While the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Ant-Man franchise may not have done the same kind of massive business at the box office as some of the studio’s other title characters, the MCU’s smallest superhero has still played a key role in the mythology, having introduced audiences to the Quantum Realm, which went on to play a huge part in Avengers: Endgame.
A third installment was officially announced last year, but still hasn’t been awarded a release date, and might not for a while given the continued uncertainty surrounding the MCU’s upcoming schedule. However, Marvel have a release date for an unnamed movie staked out for October 2022, and with James Gunn still too wrapped up in The Suicide Squad to have Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ready by then, and Mahershala Ali’s Blade still without any other talent attached, Ant-Man 3 seems like the most likely candidate to take that slot.
Director Peyton Reed and star Paul Rudd will definitely be back, but apart from that, the cast is a little up in the air. Michael Douglas is game for a return, but finds himself in the rare position of only signing on for one MCU movie at a time, Michael Pena recently cast some doubt on his involvement, and there’s been constant speculation that Evangeline Lilly’s recent controversial comments on the Coronavirus pandemic could see her screentime drastically reduced.
So, there’s a lot we still don’t know right now about the film. But in a recent Twitter exchange with a fan, Reed hinted that we could be seeing the return of Walton Goggins’ Sonny Burch, the weaselly weapons dealer desperate to get his hands on Hank Pym’s technology.
There’s always a chance. #AntMan https://t.co/BqRxcANigf
— Peyton Reed (@MrPeytonReed) May 2, 2020
Goggins is a solid addition to any ensemble, and could be brought back to once again play the middle man for whoever the villain ends up being, but Ant-Man 3 already looks to have a lot on its plate story-wise. After all, it could set up the future of the MCU in a big way by both laying the foundations for the Young Avengers and possibly even setting up the next villain for the Avengers themselves. As such, even if Burch does return, we can’t imagine he’d have a very large role.