yellowjacket suit. Lang, along with his old crew and a swarm of lying ants, strikes. But when he reaches the Yellowjacket, he and the others are captured by Cross. Cross reveals his plan to sell the Yellowjacket and Ant-Man suits to Hydra. Lang and Hope break free and take out most of the Hydra agents, but in the confusion one agent manages to escape with a vial of Cross’ unstable formula and Pym is shot. Lang continues his pursuit of Cross, while Hope barely escapes alive with Pym.

Lang pursues Cross, but when Cross puts on the Yellowjacket costume a battle ensues. Paxton arrests Lang, but Cross takes Lang’s daughter hostage, leaving Paxton with no choice but to release him to save the day. During their battle, Lang shrinks to a subatomic size to get inside Cross’s suit, where he sabotages the shrink tech, causing Cross shrink to death! After a struggle, Lang manages to do the impossible and escapes the Quantum Realm, returning to normal size. Seeing Lang survive the experience, causes Pym to wonder if his wife might still be alive, and he inally offers Hope the chance to take on the mantle of the Wasp. 01 Hitching a ride, Ant-Man flies into action 02 Scott Lang, a wellintentioned criminal with a heart of gold 03 The villainous Darren Cross 04 Yellowjacket soars into confrontation with Ant-Man 05 The Wasp suit as designed by Hank Pym 06 Ant-Man sabotages Tony Stark’s Mark XLVI Iron Man armor

ANT-MAN GROWS UP

Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers, holding the fugitive Bucky Barnes in their custody, ind themselves in need of help as tension escalates between Steve and Tony Stark. Wilson, who previously encounter Lang when he he attempted to break into the Avengers headquarters, mentions that he knows someone who might be able to help. Scott Lang agrees to ight for their cause, and proves himself worthy in combat using the suit to expand instead of shrink, holding back the toughest of the Avengers!

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PAUL RUDD ANT-MAN

Paul Rudd is

Ant-Man The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s smallest Super Hero is back… with even bigger problems! Paul Rudd discusses his return as the breakout star, Ant-Man.

nt-Man and the Wasp: The Official Movie Special: Where do we ind Scott Lang at the start of this ilm? When we start Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scott – that’s me! – is under house arrest because of the events of Civil War. I’m serving my time at home, and when we start the movie I’ve only got a little bit of time left. I’m looking forward to getting out of my house and playing with my daughter and being able to go to her school events and being a normal parent. Hope and Hank Pym are also on the run, and we don’t talk anymore. They’re furious with me because when I was caught with this tech in Civil War it alerted the authorities to them. Now they can’t live their lives and do what they want to do without having a microscope on them. They’re annoyed at me and I want nothing to do with Ant-Man. But with a few days left, well, just when you think you’re out, they pull you right back in… You’ve been involved with the screenplay for both Ant-Man movies – how is this second Ant-Man ilm different from a writing point of view? From a writing point of view, it’s nice when you’re starting with a ilm where you don’t have to explain everything and where certain aspects of the character are now already known. This second ilm was different for me in that with the irst ilm, a script and a story

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existed before I ever signed on as a writer for that. So I started this second movie with an original story, and it has morphed over many months with other writers on board as well. Chris [McKenna] and Erik [Sommers] have been invaluable in really crafting a lot of the script and dialogue and story points along with Peyton Reed [the director] and Stephen Broussard, who is one of our executive producers. Is there an Ant-Man and the Wasp “tone”? Tonally, this movie feels as if it’s dealing with similar themes and relationships as Ant-Man. It still feels family friendly in maybe a way some of the other Marvel ilms don’t. But it’s also abstract and a bit stranger and, tonally, it’s a little bit off-the-track, in a good way. But there’s a general kind of framework. The storyline is simple. We have to ind Janet and we only have a short window of time to do it in. And that was really the construct – the main thing that we’re going to think about – as well as all of the obstacles that are going to prohibit us from doing that. Was there anything from Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Civil War that informed this story? The challenge with working on any of these Marvel Studios ilms is coming up with a speciic, contained story, and still having it it into the Marvel Universe at

PAUL RUDD ANT-MAN large. Certain events have happened between the very irst Ant-Man ilm and the second one that we’re doing now, Civil War being one of them. So we had to address things that happened to my character in the interim, and then imagine what might’ve happened to other characters like Hope and Hank during that time as well. So we start this ilm dealing with the aftermath of having gone to Germany and ighting in Civil War and how that affected our story. Once we deal with those particulars, we get very much into a story that is contained and that people will understand and follow and be invested in, even without having seen Civil War. What do you like about Scott? One of the things that I really like about playing this character is that he is thrown into these extraordinary circumstances – shrinking and lying around on ants and entering Quantum Realms and life-threatening stuff. And yet, one thing that we’ve always tried to sustain is this way of dealing with everything with a little bit of a sense of humor, almost having a carefree attitude about a threat. And that’s fun to do. Hopefully, it also gives the audience a little bit of a fun ride in that you see somebody like Scott Lang and think, that’s how I would take in all of this craziness. So that’s fun to play. It’s a very grounded way to get into something. I would always think, even before this ever started, of Bill Murray in Stripes. Well, it’s actually Bill Murray in anything. He just has this way about him where he seems to not take any of it seriously, and I just love that about Bill Murray. I think it’s a cool quality. What’s your approach to working with director Peyton Reed? He came on board for the irst Ant-Man ilm, and one 02

“We had to address what happened to my character since the very first Ant-Man film, and then imagine what might’ve happened to other characters like Hope and Hank during that time as well.”

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PAUL RUDD ANT-MAN

ANT-MAN: A BRIEF COMIC BOOK HISTORY Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby, Ant-Man made his first appearance in 1962’s Marvel Comics’ Tales to Astonish Vol. 1 #35, in a tale called Return of the Ant-Man. Originally the alter-ego of scientist Doctor Hank Pym, AntMan came into being after the renowned scientist invented two powerful serums; one which could shrink items and one which could enlarge them. He also designed a helmet which would allow him to communicate with ants and a protective suit of armor, which he used during his first aventure in which he did battle with a group of Communist agents. In 1979’s Marvel Premiere #47, former con Scott Lang made his debut as Ant-Man after stealing the costume from the home of Hank Pym. Pym allowed Lang to keep the outfit, as long as he promised to use it lawfully and to help protect the innocent.

01 Giant-Man in hot pursuit of the bad guys 02 Scott Lang is placed under house arrest 03 Scott and Cassie spend some quality time together!

of the things that we both agreed on is the type of movie we wanted to make and how important the laughs were, and creating something that was original within this genre that can easily be a little saturated. It’s like, “Okay, what’s new in a Super Hero movie?” We always wanted to make these things fun and still be emotional and still be wowed with some visuals. I feel like we’ve always been on the same page as far as the movie we want to make. So that just allows trust for me as an actor. I trust he’s getting what he needs, and that’s all you can hope for, really. You don’t want to make the same movie again – and this is certainly not the same movie. We thought, All right, what can we do that’s going to be unique, bigger, and yet not a sensory overload – but what could be slightly stranger? This is a strange story anyway, and we also have things that we will incorporate to help expand the Marvel Cinematic Universe – we’re establishing things that will play a part in other ilms. So we’re taking all of these things and creating this story, while still having elements of weirdness that it our love of weirdness. Peyton and I like weird jokes, by the way, as does Marvel Studios, and as does [Marvel Studios’ President] Kevin Feige and Stephen Broussard – they’re all comedy

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP | 21

PAUL RUDD ANT-MAN

lovers. And it’s kind of nice to work on something where you can make a Neil Hamburger reference, and the head of the studio knows what you’re talking about, because nobody else does!

What’s the family dynamic now? Life has gotten a little trickier just because Scott can’t leave where he is. However, the family gets along really well. Scott gets on with Paxton and Maggie very well. They bring Cassie over and she plays in Scott’s house, and so they have a routine worked out. It’s a very highly functioning family within all of this dysfunction. Everything is good, but it’s gonna be great in just a couple of days when this mission is done. What about Scott’s pals? Well, everybody knows that it’s very hard for felons to try and get a job and go straight, and we are making a go of it. Luis and Scott and the two other guys, the Wombats, formed a company called X-Con Security. And so they are a new company who will provide security to your business or your home. They have a big account that they just need to land, so this is where they have found themselves: on the straight and narrow and giving it a good go!

What’s Hank and Janet’s relationship with Bill Foster? Laurence Fishburne is playing Bill Foster. It’s a bit of an adversarial relationship. They were co-workers, although Bill probably worked under Hank. Hank, in his inimitable way, treated all of the people that he worked with badly – he kind of wrote them off. It seems like a cool dynamic? Yeah, it’s pretty great. There are moments where it doesn’t matter how many ilms you do, sometimes you ind yourself on a set in a scene and you think, Oh, wow, there’s Laurence Fishburne, and there’s Michael Douglas, and there’s Michelle Pfeiffer. And they’re all talking to each other. Whoa! How did I get here? And it’s pretty cool. Why do Hank and Hope need your help? Something has happened over the years while Scott’s been under house arrest. Hank and Hope have been working on a tunnel or a portal, something that can direct a pod – this thing you ride in – into the Quantum

“One of the things that I really like about playing Ant-Man is that he is thrown into these extraordinary circumstances, and yet he always has a sense of humor.” 22 | ANT-MAN AND THE WASP

PAUL RUDD ANT-MAN

04 Scott and Hope embark on a mission with personal consequences 05 Giant-Man catches the ferry!

“We agreed on the type of movie we wanted to make and how important the laughs were. [We wanted to create] something that was original within this genre. It’s like, ‘Okay, what’s new in a Super Hero movie?’”

06 Scott Lang faces new challenges 07 Scott and Hope put their relationship issues aside to create a powerful new Super Hero team: Ant-Man and the Wasp

Realm. At the end of the irst Ant-Man ilm, Scott shrinks down so small that he hits a quantum scale. We know that Janet has been lost down there for 30 years. It was always believed that if you went that small you weren’t going to survive, but because Scott came back in the irst Ant-Man, they have now become obsessed with this idea of inding Janet and bringing her back. What can you tell us about the lab? This lab is a bit of a hot potato. It shrinks and grows and is a mobile lab, but it houses this tunnel. The tunnel is the way that you get into the Quantum Realm, and it’s the way to Janet. There’s another character called Ghost, who also wants to ind Janet for other reasons, so she wants the lab. There’s also another third party named Burch, played by Walton Goggins, and he wants the lab because he’s a

bit of a tech black market wheeler and dealer. So there are all of these people that want this bit of technology. What kind of ride are people in for with this ilm? I think this story covers a lot of bases and it checks a lot of boxes. The audience can expect to be emotionally invested, hopefully not just in Scott’s relationship with his daughter, but in his relationship with Hope and Hank, Hank and Janet – everybody has a connection with one another. Hopefully people will relate to that. And hopefully it’s really funny in a way that’s surprising. The visuals are – as always with Marvel ilms – stunning, but this is bananas! And there are action sequences that you’ve never seen before. Even when I inally saw it, with the special effects, Ant-Man and the Wasp is so much bigger than I had even imagined.

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EVANGELINE LILLY THE WASP

Evangeline Lilly is

The Wasp Evangeline Lilly returns as the bold and beautiful Hope Van Dyne, as she takes up the mantle of her mother’s legacy: The Wasp!

nt-Man and the Wasp: The Official Movie Special: How does it feel to be part of the Marvel Universe? It feels very big, and grand, and exciting. Who doesn’t want to be a part of a Marvel Studios ilm? The movie was, for me, so delightful and immersive. I’m just so proud to have been part of a really good movie; a movie that I’ll be excited to show my kids one day. What was the appeal of the sequel? The irst and foremost motivation to come back was to put on that suit. We actually started doing ittings for the suit two or three months after we inished shooting the irst ilm, which was three-and-a-half years ago. I was also excited to play Hope again because she went through this enormous emotional arc in the irst ilm. She’d spent around 30 years resenting her father and being at odds with him, and the bitterness had built up and given her this very cold exterior, but by the end of the ilm, so much of that had melted away and she had resolved her issues with her father. It was exciting to have the chance to go back to this character and play her in a new space that was not so guarded and jaded and cold, but was warmer and where she was more at ease in her own skin and more at ease in her relationship with her father. But also, she gets to wear this suit that she’s been coveting her whole life, which she didn’t even know existed. She

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so desperately wanted to follow in the footsteps of her parents – who had been incredible super heroes in their day and her formative years – and she’s inally doing that. What was it like to have Michael Douglas playing your father? I am so happy to talk about working with Michael Douglas because I love working with him. When I went into the irst ilm, of course, I knew who Michael Douglas was and I was honored to be working with him. I remember the very irst day I worked with him; as soon as they called “action” and he started to perform, it was like he changed the chemistry of the molecules in the air and the whole room just changed. I felt immediately transported into this world of Hank Pym and Hope van Dyne. It’s such a sweet and delicious gift to have the person you’re performing opposite immerse you further in the world that you’re trying to immerse yourself in. It’s hard to be bad when you’re acting with him because he’s so good. He elevates you. Where do we ind Hope and Hank? For the two years between Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp, Hope and Hank have been living in isolation because they’ve been running from the FBI, who want their tech. As a result we have been working with one another in this lab we built that can shrink and grow at a moment’s notice. The lab is this elaborate, incredible,

EVANGELINE LILLY THE WASP high-tech space that we’ve built a quantum tunnel in. And we’ve built this quantum tunnel because we are both passionately trying to get back to the quantum realm safely to ind Janet Van Dyne – Hope’s mother, Hank’s wife – and bring her back. That’s our mission. How was it when you found out about Michelle Pfeiffer being cast? I mean, come on! When we irst started doing Ant-Man, they referenced Janet Van Dyne a lot. For the whole ilm I’ve been affected by the death of my mother – it’s a very pivotal story point. I swear I told Marvel four years ago, “If you ever bring Janet Van Dyne into one of these ilms, please make it Michelle Pfeiffer!” Not only is she the most beautiful woman to have ever walked planet Earth, she was also Catwoman. To me, she was the pinnacle of female super villains. Then we started doing this ilm and they broke the news to me that Michelle was in fact going to play my mother (I know for a fact they had no recollection that I had asked for her). It had nothing to do with my request, but they realized one of my dreams – one of my fantasies – by casting her. I somehow wound up with Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas playing my parents, and they’re both equally incredible, consummate, lovely, competent, and talented. I’m so happy that I got to act with them.

