Since Paul Rudd was confirmed by Marvel to be playing Ant-Man in Edgar Wright’s forthcoming Phase III film of the same name, fans have been speculating up a storm over whether Rudd would be playing Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man and vicious domestic abuser, or Scott Lang, the reformed thief who was the second man to don the iconic costume. Well, Wright threw a kerosene-soaked piece of kindling on the rumor fire this week when he posted a screencap of Ant-Man from Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The super sleuths over at Coming Soon were able to deduce that it was from the episode “To Steal an Ant-Man,” which revolves around Scott Lang pilfering the Ant-Man gear from Hank Pym and using it to commit crimes.
Lending further credence to the theory is that fact that back in 2006, in an interview with Superhero Hype, Wright said his idea for Ant-Man “is to have a film that basically is about Henry Pym and Scott Lang, so you actually do a prologue where you see Pym as Ant-Man in action in the 60′s, in sort of Tales to Astonish mode basically, and then the contemporary, sort of flash-forward, is Scott Lang’s story, and how he comes to acquire the suit, how he crosses paths with Henry Pym, and then, in an interesting sort of Machiavellian way, teams up with him.” Considering Kevin Feige, in an interview with IGN, confirmed that Ant-Man will be “a heist movie,” and Marvel remained mum on Ant-Man’s identity in its official confirmation, it’s looking increasingly likely that Rudd will be stepping into Scott Lang’s thieving shoes.
Ant-Man is set to be released by Walt Disney Pictures on July 31, 2015.
What do you think? Which version of Ant-Man would your prefer to see Paul Rudd play? Let us know in the comments below!
HT: Coming Soon
I guarantee you Hank Pym still invented Ultron in the cinematic universe, I don’t care what Whedon has said. I’m certain that AT LEAST the post-credits scene for Avengers 2 will reveal something about Ultron’s origins, and it’ll put the name Hank Pym on the radar for the general audience in an attempt to make the Ant-Man film a bigger draw. Yes, Tony Stark will have some hand in “unearthing” the Ultron technology, but ultimately they’ll trace it back to Pym, one way or another.
Eric O’Grady!
I was hoping this Ant Man was going to be Hank Pym. If anything because they already announced Ultron for the next Avengers movie and Hank Pym invented Ultron, so that would tie things together pretty nicely in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
That being said even if it isn’t Hank Pym AS Ant Man, they could still have him in some kind of cursory role in inventor mode and creating Ultron, just not as active duty Ant Man.
Given that the casting sheet includes obvious analogs for not only Hank Pym and Scott Lang, but Janet Pym, Cassie Lang, Bill Foster, and possibly even Rita DeMara? There’s a good chance that we may in fact see Scott Lang being handed the costume, but only because Hank has already become Yellowjacket. If you look at the comics, Hank and Scott aren’t terribly far apart in age and combining that with the fact that both are blue-eyed blondes, you can’t really use Rudd’s age or appearance to lean one way or the other.
While I don’t think that abuse is okay, I was actually hoping for Pym. It’s certainly something that set him apart in the comics, and one of the things I’ve always liked about Marvel comics is how flawed and human all of their heroes really are. This wouldn’t be surprising if it’s the route they go though, after all, even though they didn’t hide that Stark was an alcoholic they never really showed how bad it was in the comics.