Director Peyton Reed is officially hard at work prepping his phase four MCU filmAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The upcoming film (which has a mouthful of a title) is the thirdAnt-Manmovie that Reed has directed for Marvel Studios.
Recently, Reed shared an image on his Twitter account that shows he’s shooting this movie in a familiar location, one often used on theDisney Plus’sStar Warsseries titledThe Mandalorian.In the photo, Reed is taking a picture of his reflection in what’s called a “chrome ball,” a reflective sphere that’s used for VFX lighting in movies and television.
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The caption reads, “Welcome to The Volume. QUANTUMANIA Prep Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath May 2021.” While the chrome ball is a pretty cool VFX tool, what’s really interesting about this photo is where Reed is taking it. The Volume is essentially a VFX soundstage that was first used onThe Mandalorian.It’s essentially made up of dozens of LED screens that create a sort of artificial environment around an actor or subject. While this technology is fairly new, it may one day replace green screen technology, which up until now was the industry standard for interesting backgrounds in movies and TV. Reed is likely pretty familiar with The Volume since he actually directed several episodes ofThe Mandalorian.
On top of directing bothAnt-Manand the sequelAnt-Man and the Waspfor Marvel Studios, Reed also directed two episodes ofThe Mandalorian: “Chapter 10: The Passenger” and the now-famous season two finale"Chapter 16: The Rescue,“whichbrought back Luke Skywalkerfor a brief moment of glory. It makes sense that Disney would be wanting to utilize this extremely efficient technology since it looks amazing, as you can probably tell fromThe Mandalorian.
This also means that a lot of future MCU projects may be shot in The Volume. It’s already confirmed that upcomingStar Warsprojects liketheObi-Wan Kenobiseriesare going to be using this tech. However, some Marvel directors may take a different route, such as now Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao, whose approach to Marvel’sThe Eternalsseems to be much more grounded in reality, using natural lighting and practical locations. That being said, The Volume might be perfect for exploring weird and unnatural environments such as the Quantum Realm, a microscopic dimension first seen inAnt-Man.
Details onAnt-Man 3are slim with regards to the story, but the film willintroduce the villain Kang the Conqueror the MCU. Considering Kang’s time-traveling history and ties to the Fantastic Four in the comics, the character’s debut could have wider implications for the MCU.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniais currently scheduled to be released on February 17th, 2023.
