TORONTO -- "Ant-Man" director Peyton Reed wants to colonize a new superhero franchise.
"If we are lucky enough to be able to make a sequel, I'm way onboard," he said in a recent phone interview.
Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly, who stars as Hope van Dyne, would be a key focus if Reed had his way, he added.
"I think that probably she's the single biggest element of the movie that I would be psyched to explore in another movie, if we do it," said Reed.
"Because you just see that she's ... about to spread her wings and you really want to see where she goes."
"Ant-Man" stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, an expert hacker recruited by Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) to battle his enemy using a super-powered suit that allows him to shrink down to an ant's size. Lilly's character is Pym's daughter, who knows the suit technology inside and out.
Co-stars include Corey Stoll as Darren Cross/Yellowjacket, Pym's enemy and former protege who now runs his company. Judy Greer plays Lang's ex-wife and Michael Pena plays Lang's former prison buddy.
Edgar Wright originally signed on to direct and co-write the script, which was also penned by Rudd as well as Joe Cornish and Adam McKay.
Reed came onboard when Wright left the project as director in May 2014.
Reed is known for directing comedies, including "Yes Man," "The Break-Up" and "Bring It On."
Naturally, he was happy to see the script was heavy on humour.
After all, this is a movie about a superhero whose "powers are a little absurd," which "suggests a more comedic treatment to it," said Reed.
"That seemed like a really smart idea, and right from the get-go it seemed to set 'Ant-Man' apart from a lot of the other hero movies out there."
It also helped that Reed was already "a huge Ant-Man fan," he said, noting he grew up reading Marvel Comics and loved the original Avengers, of which the insect character was a founding member.
"Ant-Man" has been in development for nearly a decade, and Reed said there are many elements in the film that were in the original drafts of the script.
But he and McKay were able to make changes. They also met with a quantum physicist to bloster the pseudo-science in the film.
The film's depiction of Lang/Ant-Man set the tone for the character's role in the upcoming "Captain America: Civil War," said Reed, noting he showed directors Anthony and Joe Russo scenes from his movie while editing it for continuity's sake.
"I found myself being really protective, like, 'No, I actually don't think that that would be his attitude. I think it would be this, based on our movie."'
Pena is a standout as the hilarious sidekick. Reed said Pena originally only had three scenes but he and Rudd decided to beef up his role to "show the world how funny he is."
Meanwhile, Lilly "was invaluable in helping shape the story arc for her character," said Reed.
"'Ant-Man' is every bit her story as well, her arc becoming a hero," said the Raleigh, N.C., native.
Reed said he went into the film assuming he'd only get to make one movie, so he tried to make it a self-contained story that would appeal to all audiences.
"Having said that, there's such a long rich history of those characters that we definitely wanted to set things in motion that, by the time we get to the end of 'Ant-Man,' there are definitely some questions about these characters," he said.
"We clearly set things in motion that you want to hopefully see more of these characters. There's a lot of story left to tell."