01 Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne join forces 02 The heroes contemplate the mysteries of the Quantum Realm! 03 Hope’s story involves a very personal journey as she faces a possible reunion with her mother

“I somehow ended up with Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer playing my parents, and they are equally incredible!” 01

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EVANGELINE LILLY THE WASP How was it working with Paul Rudd again? The relationship between Hope and Scott in the irst ilm was really straight forward, which made it delightful to play because I always knew very clearly where things stood. The second ilm is quite complicated, and I found it a lot more challenging to know exactly how to hit the tone of their relationship. When we pick up with the second ilm, they were in a committed relationship and they loved each other. Then Scott ran off to Germany and had a costume party on the tarmac, deciding that he didn’t care if that affected – or even ruined – our lives. As a result, he got himself arrested, and since that point we have no longer been an item. Hope has deinitely harbored feelings of anger and hurt and resentment for the choices he made. They were doing everything together, and all of a sudden he ran off and did something without her, which wound up really hurting her. But of course, love doesn’t die just because there are bad circumstances. She’s got this mission and she’s really focused on her mother, but she still loves Scott. Paul and I have this very delicate, emotional journey to go through together in this ilm. Do you think there is a particular tone which sets this apart as an Ant-Man and the Wasp movie? When I read the script for Ant-Man and the Wasp, I had a repeated question, and I kept asking Peyton if this mirrored exactly what we did in the irst ilm. Was that intentional? And the question is paramount because if it’s intentional, we’re building the brand so that you recognize it. You feel it. You know it. You know when you’re watching an Ant-Man ilm in the same way that you know when you’re watching a George Lucas Star Wars ilm. It’s incredible if you can do that, because you don’t want to make the same ilm twice. You have to surprise your audience. You have to give them something fresh and new that they can be delighted and surprised by. What can you tell us about Bill Foster? So if I wasn’t lucky enough already to be working with Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Paul Rudd, add to the cast Laurence Fishburne, and I turn into a unicorn! Laurence Fishburne is playing Bill Foster, who was Hank’s partner. I guess they were partners on an experiment and the relationship turned sour. We don’t really know why, but it didn’t end well. They’re not friendly, as it seems to be with all of Hank’s peers from back in the day. But he’s played by Laurence Fishburne, who is as warm and welcoming and lovely to work with as you would imagine his persona to be. I feel like a broken record, but it’s just wonderful working with him.

What about the Ghost? Her entrance into this ilm is so cool. Immediately, the minute that we introduce the character of Ghost, you know that Hope’s in trouble. Everybody knows that the only way you can make a good Super Hero ilm is if you have an even better villain, and Hannah [John-Kamen] knocks it out of the park playing a villain who is both terrifying and formidable, but somehow simultaneously vulnerable and innocent. That might be the creepiest

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EVANGELINE LILLY THE WASP thing about her, but it is also one of the things that is really special about this ilm. Paul Rudd really loved the idea of a villain who was redeemable, a villain who was broken; a broken, innocent person who therefore became poisoned. That’s a message that is so important to send to children, and our ilm is for families. It’s for everyone. I applaud the writers of this ilm, and the producers, for being brave enough to try and deal with the complexity of a villain who is not just evil incarnate, but who is a broken human being, who needs compassion, who needs saving. What can you tell us about the costume? The Wasp costume that you saw at the end of the irst ilm was an old prototype from the 1980s. Hope is a woman of 2017, not 1987, so she updates the suit with her father, to make a new one based on the prototype that its Hope’s needs for this day and age. I did four months of ittings to get that suit perfect. And the one thing I told the costumer when we started was I didn’t care how long it took, I didn’t care how long I had to be in that room with them, we would make the suit perfect. I felt like I had to somehow measure up to the absolutely unrealistic, impossible images of women in Super Hero comics. We worked long hours and threw around different ideas, like: should she have lat shoes? Most female Super Heroes have heels built into their costumes, but the Wasp is this sort of small and delicate, stingy little thing. When you look at the lines of the costume now, they all low. There are a lot of S-curves, and that’s something that became indicative of her ight style. So I was asking to build a lot of these S-curves into her ight style. For me, they suggest luidity and grace.

HOPE VAN DYNE - A BRIEF COMIC BOOK HISTORY Making her debut in A-Next #7 in April 1999, Hope Van Dyne was created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz. Named Hope Pym in the comic, she was a part of the MC2 universe. A very diferent character to her portrayal in Ant-Man and the Wasp, Hope and her twin brother Big Man (Henry Pym Jr.) used their parents’ fortune to create a team of supervillains known as the Revengers in order to destroy the heroic A-Next team. Becoming the Red Queen, she was stopped when her brother intervened in her plan that would haved killed both A-Next and the Revengers.

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EVANGELINE LILLY THE WASP

“I did four month of fittings to get that suit perfect. I felt I had to measure up to the impossible images of women in comics.” When she ights I feel she should look effortless; that it’s just something she was born to do. And that kind of effortless luidity is built into the costume, which is very simple, but also elegant and feminine. And hell, yeah – when that suit inally got inished, the whole room just went, “There it is, that’s the Wasp!” I felt like a Super Hero. I felt super. And I was so excited to get in front of the camera. Up to that point, I was so nervous about taking on this mantle and not being good enough or not looking good enough, but the costume sort of tucks away all of those insecurities and I felt like I could walk on set with conidence and feel like the Wasp. What sort of ride can audiences expect with this movie? Ant-Man and the Wasp is going to start in this beautiful, sweet place, that will immediately take you back to the

04 Suited and ready for action, the Wasp and Ant-Man get ready to embark on a minature mission 05 Lilly had a lot of input into the creation of her Wasp costume 06 Hope finally gets to suit up alongside Scott Lang 07 The Wasp and a car that is not quite what it seems...

irst ilm and make you feel all those good vibes that you originally felt and put you back into that world. It’ll go on like that for just the perfect amount of time, and then the ilm will reintroduce the story of Hank Pym and Hope Van Dyne. From that moment forward I dare you to blink, because things don’t stop moving. After I read the script for the irst time I realized that the one word that would deine my character for this ilm was kinetic. I am constantly in motion. Hope and her father are constantly moving towards their goal of inding Janet and bringing her back from the quantum realm. There is barely room to breathe. It’s essentially a ilm about being on the run and about being chased, and we do a lot of really cool chase scenes. The scope of this ilm is so much bigger than the irst ilm and it feels a little more epic, and that’s exciting. But what’s also wonderful is that we never lose that sweet, family-driven story that’s at the heart of it all, which is what I love the most about the Ant-Man brand, and is something you can expect again from this ilm.

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MICHAEL DOUGLAS HANK PYM

Michael Douglas is

Hank Pym Hank Pym, the genius scientist behind the Ant-Man technology is back, once again played by Hollywood superstar, Michael Douglas.

nt-Man and the Wasp: The Official Movie Special: What’s it like being part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? It’s cool. First off, I’ve now got a whole new generation of people under 15 years old who now know me! They could never see my movies before because they were all R-rated. They say, “Hey, Hank Pym!” I must say, it’s lattering after doing this for 50 years. There’s a fun factor to it. My whole career has been pretty much contemporary ilms, comedies, dramas, and all that. To get into this other world, the Quantum Realm, where anything goes, is a trip. I love talking to people on my shoulder when I’m ilming, because everybody thinks I’m nuts! Was it nice not to have to carry a whole movie? Most of my career I’ve carried the movies I’ve been in. I’m usually in every single scene. And now I can leave that up to Paul and Evangeline. What was your reaction to the new script? It’s massive. I had to read the script three times before I could understand the plot and all the plot lines! The producer in me looked at it and thought these guys are out of their minds! I guess that’s why people love those comic books because the stories will go off on all these tangents. People can retain where all these different

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characters are in the story. I didn’t think it was possible. Marvel Studios really do know what they’re doing. And if they don’t like it, they’ll just reshoot it. It’s a luxury that they have with all of their success that allows them to trust their irst instincts but then, if it doesn’t work out, they’ll go another way. There are so many sub stories going on with Michael Peña and his group, but at the core is the hope and belief that Hank is going to ind Janet, his missing wife for the last 30 years, played by Michelle Pfeiffer. Were you pleased to be working with Michelle Pfeiffer? It was just fabulous. Ant-Man started with a lashback with me 30 years younger. For an actor, the idea that you can see yourself 30 years younger is really cool. Who wouldn’t like the chance to act with Michelle Pfeiffer as we looked 30 years ago? What is so enjoyable about revisiting this character? The best thing about doing a sequel is the opportunity to work with the people you worked with before, so there’s a feeling of familiarity. You don’t have to go in like strangers and kind of feel your way out. There’s a comfort factor working with Peyton Reed again. You also get to deine your character more. I’m sort of the straight man in this. I think Hank Pym is a guy who keeps things grounded; he keeps a degree of credibility

MICHAEL DOUGLAS HANK PYM

and reality. Paul Rudd, bless his soul, I love him. But he also gets to write the darn scripts too! He’s always got the funny line, especially the scenes where I’m working my butt off to try to keep it serious! 01

Do you get to wear an Ant-Man costume in the movie? Oh, absolutely. My costumes are sort of retro, from when Hank Pym was Ant-Man, a number of years ago. There’s often some secrecy about things like costumes, for instance, whenever Evangeline and Paul are shooting. Marvel is amazing in terms of preventing stuff getting out about their ilms, and I realize just how important that is. Hank has an amazing laboratory in the ilm. Hank’s lab in San Francisco, which from the outside looks like a ive or six story factory building, is pretty non-descript at irst glance. But inside he’s doing tremendous research basically exploring the possibility of entering the Quantum Realm, which is where he thinks he lost his wife 30 years ago. We still have the ability of getting small, and getting small means a lot of things. Getting small could mean taking a block long, six-story building, making it as big as that. We have one of the greatest sets that I’ve ever seen from our production designer, Shepherd Frankel. Hank’s transportation mode pod to go and enter the Quantum Realm is a stunning set. We will make you believe that I can reduce it to the size of a travel suitcase and take it wherever I want! What was Paul Rudd like to work with? Paul has a wonderful everyman quality, but he’s also got this great quirkiness and sparkle. He also is a very smart guy but likes to play characters that aren’t quite as quick. I thought he did brilliantly in the irst Ant-Man and he’s great in this. He’s a writer as well as being a wonderful actor, and he comes up with some great, clever lines and has an inherent honesty about his performance that is just captivating. We’re still teasing a romantic involvement with Hank’s daughter, Hope. So Hank is looking at Scott as any possible future father-in-law would look at his son. And let’s just say he doesn’t cherish all of his qualities and doesn’t necessarily think Scott’s the best choice for his daughter. Hank is very judgmental and critical of him, and we have a lot of fun with that in the movie. What is Hank’s relationship with Hope like? Hope lost her mother, and Hank is guilt-ridden about the loss of Janet, but also because of his daughter and what she has lost. At the end of the irst ilm, Hank felt that she was old enough to show her her mother’s

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“Lets just say that Hank doesn’t cherish all of Scott Lang’s qualities, and doesn’t think he’s the best choice for his daughter.” 01/02/03 Hank Pym’s incredible technology is used to make his laboratory portable! 04 Michael Douglas as Dr Hank Pym

Wasp outit, as Janet was the original Wasp. And so that was an introduction to her beginning these adventures. So we have mutual respect, although Hope always feels like Hank is holding her back to some degree. He underestimates her intelligence, and her guile and ability to get things done. The search for her mom is a personal link between the two characters. It’s a real joy to watch Evangeline come into her own, knowing a little bit about her career, and now having a Super Hero action ilm in which she is one of the title characters. I get a kick out of watching her joy and her excitement, and her hard work. She’s a wonderful

MICHAEL DOUGLAS HANK PYM

actress, and has great ability when it comes to handling stunts. This series is going to be very important for her career. So I’m proud of her.

HANK PYM: A BRIEF COMIC BOOK HISTORY

responsibility to make it as comfortable as possible for everybody else. So I go out of my way to try to make people feel comfortable, and give them the conidence to step forward. I was fortunate enough for my irst experience on a television series, The Streets of San Francisco, to have Karl Malden advise me. When I was the second lead in soft focus about two steps back behind him, he was the irst guy to say, “Come on up here and have go.” So I encourage people to step forward and take the stage. It’s their moment.

Dr. Henry “Hank” Pym ﬁrst appeared in Tales to Astonish #27 (Jan. 1962) published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee, the character later returned as Ant-Man, a hero who could shrink to the size of an insect thanks to the discovery of subatomic “Pym Particles.” He and his wife, Janet Van Dyne, aka the Wasp, fought myriad villains such as The Magician, Ultron, and Egghead, as a tiny team of crime-ﬁghters. Pym has assumed numerous other Super Hero identities, including Giant-Man, Goliath, and Yellowjacket, and was the second Wasp following Janet’s apparent death at one point. He was a founding member of the Avengers.

What can audiences expect from this movie? I think for those that know the irst one there’s going to be more. I think there’s even more humor than we had previously. This whole concept of getting small just has an innumerable number of possibilities. So in Marvel’s ininite wisdom they’ve found a whole bunch of ways to play this out. There are some great action sequences, and some good laughs. I even think I’m going try to bring a couple of tears here and there!

Was there anything special that you did to connect? When you are number one or number two on the call sheet and you’re carrying a movie, you have a

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MICHELLE PFEIFFER JANET VAN DYNE

Michelle Pfeiffer is

Janet Van Dyne Acclaimed actress Michelle Pfeiffer takes on one of Marvel Comics’ most iconic and unique characters, Janet Van Dyne – the original Wasp.

nt-Man and the Wasp Movie Special: What was your initial exposure to Marvel? I discovered it through my children. Then I saw Ant-Man, and I really loved it. I wasn’t familiar with Ant-Man, so I was perhaps a little skeptical, but I really was pleasantly surprised; and I’ve always been a Paul Rudd fan. The movie was really smart and really funny, but also grounded in reality in that it had this very unusual tone to it that set it apart from a lot of the other Super Hero movies I had seen.

Tell us more about your character and the script... I wasn’t familiar with Janet Van Dyne before this, and I love that she’s such a seminal character in the Marvel comic book world. She was one of the founding members of the Avengers and a really important Super Hero in this world. I love how excited the audience got when they found out that she was coming back. I also love – let’s say, ‘at this phase in my life’ – that I’m playing a Super Hero. I think it’s incredible, and I love the message that it sends to women of all ages and all demographics that we are still kicking ass and that we’re strong. We’re independent, we’re ierce and we’re capable, vital parts of society. What does Paul Rudd bring to Ant-Man? You know, they broke the mold when they made Paul Rudd. He is unique. He has a sense of humor that’s completely his own and I think you hear that throughout the script. He has this incredibly dry, kindof-sweet, kind-of-wicked sense of humor behind this very boyish face. Did you enjoy working with him? Well, I worked with Paul many years ago. We did a ilm that was never released [I Could Never Be Your Woman, later released on DVD], so I knew him, and I loved working with him then. It’s been really fun to be reunited with him. Tell us more about your character in this world... My character, many years ago, got stuck in the Quantum Realm. Hope and Hank set out to ind her, and I think they’ve never given up hope that she’s still alive. Throughout the ilm you see their journey and their struggle to ind a way to bring her back.

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How did you lesh out your character? Through the sense of family and how important family is. The degree that people will go to to keep family together is universal. What conversations did you have with the director, Peyton Reed, about your character? We had a lot of conversations early on because it took them a long time to actually get me a script. They’re very protective over the material, so I had no idea what I was even signing up for for the longest time. But in the meantime I would have lots of conversations with Peyton. He kept saying that Janet was a warrior and a very important and brilliant scientist unto herself. She hasn’t been wasting away in the Quantum Realm – she’s been working on important things. I think she was a lot more ierce than the original concept for this character, which was exciting to me. What does Michael Douglas bring to the ilm? Michael Douglas is very charming and he’s witty – he has that dry sense of humor. He exudes a kind of intelligence, but at the same time portrays a kind of arrogance, and then he’s also able to show vulnerability when he needs to. You’ll see more vulnerability with him in this sequel than you’ve perhaps seen before. It’s a really hard line to walk, but he’s still very likable. How has it been working with Evangeline Lilly? She’s terriic. Actually, we took a group photo and it’s so interesting because we really could be mother and daughter. And she pointed out that she sort of looks like a mix between Michael and myself.

