Michael Douglas has offered his thoughts on Marvel Studios’ formula for success. In just two days, Marvel Studios is capping off another successful year with Ant-Man & The Wasp. Directed by returning helmsman Peyton Reed, the movie is smaller - both literally and figuratively - than recent MCU films and pairs  Paul Rudd’s shrinking hero with a new partner: Evangeline Lilly’s Wasp. While it remains to be seen how the movie fits into the larger MCU narrative, fans are no doubt excited to find out what the Ant-Man sequel foreshadows about the franchise’s future.

Reprising his role as Dr. Hank Pym for the second time, the Oscar-winning Douglas gets a little more to do in Ant-Man & The Wasp than he did in the first Ant-Man movie. This time, however, it’s more personal than ever for the physicist, as he, his daughter Hope, and Scott Lang attempt to rescue his wife, Janet van Dyne, from the Quantum Realm, where she’s been stranded for several decades now.

Speaking with EW while making the rounds to promote Ant-Man & The Wasp’s release in theaters, Douglas offered his two cents regarding Marvel Studios’ continued dominance in the world of comic book movies. For the actor, there are two things that Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige and his team do extremely well (action sequences and interesting characters), which are responsible for their ongoing success:

Douglas isn’t wrong; Marvel’s big action sequences are usually thrilling and well thought-out. They almost always have a significant narrative impact, as opposed to being merely an excuse for people to punch each other. The action is also one of the biggest draws for Marvel Studios’ films, especially for general moviegoers who aren’t necessarily interested in character arcs, when it comes to their superhero films. Still, at the end of the day, it’s these movies’ characters that make them compelling. For example, the huge airport fight in Captain America: Civil War was chock-full of character interactions between Team Iron Man and Team Cap which made it more engaging and memorable.

“Each picture, I think they decide upon their big action set pieces, which they set up early on, so they get a lot of time for prep, and then they work their way in. And then, when you get to more character scenes, depending upon the actors, they allow a lot of leeway. So, Michael Peña, for one, comes up with all this wonderful wiggy, wiggy stuff. Paul Rudd’s another one that does that. And I think they encourage that, and it gives you kind of the freshness that I think separates the Marvel pictures from the rest of these superhero films.”

Based on the previously-released trailers and spots for Ant-Man & The Wasp, Marvel Studios’ tradition of crafting fun but intense fight action sequences continues in the film. The Wasp herself stars in some of the coolest battle shots as she takes on several goons and, of course, the movie’s primary antagonist, Ghost. It also seems like Reed doubled down on using the size-shifting capabilities made possible by the Pym Particles.

MORE: Evangeline Lilly Interview: Ant-Man and the Wasp

Source: EW

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