Get ready for 'Civil War'!
Ant-Man introduced us to a whole new world -- one that’s even weirder than Guardians of the Galaxy -- and filled it with fun Easter eggs and references to the larger Marvel universe. But the juicy end credit scenes -- yes, there are two, so make sure you stay all the way to the end -- are what lots of die-hard fans will be buzzing about afterwards, especially after Age of Ultron’s tag left little to discuss.
Here’s what those final scenes mean for Ant-Man and what’s coming next!
(WARNING: We’re about to dig into the SPOILERS of all spoilers. Do not -- we repeat, DO NOT -- read any further if you haven’t actually seen Ant-Man yet.)
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The Mid-Credits Scene: Re-Introducing The Wasp
What Happens: Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), finally accepting that he can’t protect his daughter forever, leads Hope (Evangeline Lily) to a secret room in his laboratory, where he reveals an Ant-Man-esque costume, albeit with wings.
“This is an advanced prototype that your mother and I worked on together,” he says. “She never got to use it, but now I realize that we were working on it for you.” Hope responds, “It’s about damn time.”
What It Means: The MCU will have a Wasp! Well, Ant-Man revealed Janet van Dyne, wife to Hank, mother to Hope, and, in the comics, a founding member of The Avengers, actually *did* serve as the Wasp during the Cold War, but her daughter will now inherit the mantle. At least until Janet inevitably escapes the Quantum Realm in a TBD Marvel film.
It’s a divergence from the comics, where Hope only exists as a supervillain in an alternate universe. So, when will we see Wasp next? Likely not until Infinity Wars, assuming Marvel doesn’t sneak an Ant-Man & The Wasp sequel in before 2020. Either way, we’re just happy that another badass, female superhero has been introduced into the fold.
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The Post-Credits Scene: Prepare for a Civil War
What Happens: Steve Rogers aka Captain America (Chris Evans) and Sam Wilson aka the Falcon (Anthony Mackie) find Bucky Barnes aka The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) in an abandoned warehouse... somewhere, where Bucky’s metal arm is stuck in...something. Their conversation goes like this:
Falcon: “This would’ve been a lot easier a week ago.”
Cap: “If we call Tony--"
Falcon: “He won’t believe us.”
Cap: “Even if he did--“
Falcon: “Who knows if the accords will let him help.”
Cap: “We’re on our own.”
Falcon pauses for a moment and replies, “Maybe not. I know a guy.”
What It Means: Seeing as “Ant-Man Will Return” pops up onscreen after the scene, we can assume the “guy” Falcon knows is none other than Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), which context clues -- Falcon was actively looking for Scott at the end of the movie -- already made clear. And we know that Rudd will appear in Captain America: Civil War.
More importantly, the scene -- which was actually shot by Civil War directors the Russo Brothers -- cements Ant-Man on #TeamCaptainAmerica for the next installment, which will see Cap square off with Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.). In the comics, the “civil war” is over a Superhero Registration Act enforced by the government, so the “accords” mentioned here are probably some sort of restrictive mandate that Tony Stark has agreed to.
Anyway, here’s hoping we get a scene where a shrunken Ant-Man rides one of Hawkeye’s (Jeremy Renner, who is also in attendance for Civil War) arrows, then unshrinks and kicks some bad guy ass.
Now, find out what Ant-Man director Peyton Reed and Ant-Man himself, Paul Rudd, told ET about Civil War:
