Bill Murray’s MCU debut in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was a piece of casting that snuck under the radar for the early part of the movie’s development. Once announced, by Murray himself, there were still few details about his supposed antagonist role available. Now director Peyton Reed has teased a “crucial role” for Murray that fits with the movie’s overall theme. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Reed explained:

Of course, while Murray is something of a low-level antagonist in Quantumania, the main attraction in the movie is the first real look at Kang the Conqueror, played by Jonathan Majors, and of course, MODOK is also in the mix somewhere. All in all, this means that there are many hurdles for Scott Lang and the team to overcome in the threequel.

“Bill Murray plays a character from Janet van Dyne’s past… It’s a crucial role. A big theme in this movie is the things that parents and kids don’t say to each other, the secrets that they keep in families. In the last movie, when Hank and Hope rescue Janet, Evangeline Lilly’s character had this idea of: Oh, I’m going to be reunited with my mom, this is going to be great, we’re going to talk about everything.

But what happens if the other person, in this case Janet, puts up a wall and maybe is not comfortable talking about certain things and doesn’t reveal certain things about her past? As we know from great stories, you can put the past behind you, but the past will always find a way to show up again. Bill’s character represents that in this movie.”

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Will Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Kick The MCU’s Phase 5 Off With a Hit?

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Following Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is no easy task as the Phase 4 closer continues to edge its way up the chart of the year’s highest-grossing movies, having this week passed Doctor Stranger in the Multiverse of Madness to become the second-highest domestic release of the year. However, unlike the previous Ant-Man movies, this time around, Scott Lang will not be getting a regular movie but one that is raising the stakes to new highs. Director Reed previously commented:

In many ways, Ant-Man has always been an essential character in the MCU, even if no one realized it at first. The Quantum Realm was first fully introduced in the original Ant-Man movie, and in Ant-Man and the Wasp, the further exploration of the mysterious world led to Scott being trapped there when Thanos performed his snap. Ultimately, Ant-Man was an integral part in the defeat of Thanos, but an early meeting with Kang may not see him coming out of the fight in such a victorious way. All will be revealed when Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania hits theaters in February 2023.

“People felt like, Oh, these are fun little palate cleansers after a gigantic Avengers movie. For this third one, I said, ‘I don’t want to be the palate cleanser anymore. I want to be the big Avengers movie.’”