How ‘Ant-Man’ Connects to ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ and ‘Captain America: Civil War’

Marvel held a huge press conference in support of Avengers: Age of Ultron, but that wasn’t the only topic on the agenda — Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige debuted a new Ant-Man trailer, which will arrive online tomorrow (don’t worry), and Feige spoke a bit about how their tiny superhero fits into the larger MCU.

We’ll get to see that new Ant-Man trailer tomorrow, and according to the buzz from fellow journalists on Twitter, it’s a fun one that helps further establish the tone — and it features an awesome sequence with a model train.

Kevin Feige discussed Ant-Man at yesterday’s junket, and in an interview with Slashfilm, the Marvel Studios head spoke about how Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang fits into the MCU. For those who think that Ant-Man is operating somewhat independently, it’s not. There’s definitely a connection, and we’ll see how that works out in Phase 3:

Civil War is the start of Phase Three. It just is. And Ant-Man is a different kind of culmination of Phase Two because it very much is in the MCU.

You meet new characters and you learn about Hank Pym and his lineage with the MCU over the years. But at the same time, it also picks up the thread of Age of Ultron in terms of heroes – major heroes, Avengers – coming from unexpected places. Whether it’s prison in the case of Scott Lang or being very disgruntled Sokovian Twins as Wanda and Pietro are in Age of Ultron. And in that way it connects a lot.

Also, Hank Pym’s attitude towards Avengers, towards S.H.I.E.L.D, and kind of the cinematic universe in general, is much more informed after the events of Age of Ultron, and in a certain way, before the events of Civil War.

While Age of Ultron will help pave the way for Captain America: Civil War — which will kick off a series of events culminating in Avengers: Infinity War — you shouldn’t underestimate how Ant-Man fits into everything. As Feige notes, Ant-Man is the last film of Phase Two, which means it will offer some connective tissue between Age of Ultron and Civil War. It’ll be interesting to see how Marvel incorporates Scott Lang into the larger MCU in Phase Three.

Ant-Man hits theaters on July 17.