Peyton Reed: We are going to explore the quantum realm a lot more

Marvel’s 20th film, Ant-Man and The Wasp, hits Indian screens this Friday, a week after its US release. Excerpts from a conversation with the film’s director Peyton Reed follow:

How was the first Ant-Man experience for you?

It was a whirlwind; we were just sprinting. This time around, we have more time as we’ve already established these characters. Now we get to see what happens next to these characters, particularly Scott Lang, who not only had the events of the first Ant-Man, but appeared in Captain America: Civil War.

How do you incorporate the Marvel Cinematic Universe into Ant-Man and The Wasp?

The first film was a deliberately smaller, more intimate film. It takes place in its own corner of the MCU. In Ant-Man and The Wasp we’re doubling down on that. We landed on a really fun way to find Scott and Hope at the beginning of this film, and Hank as well. It takes into account the events of Civil War. But that’s about it. Otherwise, the film still operates in its own corner of the MCU.

Not having to do an origins story will open things up, right?

In the first Ant-Man, there was so much to set up. We had to set up the mythology of Hank Pym and the powers of Ant-Man; Scott Lang and how he comes upon the Ant-Man technology; establish that he controls ants too, that it’s not just the shrinking; and so on. In this one, we don’t have to spend time setting any of that up. So we can hit the ground running.

Are you introducing any new elements to the story?

Yes, we are, and to some of the characters like Luis too. Now that he’s had a taste of being a hero, what does that mean for him two years down the line? Also, this film operates more on a street level. It again takes place in San Francisco, and we really want to feel the city even more than we did in the first film. The crime element is still part of the film as well.

Is there still a strong family theme in this one?

The family dynamics are crucial to what the Ant-Man films are. In the first film, Scott’s whole goal is to just be a better father to his daughter. That definitely continues in this film. He’s out of prison now, and he just wants to get on a straight and narrow path, and be there for his kid.

How is the Hope of this film different from the one in the first?

In the first film, Hope is clearly the more qualified person to put on the suit. But she’s not allowed to until the very end when Hank reveals that he and Hope’s mother at one point were working on this Wasp suit. And now, they’re going to work on it together. So in Ant-Man and The Wasp, you have Hope van Dyne who finally has this thing that she’s wanted for so long. You’ll find at the beginning of the film that she is a very different Hope than you saw in the first film.

What else is new in this film?

We have a lot of tricks in this that the audiences haven’t seen before. Civil War just scratched the surface in terms of Giant-Man’s powers, and in this film, they have made advances on the suit. You will see Ant-Man-size action and giant-size action. And then you have the Wasp. She’s someone who we’ve never seen in action on screen, and it’s been great figuring out how she moves, how she fights, how she flies, and the choreography of all of that, and just her character as a hero. In the first film, we just scratched the surface of the quantum realm, and we explore that more in this.

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 or in Asgard. It’s the real mundane, normal world, but we get to experience it from these weird, radically different perspectives.

Will we see familiar faces?

Absolutely. All the faces from the first film are coming back, and we’re introducing a couple of new characters into the world who will be very familiar to the Marvel comics faithful. You’re going to meet Bill Foster, and another called Ghost. It’s a character that enters the film in a very different way than in the comic universe. And this character creates some really serious issues for all of our heroes.

What can audiences look forward to in this one?

There are a lot of things that excite me about Ant-Man and The Wasp. But I think the biggest is to see The Wasp herself; to see Hope van Dyne as a fully formed hero in this film. She’s the first female hero in the title of a Marvel film, after all.