By The weeks and weeks of speculation as to which Ant-Man Paul Rudd would be playing have come to an end finally as Marvel revealed today that Michael Douglas has joined Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man as Hank Pym, traditionally known as the first Ant-Man (and a founding Avenger, and Giant-Man, and Yellowjacket, and the creator of Ultron). In the same article, they confirmed that Paul Rudd is will be playing the second Ant-Man, Scott Lang.
Naturally, this will ruffle a lot of feathers, since in the comics Hank Pym isn’t an old guy. But you know what? I’m okay with this. They can leave out the wife-beating, Ultron-creating, and weird sex stuff and he can instead fill the mentor role to Lang’s Ant-Man. Hank Pym will presumably be the guy who creates the suit that Lang steals (he started out as a thief who steals the suit to help his ailing daughter Cassie), then they will patch things up and Pym will help Lang be the hero he is destined to be.
This obviously begs the question “What about Wasp?”, but as far as our Ant-Men are concerned, I’m okay with this, and July 31st, 2015 is way too far away. Check out Marvel’s full press release below and let your nerd rage flow in the comments.
[via Marvel]Michael Douglas has stepped into some of the biggest–or should that be tiniest?–shoes of his career.
The two-time Academy Award-winning actor will join director Edgar Wright and Paul Rudd in Marvel’s “Ant-Man,” hitting theaters July 31, 2015.
“With Hank Pym’s rich history in the Marvel Universe, we knew we needed an actor capable of bringing the weight and stature to the role that the character deserves,” said Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. “We felt incredibly relieved when Michael Douglas agreed to step into the part with the charm and fortitude he brings to every character he inhabits, and couldn’t be more excited to see what he will do to bring Hank Pym to life.”
The legendary actor, who earned an Academy Award in the category of Best Actor in a Leading Role for his iconic portrayal of Gordon Gecko in “Wall Street,” has also starred in numerous modern classics including “Basic Instinct,” “Fatal Attraction,” “The Game,” “Wonder Boys,” “Traffic” and many more. In addition to acting, Douglas has also served as Producer and Executive Producer on a number of films including “Romancing the Stone,” John Carpenter’s “Starman” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” for which he also won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Most recently, Douglas earned a Golden Globe and his first Primetime Emmy Award for his role as legendary entertainer Liberace in the HBO original film “Behind the Candelabra.”
Douglas will star as Hank Pym, who first appeared in TALES TO ASTONISH #27 (Jan. 1962), with Rudd starring as Scott Lang in the film.