Marvel sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp adds Randall Park

Things are gearing up on ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp,’ Marvel’s follow-up to 2015’s ‘Ant-Man,’ which will see Evangeline Lilly’s Janet Van Dyne suit up alongside Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang as fellow miniature superhero The Wasp.

Now, we know one of the key new characters who will be introduced in the superhero sequel: Jimmy Woo, who The Tracking Board report will be portrayed by Randall Park (‘The Interview,’ TV’s ‘Fresh Off the Boat’).

In the comics, Jimmy Woo (a lower-tier character dating back decades) is a SHIELD agent – but given SHIELD technically no longer exists in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it remains to be seen how the character will be utilised.

Will Woo be repurposed according to the needs of the story, or might his inclusion indicate that ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ will see SHIELD re-introduced in some capacity? All we can do is speculate, as plot details for ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ are of course a closely guarded secret at present.

All we know is that director Peyton Reed will be back along with the aforementioned Rudd and Lilly in the title roles, whilst Michael Douglas will also be back as Hank Pym, and Michael Peña will reprise his role as Lang’s motor-mouthed pal Luis – who, The Tracking Board mention, “might just get a new girlfriend this time around.”

‘Ant-Man’ was one of Marvel’s most notoriously troubled productions due to the eleventh-hour resignation of original director/co-writer Edgar Wright (who has recently stated that he never intends to see the film). However, director Reed – working from a screenplay hastily rewritten by leading man Rudd and Adam McKay – was able to get the project back on track, and deliver an entirely satisfying entry in the MCU, which wound up taking $519 million worldwide.

The sequel will be Marvel’s third release of next year, coming in the wake of February’s ‘Black Panther’ and April’s ‘Avengers: Infinity War.’

‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ opens on 8 July 2018.

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