One of the joys of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that everything is connected, at least in theory. But some superheroes within it are more connected than others. While Black Widow seems to be friends with pretty much everyone, for instance, Star-Lord is floating around the galaxy doing his own thing. And despite the fact that Ant-Man’s already met most of the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man and the Wasp director Peyton Reed says he’d like to keep that franchise in “its own little corner” of the MCU.

Reed, who also directed the first Ant-Man, sat down with Moviefone to discuss the future of Marvel’s tiniest (and, as of Civil War, also its biggest) hero. While Ant-Man and the Wasp could pull in other elements of the MCU, it doesn’t sound like that’s the plan right now. Reed explains:

No, I think we like our little Ant-Man corner of the universe. Because it’s a whole different vibe tonally, but also just in terms of who Scott Lang, who Ant-Man is: he is a guy who is maybe not so sure he wants to be like this Avenger-style, full-on superhero. He’s got a kid, and this is the inner conflict with him, and he’s very much just like a normal guy who has come into contact with some incredible power. So, we like that aspect of kind of like it being its own little corner of the universe.

What makes Ant-Man unique, compared to the other MCU heroes, is that he really isn’t anyone special. He’s not a billionaire or a genius or a god. He doesn’t have superpowers or elite training. He’s just an ordinary dad who has access to a very fancy suit. Accordingly, Ant-Man felt like a much smaller-scale movie. The film climaxed not with a ginormous aerial battle over a major city, but with a tussle in a little kid’s bedroom. At a time when some Marvel heroes have literally started traveling to other dimensions, I like that Ant-Man plans to stay offbeat and low-key.

Especially since we can be sure Ant-Man and the Wasp will still mingle with other heroes from time to time. Evangeline Lilly has already confirmed she’ll appear in Avengers 4, after debuting Hope van Dyne’s superhero persona in Ant-Man and the Wasp. Reed says they’re still ironing out the details of her character:

After Ant-Man, now we get to see Wasp, so really designing her look, the way she moves, the power set, and figuring out, sort of, who Hope van Dyne is as a hero — because we know her in a certain context in the first movie, but now she’s going to have her coming out party — that’s exciting!

Reed understandably didn’t get too specific about what the character’s new, expanded role would entail. Speaking more generally about the movie, however, he teased that “we’re playing with a lot of ideas, and we’re coming up with some crazy stuff!” But the project still has a ways to go before we can watch it. “We’re in the writing phase right now and we start official prep this month,” he said. Marvel has Ant-Man and the Wasp set to open July 6, 2018.