JANET VAN DYNE: A BRIEF COMIC BOOK HISTORY Janet Van Dyne, a.k.a. The Wasp, was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Tales to Astonish #44 (June 1963). She can shrink to wasp size, fly and fire energy blasts (stings). The Wasp was a founding member of the Avengers and has been the team’s leader several times. Janet and Hank Pym were married at one point but the marriage ended when he hit her, following a breakdown. They continued to have an on/of relationship for quite some time.

MICHELLE PFEIFFER JANET VAN DYNE

What are her best attributes as an actor? She’s really intelligent, and I think intelligence is a very hard thing to play. She has a great sense of humor, and she has an emotional depth. On set, she has a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm. All of those things are really important. What was Laurence Fishburne like to work with? All of these actors are actors that I’ve admired over the years and wanted to work with. It’s always exciting to work with people that you admire and respect. Did any sets surprise you? Yeah – the lab was really spectacular. It was just very futuristic yet realistic. I’m not really sure what I expected;

01 The original Wasp – now trapped in the Quantum Realm

you go into this not knowing what’s going to actually be there and what isn’t. My brain didn’t really allow me to anticipate anything! What type of director is Peyton Reed? Peyton has this exceptional quality of boyishness and a childlike enthusiasm and seriousness and attention to detail. Not all directors really have that. I always live in fear that I’m going to be missing something, but with him in charge he’s not going to let you miss anything. It’s really a fun set. I love being a part of the Marvel Studios family. I’ve loved making this ilm, working with these actors, and playing this part. I honestly feel very lucky to be a part of this ilm.

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HANNAH JOHN-KAMEN GHOST

Hannah John-Kamen is

Ghost Ant-Man’s new foe, Ghost, is played by Hannah John-Kamen. Here, she discusses the excitement and challenges of picking a ﬁght with heroes who are not quite her own size.

nt-Man and the Wasp: T he Official Movie Special: What was your initial exposure to Marvel Comics? My exposure to Marvel was as a kid growing up – comic books are deinitely my thing. I’m such a huge fan of all the movies, even before Ant-Man – you know, Thor, Iron Man... I’ve always been such a nerd when it comes to fantasy and escapism, and when it comes to heroes and villains, and that kind of world. It has always intrigued me.

to do with the movie was show these real people but with an intelligent humor. I remember the scenes of the tiny Ant-Man ighting on the train set. It was really cool.

Would you say that the Marvel characters are relatable? Yeah, one hundred percent. They’re Super Heroes by day/night, and then the person by day. It’s amazing because there are so many layers to all the characters, especially in this ilm and with my character. There are vulnerabilities to each character. And it’s not black and white – it’s not just good and evil – it’s a little topsyturvy. The hero might have done something wrong to affect the villain. Everyone wants the same thing, but when does that person become the bad person?

What was your initial reaction to the script? I was amazed at the vulnerability my character has. I felt really connected and sad and sorry for her. I remember reading [the script] and licking over the next page, thinking, How is this going to unravel? What’s going to happen next? There’s so much going on in this ilm. And there’s humor – I love the humor in the script. There are loads of amazing characters. It’s incredible how the ilm has been executed.

How familiar were you with Ant-Man before getting the role of Ghost? I loved the irst ilm. I absolutely love what Peyton [Reed] did with it – it was incredible. What he managed

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What drew you to the project? The whole Marvel Universe is incredible. It’s an enormous universe with so many amazing characters and villains and loveable rogues. Just the enormity of the Marvel world deinitely brought me to the project, and also being a fan of Ant-Man!

What did you connect with in your character? What conversations did you have with Peyton Reed? My approach to the character was to start from the beginning. You start from what happened when she was a child. And who is she now? What exposure does

HANNAH JOHN-KAMEN GHOST she have to the outside world? Why is she the way that she is? And what does my character do when she’s not out in the real world in her suit? It’s really tragic. It was incredible exploring that with my character. It’s amazing to discuss it all with Peyton. He’s a wonderful, open director and you can sit down with him and talk about the characters and how they all connect. What is Ghost’s intention? Ghost’s intention is to survive. She doesn’t want world domination. She doesn’t really want to kill anyone. She just wants to live. What she wants is what Hank has, and she will do everything in her power to get it because she feels it’s not fair.

“Ghost’s intention is to survive. She doesn’t want world domination. She doesn’t really want to kill anyone.”

What is her relationship with Dr Bill Foster? They both have the same intentions but desperate measures cause it all to unravel throughout the ilm. He has a moral obligation to do the right thing – and she’s not about to do the right thing. What does Paul Rudd bring to Ant-Man? He’s a perfect Scott Lang because he gives it such a great balance – such an amazing balance of the stakes. He’s a guy who wants to do good but ends up in these crazy situations. He’s a family man, and he wants to make up for the mistakes that he’s made in the past. Paul’s brought an amazing quality to that – and he’s funny. He plays the role perfectly. Do you have more creative freedom given that this is the irst time we’ve seen your character? Absolutely. There’s so much freedom and discussing this character with Peyton gives me such an amazing freedom to create her. That’s what I love and this is why I do this. The most fun part is building this character and building her history – building her present and building her future.

What are the main themes of the ilm? One huge theme is reuniting families. That’s the one thing that Ghost is actually is jealous of and envious of. That’s where her hatred comes from – why do the other characters get to reunite?

What’s it been like to work with Laurence Fishburne? It’s been an honor working with him. He’s amazing – a legend in the ilm industry. I just watch him and I learn. He’s so easy to work with. I really feel like we’ve got such a great rapport, bouncing back and forth. It’s been very special. The ilm has an amazing cast... This ilm has a phenomenal cast. I remember the irst day we were all together and I was looking around going, “There’s Michelle Pfeiffer… There’s Michael Douglas… There’s Paul Rudd… There’s Evangeline Lilly… There’s Laurence Fishburne. And there’s me!” It’s a very, very surreal, amazing experience. I’m working with legends! What’s the importance of the lab? Hank has the maintenance tunnel in his lab and Janet’s in there. She’s been in there for the last 30 years. There is a very dangerous, scientiic way of keeping Ghost alive. The stakes are high. It’s a matter of life and death…

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01 Ghost unmasked 02 The intimidating presence of Ghost 03 Ghost takes to the streets 04 Rejuvenating in her lab, Ghost’s intention is just to survive, according to John-Kamen

How did you ind the stunt training? I love doing stunt training. I’ve done it in the past. I’ve had dance experience, and I’ve done my own stunts on other movies and TV series. I always come in, and I’m gung-ho. I always do as much as I can. As soon as it starts getting really dangerous and they feel uncomfortable with me doing it, then I’ll step out. But I jump in head irst because it’s so important to bring a physicality to the character. The way that my character moves – as soon as I put the suit on, it makes me move in a certain way – I incorporated that with the style of ighting and with the powers that she has. What do you like the most about your suit? It’s amazing – it’s a very cool suit, with a distinctive hood and mask. It looks very menacing and so different. It’s going to be really exciting to reveal. What is Peyton Reed’s directing style like? I love his process – he knows and understands every beat

HANNAH JOHN-KAMEN GHOST

GHOST - A BRIEF COMIC BOOK HISTORY Originally established as a male character in the comic books, Ghost made his debut in Iron Man #144 in June 1987, initially as a villain before settling down into more of an anti-hero role. Co-created by David Michelinie and Bob Layton, Ghost notably has remained a man of mystery with no known identity, secret or otherwise. Small clues to his character indicated that he was once an IT researcher, prone to committing acts of industrial sabotage against oppressive institutions. He has been known to work for criminal organizations, including Norman Osborn’s Thunderbolts, using his battle suit’s stealth technology to carry out their nefarious goals.

of the scene. He gives you that freedom to go for it and see where it takes you. Whatever choice you’ve made, he encourages you to go even further with that. So I don’t feel like I’m restricted in any way, especially with this character. I think that’s so important for a director and an actor’s relationship – to have freedom and an open dialogue about the scenes and the character.

What do you think will separate this from the other Super Hero ilms? It’s badass and it also has amazing people in it. In terms of the Marvel Studios universe, each movie has its own magic. You can cross over and combine different skills and characters and create a new kind of magic, but I think that ours is really special in its own way.

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LAURENCE FISHBURNE BILL FOSTER

Laurence Fishburne is

Bill Foster Laurence Fishburne joins the cast of Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp as Hank Pym’s old rival, Bill Foster.

nt-Man and the Wasp: The Official Movie Special: What was your initial exposure to Marvel Comics? My initial exposure to the Marvel Universe was in New York City, probably as early as 1965. I liked other comics, but I was pretty much a Marvel guy growing up in Brooklyn.

movie was great surprise and joy, because it was so smart. It was cool and it was so much fun. I was really happily surprised with how well they were able to pull it off. I think Stan Lee has said that he couldn’t really get it right in the comic book because it was hard to show AntMan’s size changing, but somehow it translates to ilm really well.

What made you want to do this ilm? I was really hungry to be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I would’ve played an asteroid in any movie given the opportunity! So, the fact that they found that I was a good match for the character of Bill Foster is a dream come true for me.

What is the tone for Ant-Man and the Wasp? There are all of those different elements. The elements of the heist movie are in this movie, but the stakes are higher because it’s also a movie about reunion and loss, and reconnecting with people.

Were you familiar with Ant-Man? I knew about Ant-Man, but I don’t know that I ever bought any Ant-Man comics. I was a Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, and an X-Men reader. I also read the Hulk, Captain America, and Thor. I liked Iron Man, but I didn’t read a lot of his books. I loved Captain Marvel, Warlock, and Luke Cage: Hero for Hire, especially when he teamed up with Iron Fist. I loved the Inhumans and the Silver Surfer, who I voiced in a movie a number of years ago. What was your reaction to the Ant-Man movie? Oh, it was cool. My initial reaction to the irst Ant-Man

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What do you think Paul Rudd brings to the character? It’s fantastic the way in which he brings this kind of levity to Ant-Man. There’s a sort of everyman quality to him. He makes it really, really light-hearted and fun. There are guys in suits running around with crazy powers, but it’s rooted in a reality of now and today, which I think is really cool. Who is Bill Foster? Bill Foster is a guy who worked with Henry Pym back in the day on several projects. He’s a scientist in his own right - very much Hank’s match, although Hank would never admit that. Foster has been helping this young woman who, because of one of Hank and his wife, Janet’s

LAURENCE FISHBURNE BILL FOSTER missteps, has been suffering and living with a condition that’s almost impossible to live with. He has taken this young woman in and he’s been helping her to contain herself and deal with this condition. He’s been trying to help her get her life back. What do you like about your character? I am still discovering all the things about Bill Foster that are coming down the pike. What I think initially excites me about him is that, because he’s a contemporary of Pym’s, and he has the same kind of level of smarts and curiosity - which scientists need to have - he’s a match for him. That was initially the thing that got me excited about being in the movie; that I’d be playing scenes with Michael Douglas and being a foil to him. Have you and Michael Douglas worked together before? No, we haven’t. It’s been great working with Michael. I actually had the moment where we were in the middle of a scene, and I suddenly was like, “Oh my God, I’m working with Michael Douglas!” What is Bill Foster’s take on Hank Pym now? I think it’s the same. They had a professional relationship, but there was friction because there’s a kind of competition that exists between them. At irst it was healthy but then it went over the line. And that’s where you meet them; they’re not exactly on the best of terms when they meet in the movie. What’s it been like to work with Hannah John-Kamen who plays Ghost? She’s wonderful. Hannah’s an amazing young actor. It’s been both a lot of fun and really inspirational working with somebody who is so gifted, so young, and so really committed to doing good work. Have you seen her performing stunts? I haven’t actually been around while she’s been doing any of the physical work. I have done a lot of physical work in my career, so I was able to offer some advice that would help her with her super suit. Do you think the audience will connect with Ghost? I do. Once it’s revealed what her story is, I think it’s really compelling. And I’m sure that the audience will have a lot of sympathy for her and identify with her in a lot of ways.

01 Laurence Fishburne as the genius rival to Hank Pym, Bill Foster

Did you enjoy working with Peyton Reed? When I irst met Peyton, it was like meeting an old friend, because we share a love for the medium of comic books and graphic novels; a real appreciation and a knowledge of how they function. We both understand why they’re

“I am still discovering things about Bill Foster that are coming down the pike.” 42 | ANT-MAN AND THE WASP

useful and why these stories are relevant and why they matter to people. We connected on that level, so it’s been very easy to work together because we both have an understanding not only of movies, but also of comic books. And so to be working on something where we put those two things together - things that we both love - there’s a kind of natural ease and low to working with each other. The team at Marvel Studios are fans too, aren’t they? Yes, we’ve all been invested in the world before it got to the screen. Most of the people, like me, are fans of this world and knowledgeable about it to a certain extent. It’s a world that I personally grew up immersed in, and it’s a part of my life. What has your reaction been to the production design on this ilm? It’s staggering to be on these sets and to see everything.

LAURENCE FISHBURNE BILL FOSTER

BILL FOSTER - A BRIEF COMIC BOOK HISTORY Created by Stan Lee and Don Heck, Dr Bill Foster ﬁrst appeared in Avengers #32 (Sept. 1966) and later became Black Goliath, followed by stints as Giant-Man and Goliath. Foster also appeared in his own series, which ran for ﬁve issues. Dr Foster was a biochemist who worked closely with Hank Pym and used the ‘Pym particles’ to gain his own size-altering powers. Foster fought alongside the Champions, the Defenders, the Thing, and Spider-Man. He was killed by a clone of Thor during the Marvel Civil War.

I’ve actually been trying to sneak around and ind my way to the Avengers set, to see if I can spot a jet or something! What’s it like to work with such an esteemed cast on this ilm? It’s amazing! Evangeline, Michael, Paul, Michelle, Hannah, Walton - it’s fantastic. I imagine some people are like, “How do you get all these great actors to do this comic book stuff? Well, it’s because they’re great stories and they’re great characters. There are great themes in all of the comic books. The guys that wrote these books all those years ago were telling stories, but it was really well done. And it really captured the imagination, particularly of young people. I was a young person then, and it captured my imagination. But it has remained a creative part of me, and it allows you to imagine bigger than you are. That’s probably what the draw is for many of the actors who enter into this world, where the possibilities are much greater than they are in real life.

What will separate this from other Super Hero properties? I don’t think of it as being separate from the other super hero properties. It’s all the Marvel Universe. I think what’s great about what Marvel Studios has done is that in telling everybody’s story – whether it’s Captain America or Thor or Black Panther or Ant-Man or whoever – they’re all interrelated. They somehow manage to give each character their own identity and tell their own stories. At the same time they’re able to connect all of this together. What’s been the most gratifying part of this process? I was born ready for this! I’ve been hoping that I could be a part of this for a long time. There were lots of characters that I would have loved the opportunity to play, that I got to see other actors play brilliantly. The fact that I’ve actually landed this character alongside Michael Douglas, Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Peña and Walton Goggins – I’m very happy.

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MICHAEL PEÑA LUIS

Michael Peña is

Luis The comedic tone in Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man was a success in part to the timing and humor of Michael Peña, who returns to play Scott Lang’s loveable friend, Luis.

nt-Man and the Wasp: The Official Movie Special: What was so appealing about working on the sequel? I thought the irst one was just such a crazy, quirky movie, even for Marvel. I remember doing a bunch of improv with Paul Rudd and coming up with stuff on the day, and I wanted to do more of that. Plus, I love this character.

