Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is taking a big hit at the box office and in the fandom. Despite it being a very entertaining movie that many people enjoyed — myself included — it’s got one of the lowest Rotten Tomatoes scores of an MCU film, and it’s box office take isn’t going to reach Giant Man heights anytime soon. That’s a real shame. Does this mean we’ll never get an Ant-Man 4? Is this the end of Scott Lang’s adventures in the MCU? I sure hope not!

As great superhero movies have said, you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain. Had the MCU ended at Avengers: Endgame, it would be hailed as a masterpiece for all time. But movies are a business, and why quit when you’re ahead? I fully applaud Disney and Marvel was trying out new projects, new characters, new creators and the like. I’ve enjoyed Phase 4, including all the TV shows. Another great superhero movie also said, “They found you amusing for a while, the people of this city. But the one thing they love more than a hero is to see a hero fail, fall, die trying.” There are plenty of people ready to celebrate a failure in the MCU, and I’m not one of them. I look forward to future Ant-Man films, as long as Marvel and the actors are game.

Join me after the jump for six things I’d like to see in a future Ant-Man sequel.

6. Wasp and Ant-Man

Maybe make it about the Wasp next time? Hope Van Dyne didn’t really have much to do in Quantumania. I like Evangeline Lily, and she’s a superhero too. So in a sequel, mix up the naming convention and make it a Wasp movie first, with Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man as a secondary character. Scott Lang is in a good place. He’s got the love of his girlfriend and daughter, he’s world-famous, having saved the world. So let’s let Hope take the spotlight. Let her become an official Avenger somehow. Let her fight the bad guy. Let her be the star!

5. Keep it grounded

Hey, look, who wouldn’t take the chance to write and/or direct a big, cool, Star Wars-esque spectacle movie? I’m sure everybody working on Quantumania had big goals and good intentions. But the CGI became too much, and the Quantum Realm wasn’t all that exciting. So if you’re gonna do another Ant-Man and Wasp movie, keep it small. Keep it in the real world. Keep it low key. Have our heroes go up against some bad guys that aren’t wild, CGI creatures. The joy of the Ant-Man films was that Scott Lang was just a regular dude, with regular friends, getting wrapped up in some mischief. Do that again! Make it another heist film, even.

4. Bring back Mitch Carson

One lingering plot thread in the Ant-Man franchise is the Hydra operative Mitch Carson from the first film. He was an antagonist for Hank Pym when he was at SHIELD, and then in the modern day, Carson stole some of the Yellowjacket formula and fled that disastrous showcase that Darren Cross was holding. Where did Carson go? What has he been doing with that Yellowjacket formula? Sounds like something that the Wasp and Ant-Man can go up against. Perhaps Carson and whatever Hydra cronies he has left have gone ahead and created that army of Yellowjackets that Darren Cross was selling in the first film. That sounds like a really cool Chekhov’s Gun, right? That big threat from the first film has finally come to pass, and it’s up to our heroes to stop it.

3. Nadia Van Dyne, Eric O’Grady and Whirlwind

There are plenty of characters in the Ant-Man and Wasp comic book circles that could still be used in a movie. Eric O’Grady is an obvious choice. He was the third Ant-Man, after Scott Lang died in the comics. He’s a jackass, and is currently a life model decoy villain called Black Ant. I think he’d make for a great villain, perhaps even the leader of Mitch Carson’s Yellowjacket army. Or what about Nadia Van Dyne? She’s a teenage hero in the comics. She’s Hank Pym’s unknown daughter from his first marriage, before Janet. The ages wouldn’t work out in the movie…unless, perhaps, she’s Hank Pym’s adult daughter now? She could still be tied to the Red Room, since that was established in the MCU. Perhaps she’s now a rival to Hope, and is another member of Carson’s elite team of Yellowjackets.

And then there’s Whirlwind, the closest thing Wasp has to an arch nemesis. He’s a mutant with swirling wind powers and a cool, green costume. He could be pretty neat on the big screen. Perhaps Carson himself becomes Whirlwind? Or perhaps he’s just a merc hired to help guide the Yellowjackets? I don’t know, I’m just spitballing here as I plan out this movie in my head. I really think it’s coming together nicely.

