With the successful theatrical run of The World’s End at an… end, writer and director Edgar Wright is back in Los Angeles to – as he puts it – “finish a little something [he’s] been working on.” That means he and Marvel are finally getting to work on Ant-Man, one of the very first projects announced by the studio seven years ago.
With Ant-Man’s release date pushed several months closer, now releasing alongside The Avengers: Age of Ultron in summer 2015, the casting process (and rumors) have begun,and Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Paul Rudd are the two names at the top of the list. But they aren’t the only ones…
When the trades broke the news earlier this week that Marvel Studios and writer-director Edgar Wright had Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Paul Rudd in mind for Ant-Man, a third unnamed candidate was mentioned to be in consideration for the titular role (or one of them, anyway) as well.
With Wright back in LA as of two weeks ago to begin production on Ant-Man, the timing was interesting that Jamie Bell was also tweeting about being back in LA. Combine the timing with an IMDB user claiming to be working on an Edgar Wright project that involves Jamie Bell and a lot of blue screens – and the fact that they know each other very well from their work on the TinTin films – and it’s possible Bell is the third name in talks for/testing for a role in Ant-Man.
In Marvel Comics, there just so happens to be three men who become Ant-Man (Henry Pym, Scott Lang, Eric O’Grady), so for all we know, all of the rumored names could be in the film.
Superhero Movie News, who were the first we saw mention Paul Rudd in association with Ant-Man, long before the trades picked up on his alleged talks with Marvel Studios last week, have another potentially major scoop, this one relating to the female lead character in Ant-Man. According to the same source who leaked to them Edgar Wright’s interest in Paul Rudd, Marvel has Rashida Jones in mind to play Janet van Dyne.
Jones of course, who co-starred with Ant-Man candidate Rudd in I Love You, Man and Our Idiot Brother, currently stars alongside Guardians of the Galaxy lead Chris Pratt in Parks and Recreation, and the report goes on to explain that she would be playing the main love interest in Ant-Man but that we won’t see Wasp – yet.
Instead, that character transformation into Wasp will be hinted at, likely setting up for the character’s potential future involvement as an Avenger down the road should Marvel Studios President of Production follow that path from the comics.
While in London for the Thor: The Dark World press junket, Kevin Feige played coy about the latest Ant-Man casting news when chatting with The Huffington Post.
On Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s name being associated with Guardians of the Galaxy before and now Ant-Man:
– Well, sometimes it’s because we are legitimately talking, and sometimes it’s just because he’s a prominent actor out there now. And lots of rumors surround prominent actors.
On the idea of Paul Rudd joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe:
– Well, nothing is true yet. I like Paul Rudd, too.
Screen Rant is there too – so if you have questions for Feige and cast, leave them in the comments!
Expect much more news on the Ant-Man front soon since it, and The Avengers sequel, begin shooting early next year.
For more on Ant-Man and Marvel:
- 10 actors Marvel should consider for Ant-Man.
- 25 cool new things you’ll see in Thor: The Dark World
- Marvel Studios Has Movies Planned Through to 2021
Ant-Man hits theaters on July 31, 2015
Follow Rob on Twitter @rob_keyes for your Marvel movie news!
Sources: HuffPo, SMN (2), Kevin Feige photo from Marvel.
