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Earlier this week, something we’ve been waiting for for years was finally announced; the release date for Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man. Just to remind you what Ant-Man is (don’t worry, he’s so obscure that it’s pretty easy to forget), Ant-Man is the (apparently comedic) adaptation of the Marvel superhero who can grow to any size that he wants. The script is written by Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim) and Joe Cornish (Attack the Block), which is truly going to be a pairing to behold following the pair’s previous films. And well we knew that Ant-Man would be Wright’s next film following The World’s End, not until today did we find out a release date: November 6, 2015. Which, if you’re paying attention, puts it right after The Avengers 2 in terms of release date. Which means that Ant-Man won’t be a part of that phase, and will instead kick-off Marvel’s THIRD phase. So why did Marvel choose to position Ant-Man in this way? Why couldn’t he fit into Marvel’s second phase? Find out what we think after the jump.

Ant-Man has been in the planning for almost half a decade at this point. When Iron Man 1 first came out back in 2008, Ant-Man was already in production with Cornish and Wright at the helm. Yes, that long. Before there were Phase Two’s and Phase Three’s and Phase Eighty Seven’s, Ant-Man was in development. Before THE DARK KNIGHT came out, Ant-Man was in development. So what I’m trying to say is that Ant-Man has been in development for a really, REALLY long time.

So then why, after years of development, is Ant-Man at the tail end of Marvel’s release schedule? In fact, it’s not even scheduled for their second “phase” of films. No, Ant-Man will now be used to kick-off Marvel’s third phase of superhero blockbusters. And although it should be considered an honor for the film, I’m still curious just why Marvel choose to schedule it this way.

Last we heard, Ant-Man would start filming whenever Wright finished up with The World’s End. That’s shooting now, and should wrap up in the spring…which means Ant-Man is probably going to start filming sometime in mid 2013. Or, at least, WAS. Honestly, what’s the point now? The film won’t be hitting theaters for another three years; Wright could EASILY squeeze in another film post World’s End in the meantime. So obviously, the film isn’t being postponed until after Avengers because Edgar Wright can’t fit it in his schedule. Which leads me to two conclusions; either Marvel couldn’t find time to fit it in their schedule, or they feel like they need more originals superheros for their third phase. And right now, I’m leaning more towards the second one.

Even though Marvel has kept a firm “two films maximum per year” rule, they’ve expressed in the past that they are more than willing to forego it if need be. And since Marvel is expanding out of Summer and into the fall and late Spring for their movies, I don’t see how Ant-Man couldn’t fit into their schedule. It could have come out in December 2014 with plenty of room to spare. Guardians of the Galaxy is set to hit six months before, and The Avengers 2 would come out five months after. That seems like plenty of space to plant another tentpole, in my opinion.

And if not then, there are other options. Why not June 2014? Sure, the gap is a little less with only two months between Guardians and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but I honestly don’t think audiences would have minded. Last year, Thor and Captain America opened with exactly the same amount of time between them—two months. So if Marvel tried hard enough, I’m certain they would have been able to find a place for Ant-Man.

Which leads me to think that they just didn’t want the film to be part of Marvel’s Second Phase because, after Phase Two, what will Marvel have left? I mean yeah, they still have a ton of properties left to adapt, but not a lot of them are easy sells. Ant-Man is your classic superhero story, and shouldn’t be too difficult to get audiences invested in. Luke Cage, She-Hulk, Power Pack, and the like are much harder sells. And since their flagship Iron Man property is probably facing its end, Marvel simply needs something accessible to kick off Phase Three.

Of all the phases, I think the third one will be the most difficult for Marvel. Most of the actors’ contracts will run out after Avengers 2—hell, Robert Downey Jr’s will run out with Iron Man 3 (although I’m 90% certain he’ll at least come back for Avengers 2). Simply put, Marvel can no longer just rely on the Cap, Thor, and Iron Man brands. Well that will be okay for Phase Two, Phase Three and beyond will have to bring in new blood to their Cinematic Universe. And apparently, Marvel feels like Ant-Man will be better suited in that role. So we’ve waited years for Ant-Man to hit the big screen—and it seems we’ll have to wait just a little more.

-Matthew