Peyton Reed
Director Peyton Reed, pictured here at the European Premiere of Marvel's "Ant-Man" in London on July 8, 2015, is reportedly in final negotiations to direct the upcoming sequel "Ant-Man and The Wasp." Getty

With “Ant-Man” reaching new levels of success in China, it’s no surprise that Marvel Studios has rearranged its Phase 3 schedule in order to accommodate a sequel. Now, with the 2018 release date of “Ant-Man and the Wasp” approaching faster than one would think, the studio is reportedly hoping to bring director Peyton Reed back to helm the tiniest superhero once again.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Reed is in final negotiations with the studio to retake the director’s chair and get the film ready to hit theaters for July 2018. It was previously reported that Marvel would be altering its Phase 3 schedule once again in order to bring another Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly-led superhero flick into the mix before “Avengers: Infinity War” comes to a close. The deal also allows for three unspecified movies under the Marvel banner coming in 2020.

Now, with the studio circling Reed for the job, it appears the sequel to “Ant-Man” won’t be plagued by the same directorial turnover as the last one. As Deadline notes, “Hot Fuzz” and “The World’s End” director Edgar Wright had been developing the movie since 2006, long before Marvel’s Cinematic Universe (MCU) kicked off with “Iron Man” in 2008. However, the geek-beloved director bowed out of the project in 2014 over creative differences with the studio. Wright’s fingerprints were still on the movie, fortunately, given that he earned a writing credit along with Rudd, Joe Cornish and Adam McKay for all the devlopment he did prior to leaving the picture. However, odds are good that he won’t be returning to the project for the sequel in any way.

It would come as little surprise if Marvel and Reed finalized a deal to continue working together on “Ant-Man and the Wasp” as the original film’s success would likely make everyone involved want to keep things going. In addition, the director previously revealed his desire to continue with the characters should a sequel ever be green lit.

“I’d love the chance to do a second movie and further the voyage of these characters and do another ‘Ant-Man’ adventure where it’s not an origins story and we’re free to just take those characters and go wherever we want to go,” Reed told Entertainment Weekly. “I mean, there’s clearly some stuff that’s set up at the end of our movie, there’s some questions asked of these characters that hopefully we could provide the answers to. I feel there’s so much more story yet to be told with this character.”

Among those teasers at the end of the first “Ant-Man” movie was the introduction of The Wasp’s suit, setting up the Hope van Dyne character as the iconic Marvel Comics superhero, and partner to Rudd’s Scott Lang. Together they’ll co-star in yet another standalone Marvel Comics adventure. However, Ant-Man can be seen again first in the upcoming superhero crossover, “Captain America: Civil War” set to hit theaters on May 6, 2016.

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