Marvel Studios has made a habit of launching the reputations of B-list superheroes into the stratosphere. As a character with an oddball skill set, the Ant-Man solo film didn’t necessarily blow the doors off the box office, but he still managed to steal the show in Captain America: Civil War. It turns out getting smaller (and sometimes bigger) is a pretty cool superpower after all, and Paul Rudd’s charm certainly hasn’t diminished the equation.

Naturally, Disney wants to make the most of their newly popularized character, riding a wave of goodwill for a (hopefully) even more successful sequel in Ant-Man and the Wasp (coming July 2018). Ant-Man has already appeared on Disney XD in animated form (see images above and below from Avengers Assemble), but now he looks to be taking the next step.

CBR reports that Disney and Marvel are working with Passion Animation Studios to bring a series of animated Ant-Man shorts to Disney XD in 2017. Passion was responsible for Nike’s Rio Olympic short, The Last Game. The French creative duo of Ugo Bienvenu and Kevin Manach will be directing the series, which will feature Josh Keaton (The Spectacular Spider-Man) as Ant-Man and Melissa Rauch (The Big Bang Theory) as The Wasp. As of now, it’s uncertain whether or not they will play the original team of Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne, or the animated versions of Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne.

Marvels Avengers Assemble Ant Man Disney XD helmet Marvels Ant Man Animated Shorts Airing on Disney XD in 2017
No word yet on the length of the series or episodes, what kind of adventures Ant-Man and Wasp will be going on, or whether or not the shorts will sport 3D or traditional 2D animation. (Passion Animation does both.) Fortunately, Bienvenu and Manach have a pretty crazy reel full of stunning imagery, so it’s a good bet that whatever style they pick, we’re going to be in for a visual treat. If we’re really lucky, we’ll get some trippy new imagery from the Microverse.

These animated shorts are likely an effort from Disney to keep Ant-Man in the general consciousness of public, especially in the year prior to his resurgence on the big screen. Spider-Man, The Avengers, and the Guardians of the Galaxy all have a prominent presence on Disney XD, so it makes sense that they wouldn’t want to leave Ant-Man and the Wasp out of the cool kids club.

Stay tuned to Screen Rant for more details on the Ant-Man animated shorts and Disney XD’s Marvel lineup as they hit.

Ant-Man animated shorts are expected to hit Disney XD in 2017.