Peyton Reed talks Ant-Man and The Wasp and the failure of Fantastic Four

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

We know that ANT-MAN director Peyton Reed has been in talks to return to the director's chair for ANT-MAN AND THE WASP and, while nothing official has been announced yet, the director told Yahoo Movies that "we’re [still] in negotiations, but I think it’s looking pretty good." After Edgar Wright's departure from the film, Marvel quickly began searching for a new director who would be able to jump in to a film which already had many of its key elements in place. Peyton Reed was definitely up for the job and the finished product surprised many of us; however, Peyton Reed would love the opportunity to be able to build ANT-MAN AND THE WASP from the ground up this time.

I think one of the appealing things about coming back for a sequel is to be able to build it from the ground up this time. Also, [there’s] stuff that we clearly set up in the first movie that we want to pay off and have fun with in the second movie. Since we know [the characters’] origins, we can go in some weird, unique and different territory.

As evident by the title, Evangeline Lilly's character will be taking on a much larger role this time around and Reed is very excited to be able to give the character her chance to shine:

Her last line in the movie — ‘It’s about damn time’ — [is] very much about her specific character and arc in that movie, but it is absolutely about a larger thing. It’s about damn time: We’re going to have a fully realized, very very complicated hero in the next movie who happens to be a woman.

Once upon a time, Peyton Reed was developing a Fantastic Four film only to find himself replaced by Tim Story. FANTASTIC FOUR and its sequel, FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER, were moderately successful but overly campy films which unfortunately ended the franchise. We all had high hopes that the heroic foursome would finally get their due in Josh Trank's FANTASTIC FOUR, but…that's just too painful to talk about. After three big-screen attempts at bringing Marvel's first family to life, Fox's inability to translate these character successfully is a little frustrating, which is a feeling Peyton Reed definitely shares:

Fantastic Four in the comics was always the pinnacle of Marvel, the crown jewel — they were the first family of Marvel Comics. The two existing versions did massive pendulum swings from each other. One was very pitched toward younger kids and very broad, and the second was a much darker version of it. I just personally feel like they have not gotten the tone right. And man, it’s a bummer. I think the tone has got to be one of optimism, and you’ve got to take it seriously. I think they haven’t really gotten Mr. Fantastic’s powers right visually on screen. I think there’s some really badass ways to make that [character] work. I just know there’s a great Fantastic Four movie to be had. I’m convinced that it can work.

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP is set to hit theaters on July 6, 2018.