Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will feature a classic Guardians of the Galaxy weapon, if a newly released still is anything to go by.

The still comes courtesy of the latest issue of Empire magazine. It shows Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) wielding what looks like a quad blaster, the same type of gun favored by Guardians of the Galaxy team leader Star-Lord throughout his various Marvel Cinematic Universe appearances. Close inspection of the still suggests that Pym's quad-blaster is a different model from Star-Lord's, though. Unlike Star-Lord's quad-blaster, Pym's gun has a smaller top barrel and bigger bottom barrel, and it lacks any visible triggers or trigger guards.

It's unclear where Pym procured his quad-blaster, however, it's possible he picked it up in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania's Quantum Realm setting. The former Ant-Man will find himself in the microscopic dimension along with his successor Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), wife Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), daughter Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), and Scott's daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton). Despite the dangers this journey poses to the quintet, screenwriter Jeff Loveness talked up the Quantum Realm's more positive qualities in a recent interview. "It's a fun place," Loveness said. "It's a limitless place of creation and diversity and alien life. It's Jodorowsky's Dune within Marvel."

Ant-Man 3 Screenwriter On Pitching the Movie

In the same interview, Loveness recalled the original brainstorming session for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The scribe noted that this meeting yielded the basic pitch for the sequel, which was "What if Ant-Man is accidentally in an Avengers movie by himself?" This idea resonated with director Peyton Reed, who previously revealed that he lobbied Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to make the third Ant-Man installment more high-stakes than its predecessors. "For this third one, I said, 'I don't want to be the palate cleanser anymore. I want to be the big Avengers movie,'" Reed said.

Reed ultimately got his wish, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will launch Phase Five of the MCU. The film will also introduce the shared universe's new overarching antagonist, Kang the Conqueror. Kang actor Jonathan Majors recently hyped the supervillain's arrival, describing him as unlike any of the MCU baddies that came before him. "Kang adds tonal diversity, real conflict and real friction," Majors said. "You're being introduced to a new vibration in the MCU. There's conflict -- not just mano-a-mano, not just hero and villain, but 'your way of life' and 'my way of life.'"

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania arrives in theaters on Feb. 17, 2023.

Source: Empire

UPDATED TIMING: After weeks of waiting, fans finally have a good idea of when exactly the next Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania trailer will debut tonight during the college football National Championship game. 

Ant-Man 3 is mere weeks away, and the super-powered MCU marketing machine going full steam ahead as the Paul Rudd-led sequel looks to open up the Quantum Realm for the world to see. 

After seeing the film's first official trailer in late October 2022, another look at the blockbuster has been in the cards for a while now. A recent announcement from Disney revealed that a second look at the movie would come during the National College Football Championship game on Monday, January 9, but no specific time was given for its arrival.

Now, however, it seems that those eager to see Quantumania's latest should know when to tune in. 

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Trailer Time

According to a recent Patreon post by known insider Daniel Richtman, who has a strong track record with trailer release scoops, the next Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania trailer will debut after the third quarter of Monday night's National Championship Game on ESPN. 

So then when exactly will Ant-Man 3's trailer debut? Since the game starts at 7:30 pm ET and will run approximately 3 hours and 45 minutes in total (the average game length of a modern-day college football bowl game), the third quarter is likely to start around 9:30 pm ET and end at roughly 10:15 pm ET. 

As such, it's reasonable for fans to expect Quantumania's trailer to debut between 10:00 pm ET and 11:00 pm ET on Monday night if, in fact, it plays at the end of the third quarter. 

UPDATE: The third quarter of the National Championship has begun. Based on the lengths of the previous quarters of this game, we can expect the Ant-Man 3 trailer to debut at approximately 10:30 pm ET.

Marvel source BSL on Twitter has also indicated that the trailer will debut at 10:30 EST.

Marvel also has no control over the timing of this trailer release. When it comes to advertising during live sports, clients buy a slot within the game, not a specific time. This means - if Richtman's report is true - the trailer will debut at the close of 3rd quarter and not any time sooner. 

From there, the sneak peek will surely be available to watch online as is the case with nearly every other Marvel Studios trailer shown off in this way. 

For now, all fans can do is wait, as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is set to hit theaters on February 17. 

The runtime for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a first for the MCU's Ant-Man franchise. 

But that's not the only way Ant-Man 3 is breaking the mold. 

Starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, and newcomer Kathyrn Newton as Cassie Lang, Quantumania isn't just launching Phase 5 of the MCU but also ushering in the Multiverse Saga's big bad, Kang the Conqueror. 

For such a different and high-stakes film, it makes sense for its length to be a departure as well. And now, fans have official confirmation on just how long Quantumania will be. 

How Long Is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania?

Fandango has listed Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania's runtime at 2 hours and 5 minutes which is a new record for the Ant-Man franchise. 

Marvel Studios' original Ant-Man from 2015 had a runtime of 1 hour and 57 minutes while 2018's Ant-Man and the Wasp spanned 1 hour and 58 minutes. 

This appears to be a trend with MCU threequels which typically skew longer than their sequels and original films.

Iron Man and Iron Man 2's runtimes were topped by Iron Man 3 at 2 hours and 10 minutes. The Captain America films followed suit as evidenced by Captain America: Civil War's 2 hours and 27 runtime. 

The same applies to Avengers: Infinity War, Thor: Ragnarok, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, all of which were longer than their franchise's previous films. 

For comparison, the following is a list of runtimes of the latest MCU films from 2022:

• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: 2 hours, 6 minutes
• Thor: Love and Thunder: 1 hour, 59 minutes
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: 2 hours, 41 minutes

Time Works Differently in the Quantum Realm

From what fans have seen from Ant-Man 3's marketing thus far, the threequel has quite a to-do list. 

In addition to Scott's newfound celebrity and his strained relationship with Cassie, the film is set to explore the Quantum Realm, which has newfound importance within the MCU.

And, while this is Ant-Man's third chapter, it's worth remembering that it's Kang's first within the MCU. No doubt that means the threequel will be setting the stage for future films and Disney+ series to come. 

Much of this is due to the efforts of Ant-Man director Peyton Reed who said he wanted Quantumania to be "the big Avengers movie" instead of another palate cleanser.

If that's truly what Quantumania has in store, it's no wonder it has a longer runtime than its previous films; and perhaps, fans should be questioning whether its 2 hours and 5 minutes runtime is long enough.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania arrives in theaters on February 17.