Where is your character in this movie? He doesn’t have that much to do with Scott – instead, he’s kind of on his own thing. He has X-Con, a store where he basically sets up security for other people and sells little security things. He’s off doing that, which plays into the plot a little bit later in the script. One cool thing about Marvel, which also happened in the irst movie, is that we just started messing around and improvizing here and there, and then did some additional photography. Some of the stuff, like all the montages, wasn’t ever on the page. I think it was Kevin Feige and the writers that came up with that. So you never know what you’re going to get. What part of your character do you connect with the most? I like that there’s more or less a civilian in the Marvel Universe. You know, everyone else is pretty much in it; they work for the government, they’re very much aware of what’s going on with Marvel. But Luis gets to help

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out, which is awesome. The guy that I’m portraying is based on an actual person from Chicago. He’s a funloving dude, in and out of jail a little bit for minor stuff. But I thought that he was always really positive, and that was really endearing. Even though he was in trouble, he still had an optimistic viewpoint toward life. How did you get caught up with Burch? Burch and the goons basically want the lab. They want the shrinking technology, which I think anyone would like. Imagine if Fed-Ex had shrinking technology? You could literally just send everything in one airplane off to the UK. I think everybody would want this kind of technology. So they want this, and they come after it as they know that Luis is really good pals with Scott Lang, who’s Ant-Man. What was your favorite thing about being back? Seeing Paul and Evangeline. In this movie I have way more scenes with Evangeline. I thought she was just one of the greatest people, and we’re always super friendly. I worked with her a lot in this particular ilm, especially more in the third act, which was great. It’s such a different dynamic with my character and hers. Mine is a really optimistic dude, and she’s a very driven character. That was really, really cool. But seeing the gang, seeing everyone, and just being in another Marvel movie was great.

MICHAEL PEÑA LUIS Do you like shooting practically or on a sound stage? I’ve done movies where it was all pretty much on location, and you’re actually doing stuff and then your stunt double goes in. In this one they’ve done it differently. They’ve done a lot of green screen and stuff to split the load a little bit. I just watched Thor: Ragnarok and I didn’t even notice what was green screen! They’re so good with that stuff that you just say, “Okay, let’s do whatever you want.” What do you like about working with Paul? To be honest with you, I’ve been in movies where the lead guy or whoever doesn’t necessarily want you to shine; they take your lines or whatever. Paul Rudd is the exact opposite. On the irst movie, he was like, “Dude, try whatever idea comes into your head.” You felt like he really wanted you to do well in the movie, and I think he understands that if everyone else does really well, he does well. So it was a really great collaboration. What does Evangeline bring to her character? I think she brings what Marvel does, which is pretty rad as there are always strong women with strong opinions. You make a movie just about her [and] she brings this strong attitude and focus toward it. But on set she’s really fun, too. I just love the way that she portrays Wasp. How was it working with Michael Douglas? We didn’t have that many scenes together, but every time we did, for some reason that guy would just crack me up. We almost went goling a couple of times – it’s so weird because he’s such an icon. He would be reading the paper, and I would just be asking him questions, probably bugging him.

01 02

What’s Peyton Reed like as a director? It’s almost like there are two different Peytons in a way, because in the irst Ant-Man there was more improv and more things where we could explore and see what we had on the day. This one seemed like a faster paced Ant-Man, so there were more camera movements where you had to be very speciic on a line and have very speciic alts. It’s amazing that he can do both styles as it’s very calculated. I think he is also a lot more involved in the story. I feel like I’ve done much less improv in this movie and more what’s on the script. But it’s cool that he can just lip it around. I’ve seen his other movies and they were so different – and then there’s Ant-Man; I think they just wanted to do something different with the second one. Is there an Ant-Man feel now? I think it’s driven by Paul Rudd and Scott just trying to offer his daughter a good life. I think that is still solid and it is there, but what’s cool about it is that you can put that storyline anywhere. It’s also a really cool exercise for me to be this character within this storyline. It’s just a different kind of movie, but with the same Ant-Man. What is it like being a fan and being in this movie? Well, I’ve seen every Marvel movie. Honestly, what’s cool for me is that I play a civilian within this world, as

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MICHAEL PEÑA LUIS

“Luis gets to be in the fight, which is fantastic. It’s the everyday man’s dream of wanting to be a Super Hero.”

01 A tense moment for Luis 02 Luis is now a security expert 03 There is no more dependable backup for Scott Lang than Luis 04 Luis might be a civilian but he has a big part to play

it gives me different opportunities than it would anyone else. Here, Luis gets to be in the ight, which is fantastic – it’s the everyday man’s dream of wanting to be a Super Hero. Anybody would be stoked to be doing this kind of stuff. If you were playing a Super Hero, you’d have to be way cooler about this whole thing. Luis doesn’t have to be. He can have an honest reaction toward all this stuff. I think it’s just a different viewpoint and it’s a lot of fun. As I’m a dad, I started doing different kinds of movies. I took my son to see Thor when he was four. I didn’t know if it was going to scare him or not, but he was just transixed! He loved it, and he was laughing at some parts. I looked over and thought, Wow, I want to do these kinds of movies. Then, within a year, I started working on Ant-Man, which was cool. He actually really loves these movies, so as a father, that’s really cool. What do you hope audiences will get from the new movie? We want people that loved the irst Ant-Man to like this one even more. Paul is funnier, because now that he’s established he can allow himself a little bit more humor, which is going to be even better for the ilm. The third act alone is badass because it’s such a visual thing. When you see what they’ve created in 3D it’s amazing. It’s really cool the way they use all that technology. Even in the irst act and with some of the villains, it’s just genius – it’s really cool to even think of those ideas, and this one is literally peppered with even more of those ideas. So I think there are going to be a lot more, “Ohmy-God,” moments in this one. There’s more humor and it’s going to be more of a ride. Is there anything else you would like to add? The other thing that’s really cool about this movie is that we have more people. We have Michelle Pfeiffer in it – who’s a badass in her own right – and we’ve got Walton Goggins, who I did The Shield with a long time ago, who’s just a great actor. We’ve got Laurence Fishburne, whose career I have studied, and then we’ve got Hannah, who plays Ghost, who is a badass and also such a sweetheart. It’s really cool – they’re great actors, and to have them as an addition to this just ups the ante. Would you say Marvel Studios puts together really great ensemble casts? I would, but Marvel also puts together really cool people. Everyone that I’ve worked with is nice. You know, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Douglas, and Michelle Pfeiffer are icons, but they’re still really nice and engaging. It just seems to be that way, or maybe it’s the kind of people that love this kind of material.

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WALTON GOGGINS SONNY BURCH

Walton Goggins is

Sonny Burch Adding to the already spectacular cast of Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp, acclaimed actor Walton Goggins takes on the role of the shady Sonny Burch.

nt-Man and the Wasp: The Official Movie Special: What was your initial exposure to Marvel? It was Iron Man with Robert Downey Jr. I was just really blown away by what he did with that role and what Jon Favreau did with directing that movie. They were able to really capture the tone between it being serious, on a level that it needed to be serious, and humorous and exciting. I desperately wanted, in some small part, to be a part of this universe, so when this opportunity came up, I just jumped at it.

What appealed to you about the sequel? It was the conversation that I had with Peyton, really. I’m such a big fan of his and have followed his work since his irst feature, and when he said what he wanted to do with this role that hadn’t been written, I said, “Okay, all right, yeah, we could do that.” And I’ve just been a fan of Paul and Evangeline [Lilly] and all of these people. Michael Peña’s an old friend of mine, and I was such a fan of the irst movie that it was a real opportunity to play in the sandbox created by some people with extraordinary imaginations.

Did you ever expect Marvel Studios ilms to have such an impact? Ten years later, and how many smiles have they put on people’s faces over the course of making these movies? I didn’t really know what to think about Ant-Man before I saw it, and I didn’t see it at the theater because I thought, My kid’s not old enough, why am I going to see this movie? Until I did see it! And then I went on social media and told all my friends, “Oh my God, you have to see this movie.” What Peyton [Reed] does, and what Paul [Rudd] does, and how they vacillate in these two worlds between people that are regular size and Ant-Man, and how big Ant-Man is… The creativity is just mind-blowing.

What was Peyton Reed’s directing process like? It was interesting. It was less improvizational and more that he had structure, but he also played it loose in that he wasn’t afraid of going anywhere and gave you the freedom to do what you wanted to do within the parameters that he himself set. To have that kind of structure in a world like this is why the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Marvel Studios movies have been so successful.

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What can you tell us about your character? Sonny Burch is in the mythology of Marvel, and he’s a bit of an arms dealer. Peyton and the writers took that and said, “Okay, well, what if he has a southern accent? And what if we like him?” But he’s a despicable guy, and

“Sonny Burch is a despicable guy, and just being around him makes you feel kind of uneasy.” just being around him makes you feel kind of uneasy. It was really about just capturing this tone and being an antagonist in a way that was outside of what Corey Stoll did in the irst movie [as Darren Cross/Yellowjacket]. So there are two kinds of antagonists in this movie: the character that I play and Ghost. One has the emotional arc, and the other just enjoys being a rascal.

01 Sonny Burch makes a point 02 Goggins describes his character as a “rascal” 03 Burch in full interrogation mode

What do you like about your character? I like the way he dresses. I like the lashy aspect of his personality. I like the fact that he takes it seriously, but he does it with a smile on his face. And I like his desperation – I think if anybody is desperate for something that they can’t get, that’s juicier. What was it like working with this cast? It was a bit intimidating at irst because you’re holding up another piece of their legacy – so you just don’t want to be the person that drops the ball. But shortly after I got on set they all made me feel like family, and there were no wrong answers. We just tried to ind the right answer, whatever

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that was and wherever it came from. Working in that way has been one of the greatest experiences of my career, on this level. I’m just grateful that I got an invitation. Marvel Studios likes shooting practically, doesn’t it? Marvel Studios is as practical as any studio that makes these tent-pole movies, and so much of that is because not only does it love its characters, but it also loves its stories. Being at Fisherman’s Wharf allowed an authenticity that you couldn’t get if it was all a green screen. I just love the way that Marvel Studios makes its movies, and I love the reputation it has made for itself over these last ten years. And I’m a part of it, man – I got in it. What kind of ride will this ilm take audiences on? You’re going to get everything that you expect and a lot of things that you didn’t expect, meaning that you’re going to get what you came for, and then they’re going to give you a whole lot more than what you thought you were coming for. And that’s what is so exciting. People are going to come into this experience expecting to see Ant-Man – which they will – and then they’re going to see a different kind of man. It’s as funny as you had hoped it would be, but I think it is more touching than you anticipated. For these ilmmakers, I think this experience stands on the shoulders of the irst movie. It gave them the conidence to use their imaginations in ways they didn’t think possible.

WALTON GOGGINS SONNY BURCH 02

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JUDY GREER MAGGIE LANG

Judy Greer is

Maggie Lang Bringing some heart to the less fantastical side of Ant-Man and the Wasp, Judy Greer discusses reprising her role as Scott Lang’s ex-wife, Maggie.

nt-Man and the Wasp: The Official Movie Special: What appealed to you about the new movie? It’s the most fun movie to make. Doing the irst Ant-Man was so much fun, and even though my role is smaller in the new movie, I came to work and I laughed all day long with Peyton [Reed], Bobby [Cannavale] and Paul [Rudd]. I will do this until the day I die, if I can. If they keep making Ant-Man movies and they still want me to do it, I am in.

like she, Scott, and Paxton have a really good family life going [between] the three of them. Their daughter, Cassie, is a few years older, and they have igured out a really great way to co-parent. They’re in one of those nice ‘calm-before-the-storm’ situations; Cassie has a room at her dad’s house and she loves being over there; she loves being with Maggie and Paxton; they’re all getting along and Scott’s out of jail. He’s on house arrest, but it’s a good situation as far as their family life is concerned.

What was your reaction to the script for Ant-Man and the Wasp? I thought it was so funny. I don’t go and see all of the Super Hero movies, so when I read the script I thought, Oh my gosh, I should see these because they’re all really, really funny. And this one is so funny – I think that’s because of Paul and Peyton. The script was funnier than I expected from a Marvel Studios Super Hero movie – which is usually just a lot of ass-kicking – but this had a really good story and it was really light and playful and fun. I’m all for having Paul Rudd be a Super Hero.

You can tell they all want the best for Scott... Yeah, at this point they’re all great friends. In Ant-Man, Maggie was still carrying a lot of resentment and distrust toward Scott. He was in jail and he had lied to her again. As a mother, she couldn’t, in good conscience, leave her daughter with him. Now they’ve jumped ahead a few years. They all get along, and they all really want the best for each other, but mostly for Cassie.

Where do we ind Maggie in the new movie? Maggie is now married to Paxton, played by Bobby Cannavale, so she is a little bit more settled. It feels

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Are there any aspects of your character you connect with in particular? I like that Maggie says exactly what’s on her mind – she doesn’t mince her words. I always look for a trait in the characters I play that I could stand to emulate more in my own personal life, and I deinitely like how Maggie just says it like it is. She’s also very passionate about the

JUDY GREER MAGGIE LANG

people she loves. There’s a great scene where she feels like the FBI is bullying Scott, and she just won’t stand for that. She thinks it’s unfair and unreasonable, and that the way they’re treating him is deplorable. What is Maggie and Paxton’s take on Scott now? Maggie is deinitely very respectful of Scott and his work – she really does believe that he wants to be better and that he wants to be a good father. I’d like to think that even if they didn’t have a kid together, they would still be friends. She loves how hard he is trying to create a good, stable life and environment for his daughter. Paxton and Maggie are deinitely seeing the maturity and growingup of Scott Lang. He’s made these promises, and he’s following through on them, so whatever else he’s doing – as long as he’s not breaking the law and he’s being good – they’re thrilled for him. Why did Cassie hide Scott’s Ant-Man work from Maggie and Paxton? Cassie is old enough at this point in our sequel to know that her dad is a good person. She loves him and understands that he sometimes has to do things that he maybe doesn’t want to do. She knows his secret, and she also knows that Maggie will lose her mind if she inds out he has made one wrong step. She’s protecting her dad so that she can still have a relationship with him, and so that he’s not breaking his promise to Maggie and she doesn’t lose trust in him. She’s doing what kids probably do a lot when they’re coming from divorced homes, in terms of protecting the other parent. What was it like to be shooting again? It was great to be back with all the people – I loved it. I always really enjoy Atlanta [where we ilmed]. Last time we were there in the fall, and it was unseasonably cold. What do you like about working with Paul Rudd? Paul’s so damn charming. My character is really trying to hold him up to this moral compass, but he’s just so charming he can really get away with anything, which makes for a good Super Hero because even when he’s naughty, he makes it work to his advantage. On set, Paul can make anything funnier, just on the ly. We

“Paul is so charming... He can get away with anything, which makes for a good Super Hero.” 54 | ANT-MAN AND THE WASP

were always rifing and improvizing, trying to ind the funniest possible joke, and then on top of that, he’s a great actor. He can joke around – and we can igure out a really funny joke or funny moment in a scene – but then he can easily navigate right into a real, true-feeling moment. How was it working with Bobby Cannavale again? I love Bobby – he’s the most fun. We just had such a good time together, and he and Paul have been best friends forever. Being around those two and their dynamic, as well as Peyton, was so fun. It was really great and it felt like no time had passed.

