MARVEL Announces GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2, ANT-MAN Details And More

By Adam Holmes on Saturday, July 26th, 2014

It may not be quite what we were expecting (as in their whole Phase 3 slate), but Marvel still delivered the goods at San Diego Comic-Con tonight. There were a lot of cool reveals, but the biggest came at the end of the panel in a video message from James Gunn and Chris Pratt, where they officially announced that Guardians of the Galaxy 2 would be hitting theaters on July 28, 2017. No surprise there. The early buzz is that Guardians of the Galaxy is one of Marvel Studios’ best films, and if they plan on delving more into the cosmic side of things, following the Guardians around is their best bet to keep audiences hooked.

For those keeping score at home, Phase 3 so far is comprised of Ant-Man on July 17, 2015; Captain America 3 on May 6, 2016; Doctor Strange on July 8, 2017 and Guardians 2 on July 28, 2017. Dates left to be filled include two 2017 dates, three dates in 2018, and May 3, 2019, which many suspect to be Avengers 3.

The majority of the panel revolved around Ant-Man and Avengers: Age of Ultron, each section featuring members of the cast. Starting with Ant-Man, it was announced that Corey Stoll would play Darren Cross, the main antagonist, who would eventually become Yellowjacket. Cross will be Hank Pym’s former business partner/mentee who takes over Pym’s company and takes it in an evil direction, forcing Pym to recruit Scott Lang to help pull off a heist. Patrick Wilson was originally rumored to wear the Yellowjacket suit in his role as the secondary antagonist, but with his exit, it looks like they’ve given Stoll the yellow and black suit instead. Looks like we’ll be having a miniature showdown between Ant-Man and his evil counterpart.

It was also revealed that Evangeline Lilly, who has been unofficially attached to Ant-Man for months, will be playing Hope van Dyne, Hank Pym’s daughter. Comic fans will recognize that name being similar to Janet van Dyne, a.k.a. The Wasp. While we may not see her shrink down in the first movie, it’s a good bet that Dyne will get her Wasp and team up with Lang at some point. The Ant-Man section ended with some original footage of Pym and Lang talking, as well as watching Lang in the Ant-Man suit jumping onto a flying ant to escape pursuers.

Our future Wasp!

On the Avengers: Age of Ultron front, nothing new was revealed aside from the horrific (or fantastic) way Robert Downey Jr. convinced Jeremy Renner to join The Avengers (he washed his car in a thong and convinced him to be Hawkeye). However, they did show some footage from the film, which included the party scene where everyone tries to move Thor’s hammer, Ultron crashing the festivities (“There’s only one path to peace. Your extinction!”), Bruce Banner in a straightjacket, Hulk vs. the Hulkbuster armor, and ended with Tony Stark in a wasteland with the bodies of his fellow Avengers lying around eaten. Looks like Ultron and his bots will be putting the smack down on the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Say what you will about Loki, but even he wasn’t able to beat all of them into submission.