Yesterday, Marvel’s Ant-Man was released on Blu-ray and DVD. The film was a sleeper hit, and its success led to a confirmation of a sequel, with director Peyton Reed returning to direct. Part of that fun was because Ant-Man was a heist film rooted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now it should be interesting to see where Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), and Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), and the rest of his crew will do in Ant-Man and the Wasp.

However, it appears that the team will not be pulling off another heist any time soon, as Reed as confirmed that the sequel will not be a heist film. Writers who worked on the original will also be returning for the sequel. More on the stories below.

Marvel’s Ant-Man
Blu-ray | 3D Blu-ray | DVD
DIRECTOR: Peyton Reed
WRITERS: Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, Adam McKay, Paul Rudd
CAST: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Michael Douglas, Michael Peña, Judy Greer, Tip “T.I.” Harris, David Dastmalchian, Bobby Cannavale
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
RELEASE DATE: December 8, 2015

Marvel’s Ant-Man takes a comedic page from its Marvel Cinematic Universe counterpart Guardians Of The Galaxy, and delivers a superhero story that’s appealing to all audiences, even those not interested in capes and cowls.

Paul Rudd stars as Scott Lang, a master thief who’s just finished a three-year stint in San Quentin prison. While his crime was more of the Robin Hood variety, his criminal record is making it very difficult for him to keep a job and make ends meet on the straight and narrow path. Motivated by his desire to be there for his young daughter’s life, Scott joins forces with former prison buddy Luis (Michael Peña) and his crew (Tip “T.I.” Harris, David Dastmalchian) for a sure-thing burglary job. Unbeknownst to Scott, the safe he’s cracking belongs to Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), the S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist who developed the shrinking technology that powers the Ant-Man suit.

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.

Unless you’re a villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you are probably signed on for multiple Marvel Studio films. Samuel L. Jackson is infamous for signing a nine-picture deal, while Disney had to renegotiate Robert Downey Jr.’s contract when his deal expired with Iron Man 3. So a majority of the time, actors sign multiple pic deals that locked them in either for a large role or even a cameo.

However, a big surprise now is that actor Michael Douglas isn’t signed on for more Ant-Man or other Marvel movies. But that doesn’t mean the actor isn’t interested in reprising his role. In fact, he has expressed a huge interest in making a return as Dr. Hank Pym. More on the story below.

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.