Earlier this year, the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 2 ended with the Paul Rudd-led "Ant-Man," as he brought the MCU a new snide hero as well as a prospective new Avenger, Evangeline Lilly's Wasp - after she was announced as part of the title a few weeks back, what other "Ant-Man" news are there?

Peyton Reed, the director of the first film and the upcoming 2018 sequel, recently spoke about plans for the two characters and what's next for them, in the latest "Ant-Man" news directed at superhero fans, with Rudd being confirmed for "Captain America: Civil War," though it's unclear if Lilly will be reprising her role in the 2016 summer film.

On the latest "Ant-Man" news, Reed recently spoke to Yahoo, sharing that he was in the final negotiations to officially direct "Ant-Man and The Wasp," the official name for the 2018 title - an impressive feat in itself, as it will be the first time a female superhero from the MCU is in the film's title, as this film will come out before "Captain Marvel."

"It just happened to be organic for the characters of Ant-Man and Wasp, [so] it worked," said the director on this recent "Ant-Man" news, via Blastr, speaking about the follow-up to this year's box office smash. "Her last line in the movie -- 'It's about damn time' -- [is] very much about her specific character and arc in that movie, but it is absolutely about a larger thing. It's about damn time: We're going to have a fully realized, very very complicated hero in the next movie who happens to be a woman."

It's refreshing to see that the latest "Ant-Man" news sees one of the main players behind the scenes treating the matter of female superheroes as seriously as it should be, as public outcry calls for more female representation in the MCU, with only Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow and Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch currently on the list of female Avengers.

As GameSpot reports in further "Ant-Man" news, the sequel will be released on July 6, 2018.