How ANT-MAN May Connect to CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
Art by Tyler Champion
One of the main reasons why Edgar Wright stepped away from Marvel's Ant-Man is because the studio need to changed up the story so that it would fit in with the rest of Marvel's cinematic universe. Thanks to Starlog we have some possible information on how Ant-Man will fit into the bigger picture, including how he it connect to Captain America: Civil War. The information they have comes from a source who claims to be close to the production.
Even though we are treating this information as a rumor for now, I still want to throw out a SPOILER warning, just in case, because you never know! It could end up being the real deal. Now that that's out of the way, here's what they report:
"According to this anonymous party, ANT-MAN will take place alongside the events of AGE OF ULTRON, the fall-out of which will spur on the Superhuman Registration Act. While ANT-MAN is largely self-contained in nature, the references of the MCU will come from Pym’s past as a scientist for S.H.I.E.L.D. in the ’60s, having worked alongside Howard Stark, Arnim Zola and Alexander Pierce. However, in this flashback sequence, Pym will supposedly also have a run-in with a young military hot-head by the name of Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross, who Marvel fans have last seen in THE INCREDIBLE HULK as played by William Hurt."
They then go on to explain how this will all fit in with Captain America: Civil War:
"The party goes on to say S.H.I.E.L.D.’s downfall in THE WINTER SOLDIER forced Pym into the private sector, which makes him vulnerable and essentially serves as catalyst for the events that follow in ANT-MAN. And according to the party, a shooting draft of ANT-MAN’s post-credit stinger shows the older Ross re-appearing to Pym, claiming he’d been sent by Tony Stark. When asked why, Ross allegedly responds, 'Haven’t you seen the news? We’re at war.'
"The party also claims Ross will play a supporting role in CAPTAIN AMERICA 3, begrudgingly helping Tony Stark enforce the Superhero Registration Act and giving him military aid as Stark’s hesitant to use his own technology post-ULTRON. The party claims that rumors of Black Widow’s limited involvement in CAPTAIN AMERICA 3 is also true, as her character will be arrested for aiding fugitive superhumans in a power play by Stark (which will give actress Scarlett Johansson a break from the MCU to focus on her family), though the source says a potential Black Widow jailbreak in a future Marvel film may help bring Scott Lang’s Ant-Man into the AVENGERS fold."
There's a lot of really interesting information here that makes a lot of sense to me. Like I said earlier, I have no idea if this is legit or not. But, it seems cohesive enough, and I could see Marvel implementing these elements and plot points in their cinematic universe. Marvel is always doing exciting stuff and surprising fans, so anything is possible!
Avengers: Age of Ultron will be released in theaters on May 1st, 2015, Ant-Man will be released on July 17, 2015, and Captain America: Civil War is set to be released on May 6th, 2016.