For a film that’s about to be released in less than a month, you’d think we’d at least know the time period it takes place in, right? Well, for “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” the biggest question surrounding the film doesn’t seem to be the plot, secret villains, or any Easter Eggs. Nope, the big question is whether the film takes place BEFORE or AFTER “Avengers: Infinity War.”
We still don’t have an answer to that, but many are assuming the film takes place before Thanos famously snaps his fingers at the end of ‘Infinity War.’ That would explain how the trailers and footage for “Ant-Man and the Wasp” are conspicuously missing any mention of half the universe dying.
That being said, there’s a “new” report floating around the blogosphere that quotes Wasp herself, Evangeline Lilly, talking about how the two heroes fit into the big post-‘Infinity War’ picture, and what lies ahead for the heroes, who are assumed to show up in “Avengers 4.” Now, we say quote-unquote “new” because the report everyone is sourcing is actually from a Vanity Fair article from November 2017. But hey, everyone somehow missed it.
“So in other words, you want me to tell you about the flash-forwards and flashbacks and flash-sideways? When I heard about ‘Infinity War’ and the direction that they’re heading, I did have this moment of realizing, oh, wow, there’s a bit of a déjà vu for me with the ‘Lost’ franchise. We are hitting that [‘Lost’] Season 4 space where everything’s about to shift, and you’re about to lose the solid ground underneath you. And [‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’], of course, will play a part in that,” explained Lilly.
As you might deduce from the ending of ‘Infinity War,’ there’s going to be some time-travel or alternate dimension stuff going on in the upcoming “Avengers 4.” And Lilly comparing it to her time on “Lost” seems both appropriate and scary. While Marvel Studios has yet to fully drop the ball with their money printing factory (aka the MCU), we have to approach the idea of time-travel and alternate dimensions with a little bit of hesitation.
So, just like the rest of the world, we seem to also be looking past “Ant-Man and the Wasp” and focusing on the next big ‘Avengers’ team-up film. However, that doesn’t mean people aren’t excited for the palate cleanser that’s coming in July. The Hollywood Reporter says that early tracking shows the next Marvel Studios film will open with a $75 million weekend. Compared to the $57 million opening of the first film, this has to make Marvel/Disney happy.
Of course, you have to take into consideration that the ‘Ant-Man’ franchise will never compete with the big boys such as “Iron Man,” “Captain America” or even “Black Panther.” The ‘Ant-Man’ films cost less and have considerably lower expectations. So a $75 million opening, while relatively low, is still an improvement and a good early indicator.
Hopefully, our post-‘Infinity War’ questions will have a few more answers when “Ant-Man and the Wasp” opens July 6.