What do you like about Peyton Reed’s directing process? I just like that he’s always smiling. I’m sure there’s a side of him as a director that’s not smiley, but whenever I’ve seen him on set he’s happy and smiling. He’s also decisive, and he’s really fun. When a director is having a good time at work it makes a huge difference for the crew and the actors. What’s it like to be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? It’s pretty fun. I get invited to Marvel Studios movie premieres, which I like quite a bit, and I get some cool Marvel stuff. If you’re going to join a club, this is the one

01 It’s happy families for Paxton, Maggie, and Cassie as they hope that Scott stays on the straightand-narrow this time around

to join. I do get terriied, though, because it’s so speciic. The studio is so secretive about its scripts and everything – which gives me some anxiety – but it’s been okay. What do you hope people like about the movie? I just hope that they like it enough to go and see it ive times in the theater. From the feedback I got from the irst one, it seemed that people loved it; people loved Paul, and they loved the story. You always want your sequel to be better and people are always very skeptical about sequels, often thinking, Is it going to be as good? My hope is that it’s even better than the irst one... And it seems like it’s headed in that direction.

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ABBY RYDER FORTSON CASSIE LANG

Abby Ryder Fortson is

Cassie Lang Actress Abby Ryder Fortson discusses her return as Cassie Lang – Scott’s daughter and the apple of his eye.

nt-Man and the Wasp: The Oficial Movie Special: What was it like working on the sequel to Ant-Man? It was really fun. I think working on sequels is more fun than working on the original ilm, because you know everybody. It’s easier when you feel comfortable. What is Cassie like in this ilm? She is very smart. I don’t really know how to describe her, but she’s very smart and athletic. She loves sports. And she also loves her dad. How do you like the father/daughter relationship? I really liked the scene where Paul came out of the bathroom, pretending that he was sick. He did this whole improv of, “Honey, will you please get me the ginger ale.” Cassie replies, and she’s trying to hide her smile from Agent Woo because she thinks she’s going to give her dad away. I think that was one of my favorite scenes. If there is a behind-the-scenes segment for that, which there probably will be, it’ll be hilarious. Can you tell us about the trophy she gives to her dad? In the irst movie, Cassie’s dad gave her, for her birthday, that really weird rabbit toy that said “I love you.” So we give each other really hilarious, weird gifts. For his birthday, Cassie gives him a trophy that said World’s Greatest Grandma. Firstly, it was the only one they had [in the store], but it was really special to him because Cassie could have just gone to a different store and gotten another one – but instead she chooses to give it to him because she thought it was hilarious and very special. Why does Cassie hide her dad’s work from Maggie and her stepdad? Because she thinks they are very anti-Super Hero. Not that it’s bad, but they think, Oh my gosh, we just don’t want him to get in trouble again because he’s already been under house arrest for two years. He’s on his inal day, so the last thing they want is him to get in trouble. They’re going to try to stop him from doing that. What does Cassie think about Hope? Basically, Cassie asked her father if she could be his partner, and he turned her down because he thought

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agreeing would make him the worst dad in the world. So he basically told Cassie no, she couldn’t be his partner. But he does reveal that he would have liked Hope to be his partner. Later in the movie, Cassie tells Hope that her dad wants Hope to be his partner, and she replies that maybe they can share. I think Cassie and Hope get closer by the end of the movie, but Cassie’s a little jealous because her dad wanted Hope to be his partner. What do you like about Cassie? I like that she’s very smart and she’s very athletic, and also that she has a very sweet personality that’s comforting to people. She comforts her dad into going to save Hank and Hope, which he inally succeeds in doing after getting caught a lot. I love Cassie’s personality. What was it like working with Paul Rudd again? I like that he’s very sweet and funny. He also makes me feel very comfortable, and that’s something you need to be around other people. He’s a very good actor, and he is also, sort of, one of the directors. We help each other, and I really like working with him. How was it working with Judy Greer and Bobby Cannavale again? Basically, when I’m acting I consider most of the people I work with as my second family. It was very nice working with them. They’re very nice and funny. I think we – everybody – all have funny personalities. What about working with the ilm’s director, Peyton Reed? He’s very nice, and if there’s one quality that I think is amazing about all nice directors, it’s that they understand that things get hard, and they don’t expect me to be like a steam train, doing one take after another. What’s it like to be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Well, it’s a Marvel movie, but I didn’t do it just because it’s a Marvel movie and that’s the biggest company. I do it because it’s a good job. I really like working with Marvel. They’re very nice. What do you hope people like about this movie? I hope people like the relationship between Hope, Hank, and Scott.

01 Cassie keeps Scott company while he’s under house arrest 02 Abby gets some schooling in how to be a Super Hero from Ant-Man himself

ABBY RYDER FORTSON CASSIE LANG

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RANDALL PARK AGENT WOO

Randall Park is

Agent Woo Actor and comedian Randall Park discusses bringing S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Agent Woo to the big screen in Ant-Man and the Wasp.

nt-Man and the Wasp: The Oficial Movie Special: What was your irst exposure to Marvel? I collected comic books when I was growing up. My favorite comics were X-Men and Wolverine. I think that’s what grabbed me, and I got into a lot of the Marvel titles from then on. Were you familiar with Ant-Man and the Wasp? As a kid, I wasn’t very familiar [with them], but I did see the irst ilm and I thought it was so good. What does Paul Rudd bring to the character of Ant-Man? Paul is amazing at everything he does, but I don’t think that he is your typical Marvel Super Hero, or the typical actor to play a Marvel Super Hero.

01 Agent Woo cuts a stylish figure, Scott Lang perhaps less so 02 Agent Woo keeps a close eye on Scott Lang, who is under house arrest

AGENT WOO - A BRIEF COMIC BOOK HISTORY Created by Al Feldstein and Joe Maneely, secret agent Jimmy Woo ﬁrst appeared in Yellow Claw #1 (Oct. 1956). Woo started out as an FBI agent assigned to bring down the villainous Yellow Claw. He then joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and was tasked with hunting down Godzilla. In recent years, Woo went AWOL from S.H.I.E.L.D. and faced a group known as the Atlas Foundation. Woo’s agents were killed and Woo himself was critically injured – until Gorilla Man (from an early incarnation of the Avengers) restored him to his ‘50s self. Woo currently co-runs a Mumbai-based school for Asian superhuman teens.

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RANDALL PARK AGENT WOO

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TIP T.I. HARRIS DAVE

Tip “T.I.” Harris is

DAVE Back in the driving seat, Tip “T.I.” Harris discusses returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Scott Lang’s poker-playing getaway driver, Dave.

nt-Man and the Wasp The Official Movie Special: What appealed to you about doing the sequel to Ant-Man? Well, the franchise in itself just garnered so much attention from comic fans, and the Marvel Universe has accepted our entourage with open arms. So, to come back and be a part of this Ant-semble was an honor! Were you initially a Marvel fan? Absolutely. You’ve got to “marvel” at the phenomenal franchises they’ve already established. As a kid, I spent a summer collecting comic books – then I lost my collection, and that was pretty much over with. But I still kept up with the characters as each of them progressed. Has it been cool to see all the Marvel Cinematic Universe characters linked together? Yes – the Avengers and the civil war with Ant-Man and Giant-Man, and now we have the Guardians of the Galaxy coming against the Avengers, which was phenomenal. What did you like about the script for Ant-Man and the Wasp? You think we got to read the script!? To be honest with you, this was one of the most spontaneous ilms to actually be a part of. I think they gave me a script on almost my

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last day – I had maybe ive or six days of shooting left. It was always a surprise. Every day we would get on set and ind out something new about the plot. It deinitely contributed to my ability to keep it fresh. Where do we ind Dave in this ilm? I think he’s a little more talkative. Dave began as a bit of an introvert. I believe he had one of those just-camehome-from-prison, don’t-trust-anybody, don’t-talk-tomany-people kind of complexes. But I think he’s kind of grown into his own a bit. In this ilm, the guys have their own company, and he’s actually taking that responsibility very seriously. They’re just excited to be building a life for themselves. What is the name of their company? X-Con! Sometimes it takes a crook to catch a crook. What do you like about your character, Dave? Well, I like the camaraderie of the guys. I think Dave grounds the guys a lot, because everybody’s so over the top and extreme. He’s a grounded, blue-collar guy, who really understands the seriousness of situations. Does he have any specialties this time around? Any specialties? Well, just his magniicent good looks, and his amazing charm and wit!

TIP “T.I.” HARRIS DAVE Has the group dynamic changed from the irst ilm? The dynamic has not changed within the group as far as Scott’s character is concerned – him being Ant-Man hasn’t affected their relationship in any way whatsoever. But Luis has assumed some self-appointed role as a manager or superior within the company, and Kurt and Dave are somewhat labbergasted by it. They’re taken aback. They don’t really have an understanding or an ability to wrap their minds around how this happened, but because they’re team players, they all band together and do what’s best for the group. That is the only dynamic that has changed within the core group of guys. How did you get wrapped up with Burch? Dave didn’t know how to take Burch at irst. He came in cool and talking smooth, and Dave didn’t even know he meant any harm until they started pulling out weapons and stuff. He isn’t as much of a threat as he is a spectacle. Just to watch his methods of shaking people down and his interrogation/intimidation tactics are quite a feat to see. Does Dave know the signiicance of the lab? Well, it’s Hank Pym’s lab, and he’s the smartest scientist on this side of the equator. Of course, everybody’s after his lab – but they don’t have the entourage to protect them. What was your favorite scene to shoot? It was deinitely Burch and his guy. We had to remind him that what he actually had to extract from Luis was indeed truth serum. I don’t know what he had been calling it, but it was truth serum. That scene, which is followed by the interrogation scene, was probably the most fun to shoot.

Do you like shooting practically? You know, the story is what’s important; the actual plot and being able to perform with other actors who are just as invested in their characters as you are in yours – that’s the most important thing. Where you do it is a formality.

cast – we have an effortless chemistry. Nobody has any animosity towards anyone, and everybody’s very happy to embrace new people as they come on. It was a great set – a great cast. I had a phenomenal time ilming.

What does Paul Rudd bring to the role of Ant-Man? Paul is hilarious, and he gives you many different variations of how to work a scene or how to deliver a line or how to approach comedic timing. I don’t think that as much humor has been incorporated into other Marvel Studios ilms as we’ve incorporated into ours.

What was it like working with director Peyton Reed? Peyton is a cool cat, and he lets you deliver your line so many ways and allows so much adlib and improvisation that it gave us an opportunity to pull all the silliness out of our hats and just give color to the script – as much as we could within reason, of course. Obviously, we don’t stray off the story…

What does Evangeline Lilly bring to the Wasp? Beauty. Kickass, badass sexiness. She has a feminine strength that is scary, and she applies that strength so effortlessly. It’s great to watch her lay the law down to the guys, while they’re extremely immature. They get caught out and distracted within their own trivial discussions, and for her to get them back on page is a sight to see. What was it like working with Michael Peña and David Dastmalchian again? We all get along great – not just the three of us, but everyone. All the people on the set, all of us – the whole

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How do you feel about being a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? I’m honored. It’s a huge accolade that I take very seriously.

01 Harris and co-star David Dastmalchian make a welcome return 02 The gang’s all here!

What do you hope audiences like about the ilm? The story, of course. There are just so many twists and turns, so much to learn about and so many new characters to observe and enjoy, and so many conlicts to resolve. Will the gang make it? Can they do it again? It’s suspenseful.

TIP “T.I.” HARRIS DAVE

“The guys have their own company, and Dave’s actually taking that responsibility very seriously.”

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BOBBY CANNAVALE PAXTON

Bobby Cannavale is

PAXTON Reprising his role from the ﬁrst Ant-Man movie, Bobby Cannavale reveals all about being the new man in Maggie Lang’s life.

nt-Man and the Wasp: The Official Movie Special: Were you a Marvel fan prior to being cast in the movies? Totally. I was a comic book collector when I was a kid. I wasn’t that familiar with Ant-Man – I wasn’t obsessed with him – but I certainly did my fair share of reading and collecting as a kid. I have a 22-year-old son who was the perfect age for when Marvel really re-launched its movie universe, so we went to see the irst Iron Man movie and then followed the rest of the ilms. I am a big fan.

What was it like to see what’s happened since ilming the irst Ant-Man? It’s amazing. The Marvel Universe truly is a universe, isn’t it? It makes you wonder why they didn’t [make the ilms] sooner… But I suppose current technology and the things that they’re allowed to do – and are able to do now in movies – really allowed them to bring that universe forward. I think the cross-pollination of all the characters is really interesting – you can go anywhere with it. For me, the most attractive thing was that it was really more personal. One of my best friends – Paul Rudd – got the Ant-Man role and it was an interesting and amazing development in our social circle. All of a sudden, the guy at the end of the table is a Super Hero! It sort of changed the game, socially, for us. I was really excited when they asked me to be a part of it.

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What’s appealing about the sequel? It’s more of the same, really! I think the Ant-Man movie is a little bit different to some of the other ilms in terms of it being more family friendly. I found the irst ilm to be the kind of movie you could take really young children to. I was really into the idea of Marvel Studios broadening its audience in that way, because the message – that mighty things can come in small packages – is really good. Also, Scott’s devotion to his family – to his little girl – was something that I very much liked and appreciated. I liked getting to play her stepfather and that sort of untraditional family aspect that we formed at the end of the movie, and being able to further that idea that families come in many different shapes and sizes. It was important – for me – to keep furthering that idea. What’s the family dynamic like in Ant-Man and the Wasp? We ind that Paxton’s relationship with Scott has changed a lot. At the end of the irst movie, Paxton and Cassie’s lives were saved by Scott, so he has much more of a commitment to this friendship with Scott, and much more of a commitment to this family dynamic, for Cassie’s sake. He has a real interest in Scott’s well-being and his commitment to ly right. Paxton’s commitment to his family even supersedes his job, because we don’t see him on the job in this movie. We just see him being really devoted to his family.

BOBBY CANNAVALE PAXTON How does Paxton feel about Scott? Paxton has an appreciation for the importance of Scott’s role in the protection of the country and the protection of the world. They’re positive and are behind Scott in his role of ighting crime and ighting for justice. Underneath the commitment to his friendship with Scott is this real admiration and respect for the work that he’s doing. Paxton is tremendously supportive and proud of him, which is a different dynamic than he had in the irst movie. Why do you think Cassie hid Scott’s Ant-Man work from Paxton, initially? Well, for one thing, that’s the relationship that little girls have with their dads. She’s protective of her dad, and I think that’s something we can relate to as parents. I think that she will probably now start to see her dad in a different light; seeing him as somebody she can truly look up to and perhaps try to be like one day. Do you have an particular favorite scenes? I liked shooting all the scenes. I don’t really have a favorite – we had a really good time on set. There are all kinds of movies, and I’ve been in so many ilms and so many different forms of the medium… I haven’t been in that many huge blockbuster ilms, but as far as big blockbuster ilms go, this one was a lot of fun to be on. As I said before, Paul is a really good friend of mine, Judy Greer’s a great friend of mine, and Peyton Reed is hilarious. Lars Winther is a great First AD. There was a lot of laughter on set! I think Maggie and Paxton provide some comic relief in the ilm, and a really wacky, unconventional family dynamic that is interesting to me. It’s something that you don’t [usually] see in these kinds of movies. I think the fun we had on set translated onto the screen. What was it like to work with Judy again? Judy’s just a delight. She’s one of those actresses where you can’t ind a single person in this business that doesn’t love her work or isn’t delighted by her. She opens her mouth and you just smile – you can’t help it. On paper, I would have never dreamed that she and I would make a good couple. Our trailers were right next to each other and we would leave our doors open and were constantly going back and forth, cracking jokes with each other. She was really fun to be around. I was just so excited to work with her again. How was it to see Abby grow as a young actress? Really good. She’s a really smart young lady. It’s been three years, but she still looked the same to me – she hadn’t really changed that much, which I found really surprising. She’s a delight – she’s obviously been raised well. She’s genuinely funny, and she’s very smart. She’s got an incredible range for a young girl. I think the future looks pretty promising for her. What did you like about working with Peyton Reed? I like Peyton because these movies are huge, and there’s obviously a lot at stake. There’s a lot of time and money

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BOBBY CANNAVALE PAXTON

“I think the cross-pollination of all the characters is really interesting. You can go anywhere with it.” and big ideas, and, in a way, a whole franchise really rests on his shoulders. But he’s just the kind of guy who never shows that the pressure is on for him. You felt like you were working on a movie that wasn’t so massive, and that began with him. His down-to-Earth nature is pretty infectious and the rest of the company and crew had a good time. He’s really just a wonderful leader in that way. Did it help to be around the same crew as on the irst ilm? Yeah. It was the same crew for the most part, although we had a new cinematographer – Dante Spinotti – who’s one of the all-time greats – so that was really fun. A little hush fell when he came onto set, just because the guy is so revered – he has shot some of the best movies ever made. The crew was a lot of fun, and it helped with the continuity of the ilm to have people who were there the irst time, and who knew the story and the relationships. When Judy and I walked on set for our irst day, we got a little round of applause from the camera crew. They were stoked that we were back and they knew it was going to be fun. Sure enough, we just laughed all day.

