Avengers: Age of Ultron may have received the bulk of the hype (not to mention the box office), but it was Ant-Man (check out Adam Frazier’s review at GoD from July, as well as my complete timeline of the film’s troubled development) that turned out to be the Marvel Studios’ summer release of 2015 that had audiences going back for second (and maybe third and fourth) helpings. I know I did.

Over a week following the surprise announcement that Marvel had put into development a sequel called Ant-Man and the Wasp for July 2018, the studio has revealed that the original that proved to be a resounding success with critics and audiences will be coming to home video on multiple viewing formats including Blu-ray and 3D Blu-ray just in time for the holiday shopping season.

You can check out a trailer and cover art for the Blu-ray releases, along with ten minutes of behind-the-scenes footage from Ant-Man here below.

Marvel Studios has just announced a huge change in their Phase Three movie schedule, with the addition of one sequel to the roster and release date changes for two promising franchise starters.

The July 2018 release slot that originally belonged to Black Panther – which just snagged Joe Robert Cole to write the script – has been given to Ant-Man and the Wasp, a follow-up to Marvel’s surprisingly successful (over $400 million in worldwide box office) blockbuster Ant-Man.

What a long, strange trip it has been for Ant-Man, Marvel Studios’ latest entry in their constantly expanding cinematic universe. It had been in development for a decade before it went before the cameras, and by then the director who had been with the project since its inception had long departed due to the dreaded “creative differences.” This has probably been the most difficult baby for Marvel to birth since The Avengers, and when Ant-Man brings Marvel’s Phase Two line-up to a rousing conclusion this weekend, we’ll finally find out if the movie has proven to be worth the wait.

I decided to trace Ant-Man‘s obstacle-fraught journey from the pages of Marvel Comics to the big screen beginning when the visionary British filmmaker Edgar Wright first signed on to develop a live-action feature based on the character. From 2010 onward, the development will be recounted as it was covered by several writers here at Geeks of Doom over the years, myself included.

Ant-Man
Director: Peyton Reed
Writers: Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, Adam McKay, Paul Rudd
Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Michael Peña, Michael Douglas
Walt Disney Pictures | Marvel Studios
Rated PG-13 | 117 Minutes
Release Date: July 17, 2015

“I think our first move should be calling The Avengers…”

An unexpected mix of Innerspace, Matinee, and Small Soldiers, Ant-Man feels like the kind of superhero movie Joe Dante might have made in the ’90s. The final entry in “Phase Two” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ant-Man is a playful sci-fi caper that blends fantastical special effects with an offbeat sense of humor.

Directed by Peyton Reed (Bring It On, Yes Man), Ant-Man stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, an ex-con serving up Mango Fruit Blasts at Baskin-Robbins and sharing an apartment with his former cellmate, Luis (Michael Peña). Behind on child support payments, Lang joins Luis and his crew (Tip “T.I.” Harris, David Dastmalchian) on one last job: breaking into the home of Dr. Henry “Hank” Pym (Michael Douglas), a scientist and former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

During the Cold War, Pym and his wife, Janet van Dyne, battled Soviet spies as Ant-Man and Wasp, a pair of insect-controlling, half-inch heroes. This was made possible by Pym’s discovery of what he calls “Pym Particles” – subatomic particles that can radically shrink or enlarge objects. After breaking into Pym’s high-tech vault, Lang discovers the Ant-Man technology collecting dust and decides to swipe it.

This week, the much-anticipated Ant-Man hits theaters. Cast Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Corey Stoll, Michael Pena, director Peyton Reed, and MCU head superhero Kevin Feige sat down with press to talk about the exciting characters that are gonna hit the screen.

You can see what they had to say below.