We may not actually be going to see Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang/Ant-Man in Ms. Marvel, but someone on the writing team is clearly a big fan. The first episode revealed that it’s Lang’s podcast appearances that informed the public what went down during the climactic battle in Avengers: Endgame, the AvengersCon was full of references to him, and the drama at the end was caused by a giant rolling Ant-Man head.
Now the second episode has gone beyond even that with a fun reference to Paul Rudd’s apparent immortality. In our universe, Paul Rudd is famous for his youthful looks, and this seems to be mirrored with Scott Lang in the MCU. This came when Kamala explained how she experimented with her new powers and concluded she doesn’t have Ant-Man abilities.
Bruno asked why she’d even think she would, and Kamala responded: “Because we’re both charming and look a lot younger than we are”. Somewhat predictably, the internet is loving the line:
Longtime MCU fans are definitely enjoying the meta moment:
It’s also nice to have confirmation that Lang has the same reputation as Rudd:
Ant-Man fans are naturally over the moon:
A Brie Larson cameo as Captain Marvel feels like a lock, but perhaps Paul Rudd showing up to see what’s going on in Jersey City isn’t completely out of the question. After all, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has finished production, and it’d be useful for Marvel Studios to quickly establish what Lang’s been doing since Endgame. With Damage Control getting involved in the story, perhaps Lang might get pressganged into doing a little investigative work for them?
Whatever else happens, Ms. Marvel is a real stand-out show, and we can’t get enough of Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan.