It’s time for another Alex Perez Q&A with a bunch of questions from our Discord members! This time we’re going to be breaking up the answers into three different articles, so be on the lookout for parts 2 and 3 in the coming days. For this first section of our December Discord Q&A, Alex answers questions about Ant-Man and the Wasp, Armor Wars, Blade, Chris Evans’ return to the MCU, and Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars.
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[Note: questions have been lightly edited for clarity, spelling, or grammar.]
Ant-Man and The Wasp
SaltyTrog: Hey Alex, thanks for all the hard work you, Lizzie, and everyone else do to run these, hope exams are going well. Is there any word on the fate of Hope Van Dyne such as death, recasting, simple absence etc, going forward since Evangeline Lilly’s retirement from acting?
Alex Perez: There are references to her character, particularly in Daredevil: Born Again, which is what comes to mind for me atm. But outside of that, I think she’s currently just running the Pym Van Dyne Foundation. Other than that, nothing’s really happening with her character. The same could be said for Hank and Janet, which is a shame, given the way they were planning on delivering the final curtain call for those two. HOWEVER, I know that the use (and abuse) of the Pym Particle will be a topic that will be explored in future films.
SaltyTrog: Is there anything that can be said about the plot of the canceled Ant-Man 4 film that was cut alongside Captain Marvel 3 when the number of new projects was being reduced?
Alex Perez: Those films barely had any ideas in development, so it’s not really a cancellation if nothing was ever properly greenlit to begin with.
Armor Wars & Blade
rapsfan: How’s the production going on the projects that are in “limbo”, like Blade and Armor Wars?
Alex Perez: Blade’s got more priority to push out at the moment as opposed to Armor Wars. Right now, they’re just looking to find a director to direct the project, but it’s going along better than it was previously. The story now has a modern time setting, but Lilith is still the main villain and she isn’t a one-and-done villain. Armor Wars hasn’t had any movement since I last spoke about it. There have been explorations of adapting the 2015 version of the Armor Wars comic run, but it really hasn’t moved on that much since.
Avengers: Doomsday & Secret Wars
icast05: Hey Alex, thanks as always for doing this! Can you reveal or give a hint toward who the secondary antagonist(s) of the upcoming Avengers films will be?
Alex Perez: It’s funny, you assume that a movie of this magnitude only has 1 secondary antagonist. What I can tell you is that the secondary antagonists, whoever they may be, according to my sources, are going to be variants. There is going to be an overwhelming number of variants in these movies, a lot more than the characters set to appear in these movies that from Earth-616. Some are going to be good, some are going to be bad, and some are going to be really worse.
icast05: Given that one universe must destroy the other to prevent an incursion, do you see the Multiversal War prophesied by He Who Remains happening in Avengers: Doomsday?
Alex Perez: That’s not how incursions really work, but yeah, the whole idea for these next two films is seeing a Multiversal War play out on the magnitude that was teased back in Loki season 1. The thing is, this time, the key players in this war won’t be Kang or his variants but rather other Marvel heroes & villains from across the multiverse landscape.
Gautier: Hello Alex. Hope you’re good. What role do you think Chris Evans will have in Avengers: Doomsday?
Alex Perez: One of the rumors I had heard for these films was that a lot of actors might be pulling double duty when it comes to the characters they portray. Evans could be a prime example of that because he could be playing a number of characters in these upcoming films. One of those will definitely be the Steve Rogers from the end of Endgame, who went on to live happily ever after with Peggy, who was recently confirmed to also be coming back for Doomsday. The confirmation that she’ll be Agent Carter rather than Captain Carter indicates we’ll be heading back to that timeline. I’ve also heard that Evans could be portraying another character in the movie that stands alongside RDJs Doctor Doom.
rapsfan: With Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans returning for Doomsday, could this mean that marvel is relying more on fan service and cameos, instead of creating a good story?
Alex Perez: This has always been about creating a balance. Marvel adaptations in media have existed for the many decades now, and Kevin Feige is taking the opportunity to honor the legacy of these projects by giving it the opportunity to shine in the next Avengers films. But I wouldn’t call it fan service. The way they want to approach it is sort of like how they did it with Spider-Man: No Way Home and Deadpool and Wolverine. The characters that showed up in those films wouldn’t qualify as cameos. They served an actual purpose and role in the films they were in. These legacy appearances are going to be a big chunk of the next couple of Avengers films. And there are going to be A LOT.
