Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania cast want return to smaller scale action in Ant-Man 4

Watch: The cast of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania share their hopes for fourth film

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a high-octane, epic immersion into the Quantum Realm with the MCU’s biggest villain to date – but its cast admit they'd enjoy a return to the smaller scale of the first two Ant-Man movies.

Quantumania sees the diminutive MCU heroes embarking on an epic adventure in the fantastical Quantum Realm, facing off against the Multiverse Saga’s main villain at the very beginning of Phase 5.

How would they seek to follow this in a potential Ant-Man 4?

“I can't imagine where you [would go],” Ant-Man actor Paul Rudd tells Yahoo UK. “How do you get bigger? And where do you go from here?”

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He pitches an idea that involves giving Scott Lang some downtime.

“[When] I think about it, it's like this regular guy who has no innate super ability whatsoever has now gone head-to-head with Thanos and Kang,” says Rudd. “I just feel like, cut the guy a break. Just let him sit on a beach somewhere. How much abuse can he take? How much punishment?”

He continues, “I do think this is a guy who really just wants to spend some time with his daughter. That would be nice. Maybe a nice quiet road movie. Just Scott and Cassie taking in a coastal city and just spending time [together]. Maybe like The Trip with [Steve] Coogan and just those where there's no threat. There's nothing wanting to kill them. I don't know if Marvel would want to make that movie but it would be fun to shoot.”

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Evangeline Lilly, who plays his counterpart Hope van Dyne aka the Wasp in the film, says she’s gassed that the Ant-Man sub-franchise finally has a film that’s as big as Quantumania is in both scope and importance to the MCU overall.

“I actually was so thrilled to have a version of our franchise that was a big epic story that did tie into the overall MCU mythology. It's really cool. It feels like we've been invited into the inner sanctum,” Lilly tells us, excited that they “essentially got to fight the new Thanos.”

Cassie Lang actor Kathryn Newton, who makes her debut in the role in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, says she’d also be a fan of dialling it down for Ant-Man 4.

“I really like the down-to-earth Ant-Man. I loved Ant-Man and the Wasp. I like how they’re normal,” says Newton.

“Ant-Man, the original, is still my favourite,” adds Evangeline Lilly. “I think I would [dial Ant-Man 4 down] if I was the director, or the writer, or Kevin Feige.”

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania director, Peyton Reed, also thinks this is the way to go.

“I think you'd have to,” says Reed. “I think one of the things [you’d want] is ping-ponging back and forth [to and from the Quantum Realm]. It was really fun to create the Quantum Realm and all these sorts of characters.”

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“I think there's more story to tell down there as well,” continues Reed. “But I also think that you can't lose sight of those family dynamics and the idea of this ‘street-level’ quality of Ant-Man, of the Wasp, in the first couple of movies.

"But the family dynamics, no matter where they are, that's the key thing. And particularly, I think that Scott-Cassie relationship.”

Reed adds, “I like the idea of certainly Cassie becoming a big part of the MCU ongoing. I think there's a lot more story to tell with these characters. This one [Quantumania], I was treating it like a trilogy; as if this were the last one. You can never presume you're gonna get to make another one. But I think there's a lot of story to be told with these characters. So we'll see.”

As for Michael Douglas, who plays scientist Hank Pym in the Ant-Man films and plays a critical role in Quantumania, he just wants to see his character bow out.

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“Something's got to stop somewhere,” says Douglas. “I mean, this Marvel Universe can go on forever. I've enjoyed my time and loved it but I just don't want to just peter out, you know, dwindle out. I like to go out with a bang … just a big, unexpected ‘No, no!’.”

But surely there’s so much more left in Hank’s tank?

“Hank’s tank!” says Douglas. “I like that…”

While we can be pretty certain of Cassie Lang’s future in the MCU as part of the Young Avengers, what’s next for Ant-Man, the Wasp and the rest of the team remains to be seen.

And even Paul Rudd isn’t certain about whether Scott Lang will be along for the ride when it comes time to face Kang’s Variants in the announced team-up film Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.

Read more: Why was Phase 4 of the MCU so divisive?

“I don't know what advice I’d have to offer [the Avengers],” he says when asked what tips he’d give his avenging teammates when the time comes.

“I mean, who even knows what's gonna happen down the road? Like, will that be even an option? I don't know.”

We’ll just have to wait and see.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is in cinemas and IMAX now. Watch a trailer below.