Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania Just Hit A Huge Production Milestone

"Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" is shaping up to be one of the most interesting titles that Marvel Studios has slated release over the next few years. The film will be the third installment in Marvel's ongoing "Ant-Man" franchise, and will presumably pick up with some of the story threads leftover from 2018's "Ant-Man and the Wasp." That film featured, among other things, the Marvel Cinematic Universe return and quasi-rescue of Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) from the Quantum Realm, where she had been stranded for several decades. Janet's time in the Quantum Realm introduced the possibility of further exploration of the trippy dimension in future "Ant-Man" sequels, and while that research was momentarily interrupted by the events of "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame," it seems very likely that "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" will finally follow through on the Quantum Realm adventures set up by its predecessor.

The upcoming sequel won't just be another standalone "Ant-Man" film from Marvel Studios though. "Quantumania" is also set to feature what will likely be the first substantial appearance of actor Jonathan Majors as the powerful Marvel comics villain, Kang the Conqueror. The character, who is currently being set up as a new Thanos-level threat in the MCU, will play an undisclosed role in "Quantumania," and Marvel fans have spent the better part of a year speculating about how the film will weave Kang into its story.

While the film isn't set to hit theaters until February 2023 either, "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" has made an important step toward its inevitable release.

"Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" director Peyton Reed announced on Twitter Monday morning that filming on the highly-anticipated MCU sequel has officially begun. In conjunction with the announcement, the director shared a photo from the set of a crazed stuffed rabbit sitting dangerously close to a tank labeled "biohazard."

Unsurprisingly, the image itself doesn't reveal anything new about the actual plot of "Quantumania," but the announcement is an exciting one nonetheless. Not only does the start of filming mean that fans are officially one step closer to actually getting to see the "Ant-Man" sequel, it also means that they could start getting more behind-the-scenes teases and updates over the coming weeks and months. Whether or not that includes any reveals or glimpses of Kang the Conqueror remains to be seen, but Jonathan Majors is expected to be heavily involved in the production coming off his recent surprise, scene-stealing turn in the "Loki" Season 1 finale.

That said, Majors isn't the only notable cast member making their MCU film debut in "Quantumania." "Freaky" star Kathryn Newton is also set to appear in the film as Cassie Lang, the grown-up daughter of Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), who was previously played briefly by Emma Fuhrmann in 2019's "Avengers: Endgame." There's the potential for both Newton's Cassie and Majors' Kang to have very bright futures in the MCU in the coming years, and "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" will undoubtedly play a large role in shaping their respective character arcs.

All of which is to say that "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" has all the makings of an important and game-changing entry in the MCU, which makes the long-awaited start of principal photography just that much more exciting.