MARVEL Studios is getting busy with its deal-making.

    Less than two weeks after dating a slew of movies, including an “Ant-Man” sequel for 2018, the studio is in negotiations with Peyton Reed to return as director of “Ant-Man and the Wasp.”

    It marks one of the first deals surrounding Marvel’s recently dated movies. Other films include “Black Panther” — which moved up from July 6, 2018 to Feb. 16, 2018 — and “Captain Marvel,” which was pushed out from Nov. 2, 2018 to March 8, 2019. The studio also scheduled three untitled movies for 2020.

    It wasn’t immediately clear that a sequel to the tentpole about the world’s smallest hero, played by Paul Rudd, would be part of Phase 3, but the movie and the character proved quite popular. In America, the film took in US$178 million to become one of the top 10 movies of the year, and it also did solid business internationally. In a big heap of icing on the cake, “Ant-Man” made a huge showing in China last weekend, earning US$43.2 million for an updated worldwide total of US$455 million.(SD-Agencies)