During our AntMan and The Wasp secret set visit last year, director Peyton Reed understandably had a hard time trying to share and explain things to us. After all, we hadn’t even seen the film yet, and everything was classified 7 or above at S.H.I.E.L.D.. This time around, we saw a beaming man that still seemed to have more aces up his sleeve, if you ask me. Nevertheless, he did share plenty with us. Peyton Reed managed to make us laugh, cheer, go up, down, and up again, and finally, made us gasp. Here is our Exclusive Peyton Reed Interview on Marvel’s AntMan and The Wasp.
I was invited by Disney to the AntMan and the Wasp Set in Atlanta in Pinewood Studios and Press Junket. All geeking out over The AntMan and The Wasp and opinions shared are my own.
Photo credit: Louise Bishop www.momstart.com
Exclusive Peyton Reed Interview on Marvel’s AntMan and The Wasp
We were forewarned that he could be attacked by The Wasp’s darts if he spilled too many MCU secrets. Despite so, we did not tread carefully with our questions. We went right for it:
Addressing that first post-credit scene
AntMan and The Wasp was exactly what we needed after Infinity War. It is my new favorite Marvel movie. But just as we are happy, fuzzy and warm inside we get hit with that post credit scene (or mid-credit scene). When we jumped to ask him about it, he asked us to separate the movie from the scene….easier said than done. I know you agree with me if you have seen it already.
Director Peyton Reed: “It was not completely planned in the beginning. We knew we were gonna have to deal with that thing at some point, in some way. We knew that our movie was gonna take place, it sort of not only a sequel to AntMan but also to Civil War because we couldn’t ignore what Scott Lang did in that movie. But we weren’t always sure how we were gonna fit into the larger timeline with regards to Infinity War. Somewhere during the process, this idea occurred to us of like, ‘Oh, well we could do something like that.’ And it seemed to work for us tonally, and sort of allows us to do our very stand-alone movie but then have it fit into the larger Marvel happenings.”
About the Quantum Realm
I found similarities in the universes that are explored in Dr. Strange and the quantum realm that we experience in AntMan and The Wasp. So I asked if anything had been done on purpose, if it was something that anticipated things to come or if it was just me reading too hard between the lines.
Peyton Reed commented on it: ” “I think there was a concentrated effort in the first Ant-Man and in Dr. Strange to kind of start embracing that psychedelic aspect of the Marvel Comics, which is always part of the Marvel Comics since the ’60s, but had not really been explored in the MCU. There are different dimensions and hopefully, they’re all gonna serve different purposes in the future.”
Marvel Studios ANT-MAN AND THE WASP..Quantum Realm..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2018
“With regards to our movie, it was something where we were trying to figure out what we were gonna show, and how we were gonna deal with the plots around it. We had to key off what we saw in the first movie, but we wanted to show the audience a little more. It takes place in our world, not in Outer Space or Asgard or something like that. It had to sort of have a reality to it, too, so it was a huge challenge to sort of start to visualize the concept around it but really, really fun.”
Fathers, Daughters and Young Avengers
Are we witnessing the inception story for the Marvel Young Avengers? Peyton Reed knows Cassie Lang becomes a hero in the comics, and has laid the groundwork if that should happen in the MCU.
Peyton Reed:” I don’t know what specific plans are but I really like the idea. I like the idea that you have these glimpses where she goes toe to toe with Agent Woo. She covers for her Dad and she’s got that side of Scott that’s a little mischievous but she’s a tough kid. And I really love that intimate scene where she’s talking about [Scott needing] a partner and in her mind, it’s her and him having to say of course you could do it but I’d be a terrible father if I allowed you to do it. I think that’s one of the things that I liked the most in the movie is that Scott, the evolution of the Scott/Cassie relationship. It helps that Abby is so good. She’s such a really focused young Actor, you know, and it’s sort of rare.”
“And she (Abby Ryder Fortson) is great—Paul is a huge part of it—they just have a really nice chemistry together, and he’s able to relax her; it’s a nice dynamic, but because really, Fathers and Daughters is a real thematic, it certainly was in the first one and we wanted to progress that in this movie, whether it’s literal Fathers and Daughters, like Hank and Hope and Scott and Cassie or more figurative like Bill Foster and Ava. I like the idea of furthering that theme.”
Morrisey Music
Peyton Reed used to play drums years ago for a cover band called “Louder than Bombs”. There was another Morrissey/ Smith cover band like his, but when he went to see them had to admit they were a way better band.
Peyton Reed:” They were all Latino kids and [it was then that] I learned that Morrissey had a huge following in Los Angeles. It occurred to us as something that Luis would know about and be into and particularly the idea [that] his Grandma only plays Morrissey. It just seemed like one of the crazy things that Luis would mention in the course of his conversation. We were talking about how we were gonna do it in this movie. How are we gonna do a version of what we did with Luis in the first movie that doesn’t repeat it? And when the writers came up with the idea of the truth serum thing? Yeah, that was really fun.”
Marvel Studios Ant-Man and the Wasp | Luis (Michael Peña) | Photo: Ben Rothstein, ©Marvel Studios 2018
What Next For AntMan and The Wasp
We see The Wasp kick-butt, family at the core of the film, inclusion and great humor in this movie. But there is so much more to talk about. Always with that The Wasp dart threat in mind, Peyton Reed shares that: “There are certain things that are predetermined that we’ve all talked about and then there are things that we’ve talked about that could possibly happen or wouldn’t it be cool if? There’s a fluidity and it’s the idea of whatever makes for the best character arcs – the most interesting and maybe surprising thing wins. I know things that I want to do with those characters and stories that I want to tell and how we progress the characters. Obviously, in this movie, it excited me putting Wasp at center stage and really telling that story. This whole movie is really about Does she need him as a partner? Are they gonna be able to work as a partnership? I feel like this movie really answers that question. But then it’s like well what next? And the possibilities are really endless.”
AntMan and The Wasp Lives Up to It’s Buzz
This very cool movie is playing in theaters everywhere already. You need to go watch it. If you have seen it, you will probably follow my lead and watch it again. OK maybe not the four times I have but for sure twice and even a third time, right?
For all things AntMan and The Wasp do read:
AntMan and The Wasp is appropriate for children.
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