'Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania' Won't Bring Back T.I. After Multiple Sexual Assault Allegations

Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly are returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for another team-up adventure as Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. In previous installments of the Ant-Man franchise, the two stars have been joined by the ensemble of Luis (Michael Peña), Kurt (David Dastmalchian), and Dave (T.I.), criminal buddies of Scott Lang, but one of them won't be part of the franchise anymore.The Hollywood Reporter has learned that T.I. will not be returning for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. It is presumed that T.I. is not returning for the Marvel Studios sequel after an attorney brought forth multiple accusations from 11 alleged victims with crimes including sexual abuse, forced ingestion of illegal narcotics, kidnapping, false imprisonment, intimidation, assault, and harassment.

In a statement through their own lawyer, T.I. and his wife Tiny denied the allegations, saying, "Clifford (T.I.) and Tameka Harris (Tiny) deny in the strongest possible terms these unsubstantiated and baseless allegations. We are confident that if these claims are thoroughly and fairly investigated, no charges will be forthcoming."

There's a chance T.I. wasn't part of the script for the sequel before these allegations surfaced. However, Disney surely wants to disassociate themselves from impropriety, so the timing doesn't seem like a coincidence, especially since VH1 already halted production of T.I. & Tiny: Friends & Family Hustle, the reality show that T.I. appears in with his musician wife, Tiny.

Though T.I. has been part of the Ant-Man ensemble from the first movie, his character has never been an integral part of the franchise. Plus, presuming Michael Peña and David Dastmalchian come back for the Ant-Man sequel, Scott Lang will still get all the help he needs.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will be directed by Peyton Reed, who took the helm of the first two movies in the franchise, and written by Jeff Loveness (Rick and Morty). Along with the return of Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer will also be back as the original Ant-Man and the Wasp, Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne. They'll be joined by Marvel newcomers Kathryn Newton, playing the now grown up daughter of Scott Lang, and Jonathan Majors as the villain Kang the Conqueror.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania doesn't currently have a release date, but it's expected in 2022.