Anchorman Co-Star Set To Play Marvel's Ant-Man

[Something Amyss]

The question isn't whether the movie will appeal to people like most of the responders in this thread so far, who have heard of the character and know his potential. It's whether they'll be able to persuade average cinema-goers to give it a try. In that respect, Andy's not wrong, this one could be a tough sell - and even with Edgar Wright on board, it could be a great movie and still flop (cf Scott Pilgrim). There's no doubt Marvel is pushing the boat out on this one.

And they really will have to fight that inertia of "he's that dude who can control ants LOLLLLLLLL" whether people like the response or not.

 

[Anton Qvarfordt]

Why Ant-Man? Because Edgar is a near-brilliant auteur who really wanted to do a Ant-Man movie. And the Marvel Cinematic producers seem to be smart enough people to support something like that.

Was it Marvels top choice for the next superhero? Probably not. But I'm pretty sure Edgar was top choice for next superhero director. He's essentially british Joss Whedon.

 

[Mr. Q]

The question isn't whether the movie will appeal to people like most of the responders in this thread so far, who have heard of the character and know his potential. It's whether they'll be able to persuade average cinema-goers to give it a try. In that respect, Andy's not wrong, this one could be a tough sell - and even with Edgar Wright on board, it could be a great movie and still flop (cf Scott Pilgrim). There's no doubt Marvel is pushing the boat out on this one.

I won't argue that this is a big risk for Marvel. But the same could be said for Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America. Plus Marvel is hedging its bets with both big screen releases of certain characters and exploring a new medium with Netflix for Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones. It's nice to see Marvel Studios take these chances as oppose to how DC/Warner Bros is handling their comic book properties. Hell, I'd be more please if Marvel bit the bullet and made a female superhero movie like Captain Marvel (formerly Ms. Marvel), Black Widow, or She-Hulk.

 

[Souplex]

I am deeply saddened that Simon Pegg isn't playing Ant Man.
If he did, Nick Frost could play the Wasp.

 

[JarinArenos]

Every article on the escapist that I've ever had a major problem with was a Chalk article, so this is hardly a surprise. Gotta wonder if he's just the "kept around for the controversy pageviews" guy.

Edit: That's not to say that I have a problem with everything he writes... but just that every other writer on the site has managed to avoid ticking me off, but Andy does it with some regularity.

 

[Gizmo1990]

Damn. I was hoping they would give this to Gordon Levitt so that he would be unable to play Doctor Strange. Also Marvel WHERE IS THE INFO ON THE DOCTOR STRANGE MOVIE!

Sorry. I just really want a Doctor Strange movie. In case you could not tell.

 

[Flatfrog]

The question isn't whether the movie will appeal to people like most of the responders in this thread so far, who have heard of the character and know his potential. It's whether they'll be able to persuade average cinema-goers to give it a try. In that respect, Andy's not wrong, this one could be a tough sell - and even with Edgar Wright on board, it could be a great movie and still flop (cf Scott Pilgrim). There's no doubt Marvel is pushing the boat out on this one.

I won't argue that this is a big risk for Marvel. But the same could be said for Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America. Plus Marvel is hedging its bets with both big screen releases of certain characters and exploring a new medium with Netflix for Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones. It's nice to see Marvel Studios take these chances as oppose to how DC/Warner Bros is handling their comic book properties. Hell, I'd be more please if Marvel bit the bullet and made a female superhero movie like Captain Marvel (formerly Ms. Marvel), Black Widow, or She-Hulk.

Oh, quite - I agree with everything you said here. I'm not for one second suggesting it's a bad thing that Marvel take risks, or that they haven't got form in taking those risks and them paying off (seriously, who would have thought they could persuade people to see fucking Thor?!)

And +1 too to the wish that they would take the risk of going for a female lead (CapMs Marvel being the only sensible choice, really), but let's not start re-hashing that one! It'll happen eventually, let's just hope they don't make a mess of it and set us up for yet another decade-long sausagefest.

Captcha: Winter is coming. Oh yes.

 

[Mr. Q]

I also offered a comment on Hank's creation and multiple roles he's taken over the years but didn't include Ultron since Marvel Studios is planning to make Tony Stark the creator of the villain in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Really? Well now, that's an interesting change from the comics. Have they given any real explanation as to why that might be, or is it just one of those "wait and see" things?

Apparently, since Tony is the tech genius, it makes sense in a way. Hank's background in science has been mostly biological. Now that I think about it, it works a bit since if Robert Downey Jr. wants to exit from Marvel movies, the guilt of making a sociopathic A.I. would bring him to retire from being Iron Man and pass the mantle to Don Cheadle's character James Rhodes. Also, Tony passing the Iron Man role to his best friend happened in the comics

 

[Mr. Q]

The question isn't whether the movie will appeal to people like most of the responders in this thread so far, who have heard of the character and know his potential. It's whether they'll be able to persuade average cinema-goers to give it a try. In that respect, Andy's not wrong, this one could be a tough sell - and even with Edgar Wright on board, it could be a great movie and still flop (cf Scott Pilgrim). There's no doubt Marvel is pushing the boat out on this one.

I won't argue that this is a big risk for Marvel. But the same could be said for Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America. Plus Marvel is hedging its bets with both big screen releases of certain characters and exploring a new medium with Netflix for Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones. It's nice to see Marvel Studios take these chances as oppose to how DC/Warner Bros is handling their comic book properties. Hell, I'd be more please if Marvel bit the bullet and made a female superhero movie like Captain Marvel (formerly Ms. Marvel), Black Widow, or She-Hulk.

Oh, quite - I agree with everything you said here. I'm not for one second suggesting it's a bad thing that Marvel take risks, or that they haven't got form in taking those risks and them paying off (seriously, who would have thought they could persuade people to see fucking Thor?!)

