Yesterday, in a display of stubbornness so determined it’s almost impressive, Marvel tweeted a first-look image of Paul Rudd in character as Scott Lang for Ant-Man, which is now officially in production. The movie that was greenlit purely to humor Edgar Wright is now being made because Marvel can’t admit defeat and acknowledge when something isn’t really working (see also: Agents of SHIELD). But maybe—maybe it won’t be bad.
Guardians of the Galaxy proved they can sell an audience on any concept, and the way Ant-Man is being made, which is largely make-it-up-as-we-go, is exactly how Iron Man came together. So it’s not like Marvel hasn’t been here before—it’s not like they haven’t made this WORK before. And they have a tremendous cast at their disposal this time around, as Rudd is joined by not only Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, and Corey Stoll, but also Michael Pena, Bobby Cannavale, and Judy Motherf*cking Greer. So while the beginnings have been disastrous, there’s enough still on the table to throw something decent together.
But back to Scott Lang and Ant-Man. The photo doesn’t tell us much except that part of the movie will take place in San Francisco and that Scott looks sad in the sad fog while standing next to his sad van while holding a bag of sadness. I’ve not seen any memes pop up yet, the way that “Sad Batman” became a thing, which is either because no one cares about Ant-Man (yet), or because Paul Rudd’s non-aging unicorn powers also prevent people from mocking him.
In other Marvel news, Adrianne Palicki has been cast as Bobbi “Mockingbird” Morse. She’ll appear in an episode of Agents of SHIELD later this year, but Mockingbird is the kind of character that can also pop up in the movies. She’s a SHIELD agent, and while the MCU already has plenty of those (Maria Hill, Sharon Carter, Natasha Romanov), Mockingbird has the distinction of being Hawkeye’s wife. There was a rumor a while back that Hawkeye would be married in Avengers: Age of Ultron, so IF Hawkeye is married, or even if they mention his ex (the relationship doesn’t last long), Jeremy Renner’s on-screen ex/wife will be none other than Tyra Collette. Those Dillon High girls can get it.
Also attached – the Ant-Man team at Comic-Con last month.
