Without a doubt, one of the weakest villains in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe back catalogue is Corey Stoll’s Darren Cross, who was emblematic of the recurring problem that plagued the first couple of Phases, in that he was a twisted mirror version of the hero, possessing no memorable or unique traits at all. However, that doesn’t appear to have stopped him from being brought back for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Shooting is currently underway on the blockbuster superhero threequel, and so far there’s only been two new additions officially made to the cast alongside returnees Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer, but they’re pretty big ones. Kathryn Newton is replacing Emma Fuhrman as Cassie Lang, with Jonathan Majors on board as Kang the Conqueror.
In a recent podcast appearance, Vanity Fair writer Joanna Robinson pointed out a Yellowjacket Easter Egg in the latest episode of Loki, tying it to the theory that the TVA operates out of the Quantum Realm, and she sounded pretty confident that Stoll will be making the comeback nobody’s been crying out for in Quantumania.
“There’s a Yellowjacket helmet. This large version of the helmet that I suppose Corey Stoll wore in Ant-Man and the only reason that is super interesting to me is because there’s a theory going around that all of the TVA stuff is taking place in the Quantum Realm because it’s a place out of time. I don’t know if that’s an indication of something to come, but do know that Corey Stoll, in some shape, will be back for Ant-Man 3.”
This might even be construed as old news, when Evangeline Lilly tagged Stoll in the comments of a social media post hyping up her return as Hope Van Dyne, so there’s every chance Stoll’s Cross has spent the intervening years between the first and third installments trapped in the Quantum Realm, which operates by entirely different rules of space and time. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania isn’t coming to theaters until February 2023, but as filming continues we’ll no doubt be getting a much better idea of who’s in and who’s out, whether it’s Yellowjacket or otherwise.