What is it like to be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? It’s great. I never really dreamed that I would be in a Super Hero movie, and it feels good to be a part of it. Being able to represent a family that’s not quite so conventional, yet that sticks together and works hard to understand each other – I think that those are the things I’m really proud to be a part of in this ilm, because you don’t really think of those things when you think of these movies. First you think about the Super Heroes, but it’s clearly also important to the ilmmakers and to the Marvel people that we show a family dynamic that we can all relate to on some level.

01 It’s all change for Paxton and Maggie, who are now happily married 02 Both Maggie and Paxton have Scott’s best interests at heart

What do you hope people will like about this movie? I think the Ant-Man character is a great entry level for kids to get into the Marvel Universe – I wouldn’t start my ive-year-old on Thor, but I would start them on Ant-Man, for sure. I think it’s a positive message – his relationship with his daughter and with his new family is a really positive message for people out there, and for children especially. I just hope that kids continue to enjoy the message that the movie brings.

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DAVID DASTMALCHIAN KURT

David Dastmalchian is

Kurt Award-winning actor David Dastmalchian discusses his return as computer and technology hacker extraordinaire, Kurt, in Ant-Man and the Wasp.

nt-Man and the Wasp: The Official Movie Special: What appealed to you about appearing in the sequel to Ant-Man? What didn’t appeal to me about doing the sequel? I was so excited to jump back into being Kurt, and to be part of the old entourage. I was so excited to get back to the studios and be back in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Peyton Reed directing and Paul and Evangeline and the whole cast. After the irst ilm, you always hope that there’s going to be a sequel, but also that your character will get to be a part of that sequel. Peyton Reed and I stayed in touch since we did AntMan, and I got a phone call from him where he just said, “Kurt is back!” I was doing the Kurt dance all over! Were you initially a Marvel fan? I have been reading comic books since the tender age of nine. I was in the third grade when I bought my very irst comic, and it was a Marvel comic. I bought it off a spinning rack at a 7-Eleven in Kansas where I grew up, and I immediately fell in love with everything about comic books. Then I found a comic book shop and I started collecting comic books regularly. One of the very irst comics that I ever collected was the West Coast Avengers. Hank Pym was a member of the West Coast Avengers for quite a while, as was, at that point, Janet van Dyne. I have been a fan of not only the Marvel Universe, but comic books in general, for my whole life. So to now be a grown-up – I guess I qualify as such! – and be a part of the MCU, which is the most incredible ilm universe ever created based on comic book properties... well, the nine-year-old in me is freaking out every second that I’m on set. It’s so cool!

“I like getting to be a part of these Super Heroes adventures and to help them as we careen around San Francisco in a smelly oid van.” 68 | ANT-MAN AND THE WASP

What did you like most about the script for Ant-Man and the Wasp? First of all, it’s totally true to the tone and the heart that I thought was so well captured in the irst movie. So this is another ilm that’s about family and building your family and making mistakes and making amends for your mistakes and reconnecting and putting your family back together. I loved that so much in the irst ilm. I think family is such a beautiful theme, and I thought it was captured so well in the irst one. So when I saw this new script, I was like, “They’ve already hit the target there.” Then there are new characters introduced who are really cool, but we still get to revisit some of our favorite parts of the characters from the irst ilm. And inally, one of the coolest things about this movie is the science iction element to it, which we haven’t gotten to see explored in any Marvel ilm up to date, except for little bursts of what happened in Ant-Man. I like that it asks what’s going to happen in the Quantum Realm? The adventure that takes place as they go to ind Janet is mind-blowing. It’s something people have never seen before. Where do we ind Kurt in Ant-Man and the Wasp? The gang have assisted a Super Hero – these are guys who were just criminals, who were convicts, who couldn’t get a job at the Baskin-Robbins in the irst ilm. And now they are legitimized – they’ve done something good with their lives. They’re excited, and they’ve started a new business called X-Con. That’s pretty good branding there. So Dave, Luis, and Kurt have, with Scott’s help, started this new company. Luis is kind of the president and the CEO of the company – the boss. They’re a security company, a security irm, using all of their knowledge from the past as criminals. They’ve set up shop in San Francisco and are off to the races. Dave and Kurt are so excited because Luis has been telling them how great they’re doing and that they’re going to be rich soon and yada-yada. Little do they know that things are not going as well as they thought. They are about to go broke, which is bad news for Kurt because he’s just bought ive new horses. He was investing in a lot of horses! What are the sets like to work on? Shepherd Frankel, the production designer is a genius.

01 Now a member of X-Con, Kurt is on the straight and narrow 02 A key member of Ant-Man’s support team, Kurt ventures out from behind a computer screen and joins the fight

DAVID DASTMALCHIAN KURT

As soon as I walked into the ofices of X-Con, I went around looking at all the cool details that he put into all the different products that we’re selling. Behind Luis’s desk, one of the little Easter Eggs that’s a personal Easter Egg for me, there’s a record player. And next to it is a security product that is called an Arlo, and that is my son’s name. Shep and Peyton put that box right there because it was my eye line for whenever Kurt was talking to Michael Pena when we’re sitting at the desk. What do you like most about your character? I like getting to be part of these Super Heroes’ adventures and to help them as we careen around San Francisco in a smelly old van. It’s pretty awesome. Over the course of that adventure and on the journey, he comes to recognize that his talents and his gifts can be used for good.

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BEHIND THE SCENES

BEHIND THE SCENES Meet some of the creative team working behind the cameras of Ant-Man and the Wasp.

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SHEPHERD FRANKEL PRODUCTION DESIGNER 01

Shepherd Frankel Production Design Full of amazing – and sometimes mind-bending – sets and environments, Ant-Man and the Wasp has pushed the boundaries of set design to new extremes. Production Designer Shepherd Frankel gives us a glimpse into what it takes to realize such ﬂights of fancy on the big screen.

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SHEPHERD FRANKEL PRODUCTION DESIGNER

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SHEPHERD FRANKEL PRODUCTION DESIGNER

nt-Man and the Wasp: The Official Movie Special: What do you like most about working on the Marvel Studios ilms? I’ve had the luck and coincidence of being able to work on so many of them. I’ve done two entire ilms – the irst Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp, and I’ve also been able to do some additional photography on Thor: The Dark World, the irst Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Doctor Strange. So I’ve been able to see behind the curtain on several of them, and the common denominators are Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, and Victoria Alonso. One of the things that I love the most about working for Marvel Studios is the culture and the community that we get to make the movies in. There’s a common denominator on all those ilms that I’ve been able to kind of step in and out of, and that common denominator is the community of ilmmakers that Marvel Studios puts together, and the support and their allegiance to the properties and making the best possible ilm with their ilmmakers. So I love the community of people working on these ilms. What I love about the ilms themselves is that they are unequivocally and absolutely always an incredible adventure with humor and emotional investment. Any time I’ve ever read one of the scripts, I’ve always found a character or a storyline that I can relate to personally and invest in, whether it’s Ant-Man and the Wasp, where it’s really about bringing family together and showing what lengths we would go to to keep our family and to make our family whole, or the interplanetary travel of Thor: The Dark World or Guardians of the Galaxy, with a bunch of misits stumbling their way through space, trying to igure out how to be a team. All of these ilms have a spectacular visual adventure. So while I’m not good at a lot of things, one of the things I am good at is visual storytelling. I love to be able to participate in Marvel ilms because of the scale of the visual storytelling. How does the process start for you? I like to say that every ilm is its own identity. While there are commonalities and common processes, every ilm has its own set. So as far as the process goes, I treat every ilm as its complete own character and its own identity. While we go through similar processes of visual development, each ilm has its own character in that we’ve got a different director. We have different producers and support staff, and different storylines and different physical conditions. There are different locations, the time we have to prep the ilms can change, the script can be at a different stage when I start, and numerous other factors. So on each ilm, I try to adapt to where we are in the process – where the script is – and go from there. It’s great fun for me to get a script that is in the process of being leshed out. It’s pretty common to start the visual narrative and begin putting imagery together that starts identifying the characters, their support environments, big sequences, and how they it into the context of the fabric of the ilm.

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SHEPHERD FRANKEL PRODUCTION DESIGNER

01 Hope Van Dyne takes a moment in the lab

“I like to say that every film has its own identity. While there are commonalities and common processes, every film has its own set. So far, as the process goes, I treat every film as its own character...” I look at a ilm as a visual tapestry where each square or each moment of that tapestry has to not only support the story and the characters – it also has to have the right tone to support the scene and the moment in the ilm, and ultimately connect it all together. So we go into a scene that’s tight and small and dark to opening it up to a brighter, more lifted one, and then head back into a dark one, or something that’s tonally different. From the irst frame to the last frame, we’re building the world that the ilm takes place in. Sometimes we read a script, and we know what the intention of that scene is and how it has to go from A to B, or how it its into the greater context. But the environment isn’t completely decided upon.

02 Ghost has a moment to reflect 03 A car chase in miniature!

I look at every script as a suggestion to “present or plus,” as we like to say. We like to “plus” the possibility and the environment, and in this ilm we had a lot of opportunity to do that because we’ve been developing as we go. We had a whole bunch of ideas for characters and scenes and storylines that don’t exist in the ilm, but they helped us get to where we are now.

04 Luis on one of the real world sets Frankel created

How are you pushing the visual language but staying true to the comic? I think there’s an expectation for any ilm that starts (and at Marvel as well), we are going to take the property and create a world that is true and lifts the property and the characters to its best possible place. And I think every

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SHEPHERD FRANKEL PRODUCTION DESIGNER ilm I’ve ever been on with Marvel Studios, we’ve been completely supported to do that. We work super closely with the director and the producers and, obviously, the studio, to ind the right tone for that particular property. One of the things that’s so special about Ant-Man and the Wasp is that it’s a ilm that takes place with everyday people in everyday circumstances. That’s what anchors the ilm. Once we shrink down or grow big, we ind ourselves in these extraordinary worlds. So where, say, there’s interplanetary travel and different galaxies on some of the other ilms, our interplanetary travel and our alternate universes are in the macro world or in the giant world. One of the things that is important to Ant-Man and the Wasp is that this movie’s about people hiding out and trying to fulill their goals – in this case, trying to ind Janet in the Quantum Realm and putting a family together. The ilm takes place in the corners and the in-between spaces of San Francisco. Where we’re looking back onto the city or we’re looking back into the environments, we’re rubbing up against a very tactile environment with iconic imagery, but very relatable and understandable worlds. So when we do shrink down into the macro world or do have these spectacular kind of larger moments, we are rooted in reality and everyday struggles. For example, Scott is a single dad trying to make ends meet and has a roommate – he’s just trying to create a nurturing home and environment for his daughter. Luis is trying to live the American dream – he’s got a security company in some kind of old shoebox of an ofice in the Tenderloin District. And Hank Pym is just trying to ind his wife and will do anything to get her back. What conversations did you have with Peyton Reed about the look of the ilm? Working with Peyton is an amazing experience. I was really excited to know that this ilm was happening and that he wanted me to come join him on it. Peyton’s energy is unmatchable and his positive thrust is an incredible thing to be around. He is very collaborative, and because of his background he’s very lexible in storytelling. He’s got amazing energy. and amazing positivity. You see him every day, constantly honing to get to the right storytelling. You also see that in his shot selection and how he’s visually setting up scenes to tell the story eficiently, with purpose. How does the shrinking aspect of the story dictate the size of your sets? As far as macro photography and our shrinking elements, it’s the most fun part of the movie. It’s something that we put a lot of work and research into on the irst ilm and we did a lot of macro photography. So when Ant-Man shrinks, which is a digital event, and he runs through motion capture stages and motion control stages, we also shoot macro photography in actual size, real lifesize sets. So there’ll be these Frazier lenses that scoop down and get into all of the detail with the shallow depth of

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ield, that provide an exaggerated version of what you and I are walking around in. We have these intensely textured and rich environments that are the different planetary landscapes that Ant-Man and the Wasp will be running around and lying through. We have also gone in the opposite direction, and have built some over-sized props, speciically in Hank Pym’s lab. So once you go through the dusty lobby, up in this dusty elevator and open the door into this lab, we want the audience to feel disoriented in scale. The way we’ve done that in this ilm is by building this huge Quantum Gate, which is what the movie is about in terms of getting to the Quantum Realm. Everywhere you look in the lab there’s an over-sized prop; from a huge spring to Erector Set pieces, to LEGO pieces to over-sized volume knobs and big paperclips and clothes-pins and huge Duracell batteries. We want the audience to go, “Wait a second, did I shrink? What size am I?” There are several shots in here that are disorienting in terms of scale. And that was the purpose and the fun of this speciic environment. How long did the build take for Hank’s Lab? We wanted to model the set after what it would look like if Hank Pym had built it on his workbench in the secure room, where he would purchase a building, shrink it down, start retroitting it, putting in the structure he needed to support the work that he’s doing to grow it. And the fabrication process for our fantastic Construction and Set Dressing team was very similar. We put up all the steel components, which is like you and I building an erecter set piece in our homes on a table, then illed it in with Erector Set panels and LEGO pieces to then drop in the main attraction, which is the Quantum Gate. This build took about 17 weeks, and that included some weekend work. We thought it would be 20 weeks. It took a lot of precision and strategy to make it happen. It took everybody on the movie to participate to make it a success. So not only did our Construction team and our Set Dressing teams work hand in hand, but so did our Special Effects team with Dan Suddick. He printed out thousands and thousands and thousands of pieces to help make this environment a visual success. So you felt like each piece was put together, and clamped on, and attached by virtue of Hank Pym and his army of supporters and ants. Everywhere you walk, you feel a very tactile sensibility, and that was only done by

05 Evangeline Lilly takes direction during the filming of a big action sequence 06 The exterior of Hank Pym’s lab at full size

“Once you’re dealing with a shrinking person, and ants flying around and growing people, and going into the Quantum Realm, you want to feel like everything else is super-tactle, so we don’t feel like we are in a digital film.”