2. Bring back Luis

Supporting characters matter. Luis and his buddies were hilarious in the first two movies, and they were sorely missing in the third. So the simple answer is: bring them back. I think one of them has since been cancelled, but Michael Peña is still good to go and should definitely be brought back for more hijinks and fun. Simple as that.

1. A wedding

Scott and Hope should get married! They’ve been a couple since the first film, and they seem to be in a pretty good place by the third. So why not a big, superhero marriage? That’s not something we’ve seen in the MCU yet. Tony and Pepper got married offscreen during the blip, and most other characters get tragic romances that don’t come to fruition. Doctor Strange was a guest at his love interest’s marriage to another person. So Scott and Hope should have a big, celebrity and Avenger-filled wedding! Imagine the cameos! Imagine the joy! Imagine the carnage that Mitch Carson’s swarm of Yellowjacket soldiers could cause! Or maybe instead of ruining a superhero wedding with villains, maybe the wedding comes towards the end of the movie, and our heroes keep getting distracted by the Yellowjackets? It could be a whole thing.

Alright, I think I’ve got this thing pieced together pretty well. Let’s run through this:

My Pitch for Ant-Man and the Wasp 4

It’s the fourth film and Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne are getting married. Their relationship is going well, they’re both still rich and famous superheroes. Hope is still running Pym Labs and is helping people. Scott wrote a second book about his adventures in the Quantum Realm and it’s another hit. Everybody is in a good place and they’ve announced two things: an upcoming, star-studded wedding and that Hope is pregnant. Scott, Cassie, Hank and Janet are all gung-ho for the wedding and the new family, but Hope is having reservations about becoming a mother, considering the rocky relationship she’s had with both of her parents. That is the starting point of Hope’s character arc.

The announcement is soon followed by a sudden and devastating tornado that destroys Pym HQ, and only Pym HQ. Quite suspicious, eh? Some superheroics get everybody to safety in this opening action scene, but now our heroes investigate what happened and discover a person at the center of the tornado. They were targeted! Hope starts digging, even though everyone suggests she give it a rest and focus on recovery and wedding planning. But Hope is determined and evidence leads the team to Mitch Carson, who seems to be sitting pretty with some kind of government contract and a suspiciously angry right hand woman.

Something, something something, we learn that Carson and his evil cronies reverse engineered Cross’s Yellowjacket serum and created a whole fleet of Yellowjacket soldiers. Among their ranks are Eric O’Grady, a charming jackass, and Carson’s assistant, Nadia, who seems to really have it out for Hope. They perform government contracts on foreign soil, while also doing some criminal stuff as well. Carson is former Hydra, after all.

Eventually our heroes learn that Nadia is Hank Pym’s first daughter, whom he thought was lost after the death of his first wife. She was killed in a motor vehicle accident that he was always suspicious about, and now we find out that she was killed by Hydra and her unborn daughter was rescued and given to the Red Room to go through Black Widow programming. Now she’s an adult and wormed her way into the Yellowjacket program, which has ties to the Red Room, even though that was destroyed in Black Widow. Upon learning of Hope’s success and upcoming wedding and child, Nadia went rogue and used some whirlwind technology to try to kill her.

Our heroes don’t want Hank Pym’s legacy being used like this, so they conduct a heist to break into Yellowjacket HQ and find enough evidence to expose this evil organization. Not everything goes as planned, the truth about Nadia comes out, our heroes face off against our villains, but eventually the good guys win and the program is shut down and the facility destroyed. Our heroes are able to appeal to Nadia and she becomes a good guy.

But wait, Mitch Carson survived and swears revenge! He builds a Whirlwind suit and attacks the wedding! But our heroes knew this might happen and they defeat Carson/Whirlwind, with help from Nadia and some Avengers guest stars who also attended. And once she makes peace with her sister and sees Hank and Janet make peace with Nadia, Hope feels better about becoming a mom. And she gets a cool wedding dress/Wasp costume hybrid thing to fight in for the finale! Likewise Scott in an Ant-Man tux, and Cassie in a Maid of Honor Stinger outfit? Yeah, that sounds awesome.

And the title will be…Wasp and Ant-Man Go Hawaiian.

————————-