And +1 too to the wish that they would take the risk of going for a female lead (CapMs Marvel being the only sensible choice, really), but let's not start re-hashing that one! It'll happen eventually, let's just hope they don't make a mess of it and set us up for yet another decade-long sausagefest.

Captcha: Winter is coming. Oh yes.

Same here on the "sausage fest" comment. It's the 21st century and I'm sure Marvel Studios can do a hell of a lot better with female superheroes than previous outings like Elektra and Catwoman.

 

[Roxas1359]

I also offered a comment on Hank's creation and multiple roles he's taken over the years but didn't include Ultron since Marvel Studios is planning to make Tony Stark the creator of the villain in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

In some continuities I've usually seen both Hank Pym and Tony Stark work together when it comes to the creation of Ultron. In the show Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes, both Hank and Tony worked on Ultron, with Tony streamlining them for production and keeping a more advanced one at Stark Tower.
In Avengers 2 they seem to be portraying that Stark made Ultron, but I don't doubt that if the Ant Man movie comes out before Avengers 2 then there will be references to Hank, or he will cameo in the movie himself.

Apparently, since Tony is the tech genius, it makes sense in a way. Hank's background in science has been mostly biological. Now that I think about it, it works a bit since if Robert Downey Jr. wants to exit from Marvel movies, the guilt of making a sociopathic A.I. would bring him to retire from being Iron Man and pass the mantle to Don Cheadle's character James Rhodes. Also, Tony passing the Iron Man role to his best friend happened in the comics

Thing is though, at the end of the 3rd Iron Man movie something happens that I'll be putting in spoilers:

Spoiler

Stark had J.A.R.V.I.S activate the "Clean-slate Protocol" which self destructed every single Iron Man suit he had to show his dedication to Pepper. He also had surgery to remove the shrapnel from his heart and rendered the Arc Reactor useless. He then chucks the no longer functioning reactor into the ocean.

 

[Mr. Q]

I also offered a comment on Hank's creation and multiple roles he's taken over the years but didn't include Ultron since Marvel Studios is planning to make Tony Stark the creator of the villain in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

In some continuities I've usually seen both Hank Pym and Tony Stark work together when it comes to the creation of Ultron. In the show Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes, both Hank and Tony worked on Ultron, with Tony streamlining them for production and keeping a more advanced one at Stark Tower.
In Avengers 2 they seem to be portraying that Stark made Ultron, but I don't doubt that if the Ant Man movie comes out before Avengers 2 then there will be references to Hank, or he will cameo in the movie himself.

I recall that tweak in Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Makes me wish Marvel stuck with that show instead of going with the shared universe route for Avengers Assemble, Ultimate Spider-Man, and Hulk: Agents of SMASH. Also, I wouldn't mind seeing a cameo from Ant-Man in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

 

[TehAardvark]

Absolutely stunning lack of journalistic integrity in this. This is a news feed, it's not listed as a column or an editorial so can the author please keep his opinions out of the matter. This article fails both to be objective AND fails to be ACCURATE. Seriously, five minutes on wikipedia and I was able to poke no less than a dozen factual errors in the span of a three paragraph story. The "author" as I now hesitate to call him as this comes across more as a SLIGHTLY more legible YouTube comment than any serious attempt at writing and from the comments I've read this isn't the first time he's been biased and factually inaccurate on a story. I seriously hope he is not getting paid for this garbage.

 

[Trishbot]

I like this news. It pleases me.

He shrinks 60% of the time every time.

 

[The Great JT]

Two things.

1. Shrinking powers = the ultimate infiltrator.
2. Aquaman is awesome. Here is a list explaining why. [http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/teamt/blockbuster-buster/blockbuster-buster/41720-top-10-reasons-aquaman-is-awesome] EDUCATE THYSELF!!

Looking forward to Ant-Man. You gotta remember that half his gimmick is shrinking, but the other half is growing. Like, to the size of a skyscraper.

 

[josemlopes]

Absolutely stunning lack of journalistic integrity in this. This is a news feed, it's not listed as a column or an editorial so can the author please keep his opinions out of the matter. This article fails both to be objective AND fails to be ACCURATE. Seriously, five minutes on wikipedia and I was able to poke no less than a dozen factual errors in the span of a three paragraph story. The "author" as I now hesitate to call him as this comes across more as a SLIGHTLY more legible YouTube comment than any serious attempt at writing and from the comments I've read this isn't the first time he's been biased and factually inaccurate on a story. I seriously hope he is not getting paid for this garbage.

The problem with gaming journalism is that it isnt journalism at all, its just a bunch of people throwing their opinions as facts

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

This is great news, poorly delivered, but great. I love Paul Rudd and enjoy most movies I've seen him in. He has a knack for stealing the show. I only hope that it doesn't get too goofy.

Also thank you Mr. Q, CriticKitten, and others for providing some solid background info and points on this subject.

 

[SecondPrize]

I know less about ant man than you do and it might turn out to be great but this looks like more of what happens every time Hollywood jumps on to a theme and runs it into the ground to me, with this one being of the run into the ground variety.

 

[vid87]

Here's the bigger question - Rudd may be playing Ant-Man, but WHO is Ant-Man? My understanding is that it may not actually be Pym who dons the costume but one of the others like Eric O'Grady and that he will be a sort of secret agent. If so, who'll play Pym, if he shows up at all? If not, why wouldn't they go with the guy who originated both the character and the power? If so, will he be retired, still a scientist, employed by Shield, a supervillain, THE supervillain of the film? If Wasp shows up, what will be her connection to all of this since Pym isn't the main character? What's their connection to the rest of the series if the Avengers have already been formed?

I'm just saying there are plenty of ways this could go.