SHEPHERD FRANKEL PRODUCTION DESIGNER

everyone on the movie helping, including our Lighting department, our Grip department, and our producers. What you’ll ind in the ilm is that 90 percent of the shots are in-camera shots, and that’s really exciting. One of the reasons Peyton was such a supporter – and a leader – in that area is that he basically said he really wanted this movie to feel tactile. Once you’re dealing with a shrinking person and ants lying around and growing people, and going into the Quantum Realm, which is a digital world, you want to feel like everything else is super tactile so we don’t feel like we’re in a digital ilm. Our Visual Effects Supervisor and Producer, Steph Seretti and Susan Pickett are fantastic collaborators. Every single person who worked on this has come up to me at some point and said, “This is amazing.” Even though it was hard to build, the pay-off and the excitement was very rewarding. While people who worked on this set have worked in this industry for two years, ive years, and some for 30 years, every single one of them has expressed how much of a challenge it

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SHEPHERD FRANKEL PRODUCTION DESIGNER was, but also how much reward they felt because of the result. It’s nice to see people feeling like they participated in something bigger than themselves. We couldn’t have done it without everybody working together. How did you achieve such amazing attention to detail on this ilm? We had an army of people creating this thing, and from the big picture to the small picture, there were like eight sets inside of this one set. Our Construction Coordinator has built some really big movies, and this is one that he’s really proud of. It couldn’t have been done without him chalking the lines and guiding things to happen, so all the other people working together and in tandem could constantly cross over to achieve the goal.

07 Ghost in her laboratory 08 Scott Lang’s place – “a nurturing kind of rented apartment”

What details went into the Ghost’s lair? Because this movie is rooted in reality, we wanted each character to have a support environment. So Scott has his

home, which is this nurturing kind of rented apartment; Luis has his ofice, which is this kind of shoebox of a place; Foster has an academic background; and Hank Pym, obviously, has his extraordinary lab. Ghost has a mysterious story here. We had to igure out the best environment for her – it’s super and poetic and sad, but also with great purpose. So we arrived at Ghost and Foster having a relationship, and there’s some history there. One of the ideas we played with is that Ghost may be going back to her parents’ house. Or inding a place that was just up in Marin County, in northern California, something that would feel like it had a little bit of history of academia and a mid-century rustic kind of quality. Where did you ind the location? We scouted a property in Atlanta and the exterior just blew us all away. We thought we were in northern California. It was the craziest environment we’ve ever seen. What we liked about it was the exterior was the mystery behind it. So what we decided to do, after Peyton and our producers settled on the script and storyline of Ghost’s character, was make this our exterior property, no matter what, and we would build an interior one. So we took our favorite pieces of that place in terms of materials. There was one architectural feature that we really liked as well, and we integrated it into our set. The set is laid out the way the script wants to tell the story. We come inside and we are trying to igure out where we are. Are we in a fortress? Are we in a house? There are cues to the fact that a family used to live here, and that it has been abandoned and been appropriated into some kind of facility, like some kind of laboratory facility, but there is still this domestic quality that hasn’t left the property. As you walk inside there, you turn the corner and see the ghost chamber, which is this spectacular rejuvenation chamber. We aspired to create something that hadn’t been in a Marvel Studios ilm before in the way that it was in this one. Peyton challenged me to do something that had not been seen before – to distinguish ourselves from all the amazing, great visual iconography. And Stephen Broussard, our producer, reiterated that. That was a tall order.

How were you able to meet the challenge? You look at the history of all the Marvel Studios ilms and all the chambers and the containment rooms, and you can just think of a greatest hits from the cell that Loki was in in Thor: The Dark World to The Avengers, where they were being held in that beautiful, iconic space. We kind of reverted to the DNA of what our ilm is, which is people who make stuff. There’s no Tony Stark in this ilm. Everything we see is the beta version. It’s the analog. I could see how that was put together in a garage, in an academic laboratory. And some of the research we did at Berkley’s ALS laboratory kind of gave us some of the visual language for that. What we wanted to do with the Ghost chamber was put it together as if a professor had put it together adhoc in order to help Ghost be contained and rejuvenated.

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SHEPHERD FRANKEL PRODUCTION DESIGNER

So what you’ll see in that is off-the-shelf metal materials. You’ll see tin foil covering pieces that connect. Peyton really wanted to use light as a source of rejuvenation. Not as if it’s a refreshing thing, but more of a painful moment that one has to go through to be rejuvenated. Peyton texted me some ideas on lenses and distortions, and we arrived at the Fresnel lenses. Our Special Effects team, and Dan Suddick, took it as a challenge to build the best version of these, which are almost impossible to build. He did these things up and made them so they had beautiful clarity. I kept going back to Peyton with different versions of the shape of this and what it could be. And when we saw this one that we built, it kind of felt like it landed. We had done something distinct and visually supportive of our character, storyline, and the DNA of the special visual language of Ant-Man and the Wasp. What do you think will separate this ilm from the other Super Hero properties? I feel like we are surrounded by everyday people doing everyday things, and inding themselves in extraordinary circumstances, and they’re not equipped to use what they have. They have never been to the frontier that they are arriving at, which takes place in three ways. One is just from a pure story and family standpoint, that Hank has never been a great husband, but he’s trying to be a great husband. He has never been a great dad,

“[Director] Peyton Reed challenged me to do something that we had not seen before - to distinguish ourselves from all of the amazing, great visual iconogaphy of the Marvel Studios movies to date.” but he’s trying to be a great dad. He’s pushing himself to be a better person. Scott is trying to become the best dad he can be, and he is trying to become a better partner, and possible candidate to be a boyfriend. Meanwhile, Bill Foster has never used his technology in the way that he is using it in this ilm. Sonny Burch has never dealt with these kinds of people before. Ava is trying to extend her life. Everyone is pushed to the max of their possibility, from an emotional standpoint and a physical standpoint. All of the technology that’s being used in this ilm has never been pushed [this far]. We have seen our characters go to volume eight or nine in their technology and their physical capabilities, and we’re seeing them go to 12 and 14 on in this movie. Everyone is pushed to the brink – to the point of breaking – and they come together as a stronger unit. But again, these are normal people. This is you and I doing this. This isn’t Iron Man. This isn’t Thor. There’s no magical hammer in this movie. There isn’t a serum that someone can take and grow into the Hulk. You feel the science and the technology is home-grown out of laboratories – out of the mind of Hank Pym – and out of the mind of Bill Foster. So it’s all about normal, everyday people in completely extraordinary circumstances.

09 /10 Unlike some other Marvel Super Heroes, Scott Lang’s world is all about normal people in everyday circumstancs

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GEORGE COTTLE STUNTS

George Cottle The Stunt Coordinator Action-packed and full of amazing physical action, Ant-Man and the Wasp’s Stunt Coordinator, George Cottle, discusses rolling with the punches on set.

nt-Man and the Wasp: The Official Movie Special: What do you like about working on Marvel ilms? This is my second Marvel ilm, and I think that it’s quite a small unit when you consider them next to other bigger productions. So everything they do has a family bond to it, and that really feels good. If you ask questions, they only ever get asked up the chain to one or two people before you get the real answer back. The petiteness of it is what makes it so much fun. It’s very collaborative, and everybody’s so open. You can literally reach out to anybody, and they’re always very helpful with their responses.

What enticed you to this project? I was really shocked by how much I loved the irst AntMan. I really didn’t expect to. I went in and watched it, and I really enjoyed it. I thought it was so much fun. I thought, from a stunt standpoint, they really let the comedy run with the action as much as anything. It was just such a fresh outlook on a Super Hero movie. So that was one of the things that drew me to it. Were you familiar with the characters already? When I got offered my irst Marvel Studios role I did some homework, and I watched everything that was out there, Marvel-wise. So I had a good understanding of it.

“The Wasp walks in and takes out 12-15 guys. It worked out great in the end!”

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How do you coordinate these ilms while remaining respectful to the comics? Peyton Reed, the director, had a very good understanding of exactly what he wanted. I came into it probably ten to 12 weeks away from ilming, and we had a pretty good idea of the script and some of his other ideas. We sat down and we talked about what he wanted to do and what he saw the characters doing power-wise, and character-wise. With that in mind, we took it to rehearsals and started blocking through some action. In the beginning, we literally went across the board and did probably four or ive times as much as we would actually want to be doing. But it just gave him an idea of what he did and didn’t like. It helped ine-tune what he saw in his head. Is there a particular ighting style we’ll see in this ilm? It’s very different for every character. And honestly, one of the hardest people for our stunt team to replicate is Paul Rudd, who is so funny in the suit with the way he moves and the way his body reacts to certain situations. We try to embrace that as much as possible, but Paul’s so good at thinking on his feet that sometimes you just have to be able to adapt. And then you have to literally roll with the punches, and we make it work. It’s a constantly evolving situation. What are the challenges of incorporating the shrinking element? The shrinking element has been pretty tough. It’s been hard to understand our boundaries, like when they do have their powers and when don’t they have their powers. When Wasp is big she can’t ly, but when she’s small she can… We’re always trying to push the boundaries with the action we put forward to Peyton. Peyton and Stephen Broussard will come back and be like, “Actually, no, we don’t buy this,” or “No, this is too much,” but every now and again we’ll have something that works. Are there any sequences you’re particularly proud of? From the very beginning, we always knew there was going to be a kick-ass moment for Wasp. There was going to be her real kind of, “This is my character, this is who I am,” moment for her. We knew it was going to be the restaurant sequence, and we started working on that very early. It was constantly evolving – we would do some ideas, and then Peyton would change them. And then obviously Evangeline would have her input on the character. It was a big sequence. It was her walking in and taking out 12-15 guys. It worked out great in the end. We were so proud of how it turned out and how we really got introduced to Wasp and her character; her ighting style, and what she was capable of doing. It was just her moment. She looked so great. Everyone did such a great job. It’s a real standout moment in the movie.

01 Ant-Man takes to the streets in an action-packed sequence 02 Ghost strikes out during a high-octane action sequence 03 The Wasp on a knife edge as she faces down the bad guys

GEORGE COTTLE STUNTS

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IVO COVENEY COSTUMES

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IVO COVENEY COSTUMES

Ivo Coveney The Costumer The Head of Speciality Costumes on both Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp, Ivo Coveney has worked on a large number of Hollywood blockbusters, including the Star Wars prequels.

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IVO COVENEY COSTUMES

nt-Man and the Wasp: The Official Movie Special: How many costumes have you made for Ant-Man and the Wasp? We’ve made 64 costumes for this, although there are seven characters – but that’s including all of our repeats. Are the repeats made to help with factoring in cleaning and repairs throughout ilming? Once they’ve been used, at the end of the day they need to be dried and cleaned, so we’ve got a setup for that. If things have gone wrong on set – like we’ve got scratches on something – and repairs are needed, we’ve got Dan Molaschi, who’s in charge of looking after our stuff on set. He’s got a workstation on set, so he can take things back there and repair them. The hope is that once items arrive on set, anything that goes wrong can be repaired at the workstation rather than go back to the workshop. Every character has their own section. Can you talk us through some of the character’s costumes? There are eight suits for Hank, even though Hank is just Hank. Michael Douglas himself has three costumes; Michael’s photo double has three costumes; and Michael’s

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01 Assorted Ant-Man suits and helmets

stunt double has two costumes. As well as that, every costume has the pair of boots that we need with it. All the costumes also have hard pieces – we’ve got belts, we’ve got helmets, there are stunt belts and hero belts, and we’ve got the gauntlets… There’s a secret about the helmets, isn’t there? Nowadays with Marvel ilms, and with a lot of ilms, the digital aspect really helps us. So although I’ve made the visor so that it can move inside the helmet, and it’s designed so everything would work, the relections [from it] become a problem sometimes for the camera. You’ll see a relection of the light, which makes ilming more dificult – and we don’t want to lose a really good take of Michael acting because there’s a light showing on the visor. What we do nowadays is make the helmets, and they will add the visor in digitally. That makes things easier for us, and it makes it easier for the actors as well.

“When I see a design, the first thing I do is move my shoulders and think how the actor will move.”

IVO COVENEY COSTUMES

It probably makes it easier for everybody, apart from the Special Effects team! Part of the trick of what we do is that we create absurd, dificult shapes to make for the human body. If the actors hate what we’re doing or are uncomfortable in [their costume], then it makes everybody else’s life on set very dificult – [even to the point] where the director then can’t get what he needs. So our job, as well as getting these shapes, is to try to make them work with the actor.

02 Paul Rudd suited up as Ant-Man 03 Hank Pym’s AntMan suit. Concept art by Jackson Sze

to work on the irst ilm, and this is very different from what we did on that. In the irst ilm, [the suit] was meant to look pretty old-fashioned. It was meant for being under cover. We were also trying to make it quite loose itting – almost like a motorcycle suit – whereas this new one is tighter itting. We hit the same problem again of how you get the movement in there, and so, again, we’ve got lexibility into the arms to allow movement.

What’s the irst thing that goes through your head when you see how a character is going to look? When I see a design, the irst thing I do is start moving my shoulders and think about how they will move in that design. If Michael’s shoulder is here and this is a hard piece, we have to make sure that he can still move in it. So we elasticated it into the sleeve to allow him the freedom of movement. There are lots of things like that you won’t see in the ilm, but if we didn’t do them, they wouldn’t work properly.

Does the costume consist of many different parts? There are so many pieces that just take so long to do. We’ve got tubing, which is rubber tubing but is meant to look metallic, which has to be set into the costume. The chest pieces are hard so that they don’t collapse down, which also make for a very heroic look for Paul. But, again, on top of that he still has to move. As well as the suit, we then have all of his pieces as well. So you’ve got Paul’s belt, which has to move with him and has to be lexible. I think there are about 40 pieces in that. Each piece is individual, and everything moves.

How many Ant-Man suits are there, and how is it different this time? We made 13 Ant-Man suits, and Paul has two stuntmen that work with him for certain scenes. I was lucky enough

And that all has to be separate? If we did the belt as a hard piece it just wouldn’t move with Paul, and he wouldn’t be comfortable. We tried to make sure that it its well and that it moves nicely with him.

