Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is officially under way with last weekend’s debut ofCaptain America: Civil War. Fans turned out in droves for this superhero adventure, to the tune of $179.1 million in its opening weekend. The movie not only showed the entire MCU being torn apart by the Sokovia Accords, but it also introducedSpider-Man(Tom Holland) andBlack Panther(Chadwick Boseman). Still, the biggest moment, literally, in the movie came from one of the MCU’s other newcomers, which we have new details about below. If you haven’t seenMarvel’s Civil Waryet, there will be massive SPOILERS below, so read on at your own risk.
WhenCaptain America: Civil Warstarted shooting last May, the studio unveiled an official cast list, which revealed thatAnt-ManstarPaul Ruddwould reprise his role as Scott Lang. It didn’t take long for rumors to spread that this movie may feature our first look atGiant Man, the polar opposite of the minisculeAnt-Man, who surfaced during the epic airport battle between Team Cap and Team Iron Man.io9caught up with producer and Marvel Studios PresidentKevin Feige, who revealed they thought the time was right to showcase Giant Man in this movie, and not in the upcoming sequelAnt-Man and the Wasp, which tied into Spidey’s introduction as well.
“It was just a great idea to turn the tide of the battle in a huge, shocking, unexpected way. We have a lot of ideas for Ant-Man 2, none of which are contingent upon revealing Giant Man, so we thought this would be the fun, unbelievable unexpected way to do that. We knew if we got Spidey we could have him do the AT-AT thing.”
As it turns out, though,Kevin Feigeand the studio weren’t convinced about introducing Giant Man right away.Captain America: Civil WarwritersChristopher MarkusandStephen McFeelyteased that there was some “pushback” aboutAnt-Mantransforming into Giant-Man early on, and directorsAnthony RussoandJoe Russoreally had to fight for his inclusion. Here’s whatStephen McFeelyhad to say.
“The brothers [directors Joe and Anthony Russo] had to fight for it. They had to go to the studio and say, ‘No it’s not silly, it’s cool.’ It’s a comic book movie! In the groundedWinter Soldier, it’sThree Days of the Condorexcept in the middle there’s a talking robot that tells you HYDRA has been there the whole time. And a lot of people went, ‘That’s a little much.’ No, it’s a comic book movie! That’s okay. Same thing here, except it’s Giant-Man.”
Kevin Feigehas revealed in the past that the MCU’s history of cutting off people’s hands is an homage to theStar Warsfilms. InCaptain America: Civil War, they included a more direct reference, whenSpider-Mansuggests they use the same strategy Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) uses to take down the AT-AT inEmpire Strikes Back, to bring down Giant Man.Stephen McFeelyadded that the directors also fought for that scene as well, although the writers aren’t big fans of referencing other movies.
“The brothers really wanted to put it in there. We get a little queasy about referencing other movies. They don’t, and they were right.”
Speaking of Giant Man, Marvel has also released the first official photo of this massive superhero, which you can check out below. Marvel has already set a June 06, 2025 release date forAnt-Man and the Wasp, but it remains to be seen if the enormous Giant Man will return in the sequel. StarPaul Ruddis also co-writing the script alongsideAnt-ManwritersAndrew Barrer,Gabriel FerrariandAdam McKay, withPeyton Reedreturning to direct. While we wait for more on this sequel, check out the first official photo of Giant Man below.
