I probably don't need to remind you that Michael Douglas was one of the best parts of ANT-MAN, and the fact that Marvel wants him back for ANT-MAN AND THE WASP shouldn't be all that surprising. While nothing is obviously official yet, the actor spoke with Collider where he revealed that he recently got the call from Marvel to begin negotiating for his return for the sequel.
I just got a call recently – they want to negotiate for a sequel and I thought “That’s great!” Hopefully, I won’t have to carry quite as much expositional dialogue as the first one but I had a wonderful time doing it. Just a great, great time. The cast was fantastic. Paul, Evangeline, Michael Pena – I’m sure he’ll be back. If they can scrape Corey Stoll off the wall, I’m sure they’ll want him too – he’s such a good villain. And Peyton too. It was a lovely experience, so you know, I welcome it. I chuckle about being involved with a movie that already has a release date in 2018. Ya know, it’s hard to conceive of that, but it’s all good, all the way around, it’s all good.
Douglas' enthusiasm for ANT-MAN is great to hear and it's clear that he had a blast making the film. Much like Douglas, ANT-MAN director Peyton Reed is currently in negotiations to return for ANT-MAN AND THE WASP and is expected to return. Reed stated that one of the most appealing things about coming back for the sequel would 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."
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP is set for a July 6th, 2018 release.