This is the first film staged in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Avengers: Infinity War – and thus there has been lots of speculation that one or both of the post-credit scenes will feature information relevant to next year's Avengers 4. Marvel boss Kevin Feige said as much in a recent featurette, stating that Ant-Man and The Wasp will "directly connect" with the Infinity War Sequel.

We already knew that the events of Ant-Man 2 would take place around the same time as Infinity War, but not much else. But were the post-credits scenes in the film worth the wait? Find out below.

*Spoilers for Ant-Man and The Wasp to follow*

Mid-credits scene: Ant-Man and what looks like three piles of ash

First up, the mid-credits scene – and it features the film's only tie-in to Avengers: Infinity War.

It sees Scott (Paul Rudd), Hope (Evangeline Lilly), Hank (Michael Douglas) and newcomer Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) – Hope's mother, who was trapped in the Quantum Realm before being rescued –performing some science relating to the Quantum Realm. Scott is entering the realm to collect particles that could help heal Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen)

Throughout the scene, the perspective shifts from Hope, Janet and Hank waiting in the real-world to Scott in the Quantum Realm. At one point, we see Scott lose contact with them, and when it switches back to the real-world, they are nowhere to be seen – but in their place stand three piles of ash.

"We knew the events of Infinity War and how it ended, and it was really sort of us trying to figure out what our movie's tone was going to allow," Ant-Man and the Wasp director Peyton Reed told RadioTimes.com of the scene's inclusion.

"How we dealt with that incredibly dramatic turn of events in keeping with the [lighter] tone of our movie. And where we fit into that timeline. So it was a process kind of trying to figure that out."

What it means:

As you'll hopefully know if you've come this far, at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos used the fully kitted-out Infinity Gauntlet to disappear one half of the world's population with a click of his fingers, turning many of our beloved superheroes to dust.

This scene appears to confirm that Ant-Man has avoided a dusting – thanks, perhaps, to his being in the Quantum Realm at the time – but that his pals were not so lucky. Hope, Janet and Hank are dead –for now, anyway.

Don't cry for them yet, Argentina. As we speculated when Infinity War was released, it is likely that The Great Dusting will be reversed in one way or another in the next Avengers film, so they may well be back in action in time for Ant-Man 3 (Disney haven't confirmed this yet, but why not). After all, Spider-Man, Black Panther and many of the Guardians of the Galaxy turned to dust and blew away at the climax of Avengers 3, despite all having confirmed standalone sequels in the offing.

The good news is that this suggests that Ant-Man will almost certainly play a part in Avengers 4 – and Thor, Iron-Man, The Hulk and Rocket(!) will need all the help they can get.

"[Christopher] Markus and [Stephen] McFeely, the [Infinity War] writers, did the first pass of a draft of our tag scene, which then our writers came on and refined," Reed explained. "And a lot of it was kind of figuring out who was gonna be in that scene.

"There could have been other characters in that scene. So...yeah it was a process. And we had to be very smart about how we did it."

Post-credits scene: Ant-Man and The Wasp will return?

Not quite as revelatory as the first one, unfortunately. This is just a fun clip of an ant performing a drum solo – a la that bizarre, brief shot in the trailer (he's wearing Scott's house arrest ankle bracelet, and is thus confined to his home). In the background, you can hear news reports related to Thanos' deadly final manoeuvre.

The scene ends with the promise, as is standard in many Marvel films, that Ant-Man and The Wasp will return – though they add a question mark to the statement to leave a little bit of uncertainty after that last scene.

What it means: That Ant-Man and the Wasp might not be back. But, in all likelihood, they will.

"I don't know what the plan is, and I haven't really asked, because I don't want to put too much thought into it in case...well, what if there isn't?" Ant-Man actor Paul Rudd told RadioTimes.com.

"But Peyton and I have had conversations and things. Wheels are always turning. Even on the first one we were kind of thinking a little bit about what we might do in THIS one.

"There are a couple of ideas, but I'd hate to go into any specifics. Even though that is what you want! Because it might not happen."

Ant-Man and the Wasp is in US cinemas now, and will be released in UK cinemas on the 2nd of August

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