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IVO COVENEY COSTUMES Why are there so many suits for Ant-Man? Paul had ive and Colin Follenweider – Paul’s stuntman – had ive. When you look at one of Colin’s suits, it has to look as good as Paul’s suit. If you put the two together you wouldn’t really know which was a stunt and which was a hero – we just needed to know that Colin could move in it and do all of his stunts. What sometimes happens is that they’ll suddenly decide to go in close, so I can’t cut corners on the inish of the stunt costumes because one may end up in a scene as a hero piece. Talk us through Evangeline’s Wasp costumes... Trying to ind this color took a very, very long time. Somebody at Marvel jokingly said it was a combination of gold and silver, and they decided to say it was ‘gilver’. Suddenly, we had to try and work out what the hell gilver was! So we got in our workshop and there were over 40 different tests just to try and work out the correct color and texture. We’ve got a relective silver in the background, and then we’ve got a patent leather gold, which is cut with a honeycomb on two different levels just to try and get that elusive ‘gilver’ color. In just one piece on the stomach, there are over 90 smaller pieces. Because it needs to move, it needs to be lexible – we don’t want it to restrict Evangeline. We’ve allowed seam allowance in there, and allowed that stretch in the arms to enable movement. It’s incredibly complicated working it out, but it was all done in-house. It took a long time to work out, but Evangeline was very happy with it. What about Ghost? We got the Ghost design quite late. We had less than nine weeks from getting the design to her being on set – which may sound like a lot of time, but I promise you it wasn’t with the amount of work that needed to be done! As soon as Hannah John-Kamen was cast, we scanned her. Then we had her body form milled out so that we were able to build our sculpted pieces on Hannah’s form. Because the neoprene is so tight itting, we needed to make sure that everything was going to it exactly. We weren’t able to get started until we had her form. From that point on, each of the pieces had to be individually built onto the body. Some of the pieces we were able to do digitally, but most of them were sculpted on. Then we had to mold them and cast them, and then they were glued onto the neoprene, because [the costume] had to move with Hannah in it. It had to be lexible. It was a very skintight costume, so we had to make sure that Hannah could move fully in it. Are there any other behind-the-scenes secrets you can share about Ghost? Ghost is not like every other Marvel character. The way this costume and the helmet were designed, the eyes don’t actually match up with the human eyes. Therefore, it’s very, very dificult for the actress or the stunt person to see. So a lot of the time with Hannah, we had a piece, a ‘hero helmet,’ so that she could see out and act. The hood sat on press studs which locked into position, to make

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IVO COVENEY COSTUMES

sure that it moved properly with Hannah’s face. For the scene where Hannah takes her mask off and we see her for irst time, we just put a little bit of detail on the inside, just to make it interesting. I would’ve made it more interesting, but I only had a day’s notice that they were doing that scene, because they brought it forward on the schedule! How much time do you usually have? The way that it works on Marvel Studios ilms is that they have a department called Viz-Dev, which is Visual Development. They’re aware of what’s happening a long time before I come on; a long time before the designer comes on. They’re doing concepts that go through the higher-ups at Marvel for all of these characters. That concept is the design that we work to. Nowadays, they’ll quite often provide us with a digital ile as a starting point. We then have to make that it the human body because sometimes, artists don’t fully understand the way the human body works! So we have to make sure that it’s going to it on the head correctly and move well with the human body. We’ll get a digital ile, then we have to virtually redo it to make it work. We got a very nice digital ile of Ghost, which we printed out. It was a beautiful, beautiful model, but the proportions didn’t work with Hannah or any other real human. So we scaled and moved that around, played around with it in Photoshop, played around with it in ZBrush and in Rhino – which are 3D drawing programs – so that we were able to get the shape, reine the shape, and then 3D print it. Then we were able to try that on Hannah.

“There were a couple of scenes that our stunt people did in full [Ghost] masks which petrified me as they couldn’t see anything!” 04 The original Wasp. Concept art by Rodney Fuentebella 05 Hope Van Dyne in a new Wasp suit 06/07/08 Ghost concept art by Tully Summers

After that work, we knew that it was roughly the right shape, so then we were able to reine it. We had to then, from that, get a mold of it in silicone, and from that we cast all the pieces out. So all of these pieces were from the same mold, even though each one did something different. What’s the difference between the two Wasp helmets? Janet-Wasp was briely in the irst ilm in the lashback, and therefore she was designed for that. Andy Park, who’s with the Viz-Dev department, did the concepts for both of our Janets and both of our Ant-Mans, so we worked very closely with him to make sure that his vision was realized. There is the other Ant-Man as well. The original AntMan and the original Wasp are deliberately retro, like science iction from a long time ago. We deliberately made them look sleek but not brand new. When we came to Wasp this time, we were able to be a lot sleeker. The lines were allowed to be sleeker. They were allowed to be more contemporary. They were deliberately ‘now’ rather than as old-fashioned as the retro suits were.

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ANDY PARK VISUAL DEVELOPMENT

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ANDY PARK VISUAL DEVELOPMENT

Andy Park Visual Development Andy Park is the man responsible for the overall look of Ant-Man and the Wasp, creating a world that looks much like our own, with some key, fantastical differences.

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ANDY PARK VISUAL DEVELOPMENT

nt-Man and the Wasp: The Official Movie Special: What can you tell us about the development process? I’ve been fortunate to be able to design the costumes and looks of Ant-Man and the Wasp for both Ant-Man ilms. For the irst ilm, we designed the costume to be a little bit more retro as it was formerly Hank’s suit. Hank developed it further in this second ilm, so it’s a bit more modernized. I was also able to design the suit for Captain America: Civil War. Being able to take that iteration from each ilm and change it up a little bit has been really cool. We got a sneak peek of the Wasp’s costume in the irst ilm, but in this new movie we get to see it fully realized. Seeing Evangeline Lilly wearing her suit and Paul Rudd wearing his for the third time has been a great experience. It’s been fantastic to see how the costumes have evolved and developed and become alive. Did you reference the comic books for the ilm versions of the costumes? When we’re designing these characters in the visual development department, the irst thing we always do is look at the source material, which is the Marvel comic

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01 Ant-Man as illustrated by Andy Park 02 The mysterious Quantum Realm

books. So, looking at the original design of Ant-Man, he’s got the big, bulbous, chrome-looking head. We brought that into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and tried to make it believable. For Hope’s Wasp costume, we looked at the design of the Janet Van Dyne version in the comics, plus also the more modern, black and gold one. We took all those ideas and put them together. We also took the conceit of the containment suits, so you can’t really show their mouths like you can see them in the comics – they have to be fully encased. We have to think how the costumes will it into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. An artist named Ian Joyner did the Janet-Wasp Quantum look, and another artist named Tully Summers did the Ghost look, which was mostly inspired by the Ghost character from the Marvel comic book. Ghost was

“When we’re designing these characters, the first thing we always do is look at the source material.”

ANDY PARK VISUAL DEVELOPMENT

actually a male character in the comic, but in our story she’s female. The Ghost has a white/gray costume in the comic, and we took that as inspiration and brought it into this live action movie world.

03/04 Andy Park’s paintings depicting both Janet and Hope Van Dyne’s Wasp suits

Tell us about the designs for Hank’s lab and the Quantum Realm. Hank Pym created a lab, which he put together from all different parts so that he could go into the Quantum Realm in search of his wife – and Hope’s mom – Janet. Shepherd Frankel and his team created this amazing set, and our department and Shepherd’s did a lot of different designs for Hank’s Quantum ship. Eventually, Shepherd took the design and inalized it to create this amazing-looking ship, which has a look that is reminiscent of bugs and insects. What was it like working with the director, Peyton Reed? Working with Peyton was an absolute pleasure. He is the nicest, friendliest director I’ve ever met. He’s very collaborative and always very open to our ideas, and he’s really respectful of all the different departments and all the different talents that come in and contribute to the ilm.

If you saw the irst ilm, you can see what he brings to the table and how he’s deinitely cracked the code of making Ant-Man cool. I meet so many people who say that Ant-Man is their favorite ilm, and you’ve got to give a lot of the credit for that to Peyton and to Marvel Studios. I’d love to work with him again. He’s an amazing guy and an amazing director. I hope he comes back for Ant-Man 3!

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP | 91

KEVIN FEIGE THE PRODUCER

Kevin Feige The Producer Kevin Feige is the man behind the magic. Not only has he produced the Marvel Studios movies, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also the President of Marvel Studios. Here, he discusses the return of Ant-Man and the Wasp...

92 | ANT-MAN AND THE WASP

nt-Man and the Wasp: The Official Movie Special: W h at was the response like to the original Ant-Man movie? It worked − people around the world began to respond to it. What’s exciting about being in a shared cinematic universe is that since Ant-Man, he’s also appeared in Captain America: Civil War. So Ant-Man, and his new power as Giant-Man, was in the biggest movie of 2016. Ant-Man and the Wasp is really a sequel to two movies; it’s a sequel to the irst Ant-Man ilm and it follows directly after the events of Civil War. We’re excited about Ant-Man post-Civil War because a much bigger audience has now been exposed to him. Do you think it was the family theme and the grounded character of Scott Lang that helped audiences connect worldwide? What’s exciting about all of our characters is their humanity and their heart. With Scott Lang, particularly in his Ant-Man story, you have a much deeper connection with family. He’s the only hero − up to this point − that has a child, and that relationship between Scott and Cassie was the backbone of the irst movie. We’re going to expand that further in Ant-Man and the Wasp, as he’s become part of a little family unit himself with Luis, Hank Pym, and Hope, who now dons the Wasp outit. Of course you get the spectacle, you get the fun of shrinking, and now growing, but you also have this very deep family connection, which is unique amongst all of our Marvel Studios ilms.

94 | ANT-MAN AND THE WASP

01 Giant-Man makes an unscheduled appearance, to the surprise of on-lookers 02 Tiny but mighty! Ant-Man soars into battle

Are you taking the family element further with this ilm? The family unit, and the drama that comes with that, is continuing in Ant-Man and the Wasp with the idea of whether they will be able to ind Hope’s lost mother. To explore something that deep and that emotional, against the backdrop of the Quantum Realm and shrinking and growing, is the fun of making an Ant-Man movie.

KEVIN FEIGE THE PRODUCER

The promise of the Wasp has been awesome... One of our favorite endings to any of our ilms is when Hank reveals to Hope the prototype of the new Wasp outit. She says something that she believes, that we believe, and that we think the audience believes when it comes to female Super Heroes: “It’s about damn time.” That’s why the movie is called Ant-Man and the Wasp; it’s a two-hander between them. You could see in that irst ilm that she was, frankly, more capable than Scott Lang of being a Super Hero. Her father, because of the loss of her mother, emotionally didn’t want her to do this. Now, having presented her with this suit, we get to see her with the gloves off and becoming a Super Hero. And frankly, a much better one than Scott. So that changes their whole dynamic.

03 Hope dreams of finding her long-lost mother - with a little help from Scott

When you’re casting someone like Evangeline, are you casting for the role speciically in that movie, or with the idea that down the line that actor will have to play a hero? The fun of casting at Marvel Studios is that you’re casting for the movie you’re making, but you’re also casting for the movies you hope to make. When we hired Sebastian Stan to play Bucky in the very irst Captain America movie, we needed to cast an actor who could be an anchor, this best friend for Steve as he went on his origin story. But in the back of our heads we knew that if we were lucky, if that irst ilm worked, that he would become this other character, the Winter Soldier. It was very similar with Evangeline Lilly, casting somebody to

“The fun of casting at Marvel Studios is that you’re casting for the movie you’re making, but you’re also casting for the movies you hope to make.” play Hope, to play the daughter in this adventure that introduced us into the world of Pym Particles, shrinking, and the Quantum Realm. At the same time, we knew that if we were lucky we were really casting somebody to play the Super Hero Wasp. One of the pleasures of working here is being able to see those dreams come true, and as soon as she puts on that costume, it becomes a whole other thing. You decided to use Giant-Man in Civil War, rather than saving him for the Ant-Man sequel... The irst ilm was about acclimatising the audience to this idea of shrinking, and the idea of super heroics on a micro scale. In Civil War we mixed it up and we showcased that he can grow − that he can get gigantic − and we needed that in Civil War because we needed the whole airport battle to turn in a big way, and what is bigger than Giant-Man? In Ant-Man and the Wasp we

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP | 95

KEVIN FEIGE THE PRODUCER

start to play with the whole notion of scale. It’s not just about being tiny, it’s not just about being giant, it’s about all of those scales in between. And frankly, what would going back and forth so much do to your head? Will the Quantum Realm play a bigger part in this ilm? At the end of Ant-Man we followed Scott Lang into the Quantum Realm for the irst time. For Marvel Studios and the MCU it was the irst time going into an environment that was so strange and so out there and so trippy. We were beginning to peel back the onion that would later be completely peeled back in Doctor Strange, as he went into the multiverse. But that Quantum Realm is a whole other territory and a whole other terrain that we can play with to tell our stories. Is Hope’s mother − Hank’s long-lost wife, the original Wasp − still down there in the Quantum Realm? That’s the crux of the entire ilm. If she’s down there, how can she come out? And if she’s been down there this whole time, what has she been doing down there? This is really a fun, fast ilm that touches on that subject. What we begin to get into at the end of it is the notion that this Quantum Realm is much, much larger than we ever imagined, and that there are all sorts of adventures to be had at that level, which we will, perhaps, explore in another ilm... You’ve taken painstaking details to make it seem like there’s an organic connection between those realms in Ant-Man and Doctor Strange. With each ilm we want to make sure that the audience is with us, and that the audience is ready for the next step in the adventure. There have been amazing stories over the past 75 years in Marvel Comics, and if you start on issue 400, you’re going to be lost. But if you are with them from the beginning and you keep going, that’s where you can start to have more fun. As we’re entering midway through towards the end of Phase Three of the Cinematic Universe, we get to have fun like that. Does Hank have a renewed sense of hope now that he is faced with the possibility that Janet is still alive? Hank and Hope have grown a lot from the irst ilm. After the catharsis they had with each other in that ilm, they’re now in a much better place. Hope is now wearing the Wasp suit; she’s a hero in her own right. Hank has that joy of seeing his daughter become this amazing Super Hero. But at the same time he now believes that maybe he could have found his wife, and he’s becoming obsessed with that. He’s beginning to invent new things to see if there’s a way to contact her in the Quantum Realm.

04 Exploring the Quantum Realm requires some sophisticated tech 05 Hank Pym travels light - just him and his micro lab 06 Ghost hits the road during a tense chase 07 When it comes to being a Super Hero, Hope takes her responsibilities seriously 08 The Wasp swoops into action!

“Scott is going to have to break the law again to be a hero, and to help Hope’s mother.” 96 | ANT-MAN AND THE WASP

Hank and Hope have been on the run because of the events Scott was involved in. They’re not particularly happy with him based on the fact that he went and joined Captain America for a fun adventure which not only landed him in jail, but also exposed Hank and Hope to the Sokovia Accords. Because she’s a Super Hero and he invents these amazing things, they’ve got to sign as well. Things have not gone well for them between the ilms because of Civil War. Just as Scott’s in his inal weekend of house arrest, where he’s going to get his little ankle monitor off and can go to the park once again with his daughter rather than just being stuck at home, Hank comes knocking. He’s realized that he’s so close to inding Janet, and that means Scott is going to have to break the law again to be a hero, and to help Hope’s mother. In terms of a villain, who will they be going up against? There are a lot of great Marvel characters that we haven’t tapped into from the comic books. There is one in particular that came very close to being an Iron Man villain at one point, but as we were developing the story for Ant-Man and the Wasp, playing with this notion of the Quantum Realm and the way physics changes the body when you begin to experiment with shrinking and growing, we decided to adapt a character who irst appeared in the comic books in the 1980s called Ghost.

KEVIN FEIGE THE PRODUCER

Ghost has the amazing ability to go through walls, and be completely intangible. Let’s talk about Wasp and her powers... As we saw in the irst ilm, she’s the better ighter, she’s got more conidence. The Wasp suit has wings and allows light. It’s got stingers so she can shoot criminals as she shrinks and grows. She will be among the best ighters we’ve ever had in a movie. Seeing her kick ass is going to be awesome. Seeing Scott desperately try to keep up with that is going to be hilarious.

Why was the decision made to make this a team-up movie? We wanted to deliver on the promise at the end of the irst Ant-Man ilm when she says, “It’s about damn time.” We wanted to fulill that promise, and when you look at the history of the comics, AntMan and the Wasp were one of the great team-ups of Marvel Comics. We’d already touched on that a little bit in the lashback in the irst ilm with the original Ant-Man and Wasp. We wanted to see Hope and Scott as these two Super Heroes who couldn’t be more different!

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP | 97

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