Laurie Rolfe: Hey Alex, since it’s been reported that Chris Evans is returning for Avengers: Doomsday, do you know if he’s playing Johnny Storm again or Captain Hydra?
Alex Perez: It’s looking preemptively like it’ll be the Captain America that went on to live happily ever after with Peggy, but I heard rumors that his stint as Johnny Storm isn’t necessarily over.
Laurie Rolfe: If Hugh Jackman and Tobey Maguire are back for Doomsday and Secret Wars, what role do you think they’ll play?
Alex Perez: Probably Wolverine and Spider-Man.
Kosta: Hey Alex, how many anchor beings do you expect Marvel to use in the Avenger movies?
Alex Perez: Depends on the number of universes that are going to converge in the next 2 Avengers movies. But right now, we have at least 4 anchor beings showing up.
Manglor: Hi Alex, really appreciate you doing this as always. You said Doom will be an “antagonist” rather than a villain and will be trying to save the multiverse in Avengers 5 & 6, so who will the true big bad(s) be who’re putting the multiverse in danger?
Alex Perez: It’s Doom. It’s always been Doom. But the theme that, I think, will resonate here is that, in a multiverse of endless possibilities, anything is possible and nothing is set in stone. Just because something happens consistently in every universe, it doesn’t mean that it’s bound to happen in yours. The film will focus on who exactly is to blame for the current state of the Multiverse. Was it Kang? Was it his variants? Was it someone else? What I’m hearing is that they’re going to try and shift the blame on Doctor Strange, and it’s a motif that’s been building up for a while now. I’ve explained it before in my previous articles and Q/As, but the idea is to make Strange the common denominator when it comes to incursions. And a good part of these films is Strange trying to reject that notion that All Stranges are meant to doom the universe, by making him the one who chooses to save it.
Michael: Will the multiversal events of No Way Home and Multiverse of Madness be important to the plot in Avengers: Doomsday?
Alex Perez: Oh 100%. Both of those films introduce the concept of Incursions and according to my sources, the incursion we saw near the end of No Way Home is the incursion Clea was referring to fixing at the end of Multiverse of Madness.
Matapple: Hello Alex. Besides the Eternals, can you say which characters that had a leading/important role or a solo project in this saga we shouldn’t expect to see in Avengers: Doomsday, and if you can’t name all of them, mention a name or two?
Alex Perez: I think Moon Knight and the characters from that series probably fit in that category. Werewolf by Night falls in here as well.
∀: I hope you guys are having a good day, and thank you again for doing this! How important are the Thunderbolts and Young Avengers going to be in Doomsday/Secret Wars?
Alex Perez: Thunderbolts will definitely be important in Avengers: Doomsday. The Young Avengers aren’t really formed yet, but some of their members, like Cassie Lang, Ironheart, Ms. Marvel, America Chavez and Kate Bishop are going to play a part in this as well. Oh, and Franklin. Franklin’s a major character in the next two Avengers films.
Elyse – Shoalsandsuch: Hi Alex! With all these returning faces (RDJ and Evans) will newer phase 4/5 characters still be leads in terms of screen-time? I just don’t want to see them shafted to allow for the returning performers to take up the main focus.
Alex Perez: Everyone will have their opportunity to shine in these movies. If there’s one thing the Russos’ know how to do, is balance Marvel characters in these types of movies. But to answer your question directly: Shang-Chi, Kate Bishop, America Chavez, Yelena Belova, Kamala Khan, Monica Rambeau, Riri Williams, The Watcher, and the TVA have a role to play in these upcoming films that you can look out for.
Be on the lookout for the rest of December’s Marvel Studios Q&A with Alex Perez in the coming days!
What Marvel Studios projects are you looking forward to most? Let us know on social media @mycosmiccircus on X, Threads, Facebook & Instagram, or TheCosmicCircus.com on Bluesky!
November Discord Q&A Part 4: Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*, Wonder Man Young Avengers & More
