For those that aren’t yet in the know, the little Ant-man is on his way to the big screen with some powerhouse actors already confirmed for their roles. (Click here for the Ant-man Footage shown at Comic con)
Paul Rudd (top left) will be playing the role of Scott Lang (top right) while Michael Douglass (bottom left) will play Hank Pym (bottom right).
Who these characters are and what changes will be made for adaption to the big screen will be explained in a bit; but I first want to announce a possible candidate for Janet Van Dyne AKA The Wasp!
Evangeline Lilly (Lost, The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug) is still in early talks to be a part of this film and it hasn’t been confirmed what role she’ll be taking, but we can pretty much guess/hope!
Through her roles in Lost and The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, clearly she’s a talented actress that doesn’t shy away from action scenes. Van Dyne is a fireball of energy that sometimes seems to love the celebrity life-style as much as she does the superhero life-style, but how her big-screen personality will change is still unclear. This key character is actually one of the original founding members of the Avengers, and even coined its name.
So where do all these characters fit in the film? How did they originally fit in the comics? Why is Michael Douglass so much older than the character he plays? Why does airplane food taste so bad? Well I can try my best to answer the first three with some “flash” facts:
In the Books:
Henry “Hank” Pym was the original Ant-man and gained his shrinking powers through the discovery of something called Pym Particles. He also developed a helmet that allowed him to communicate
with and control ants. He then shared his shrinking powers with the woman he loved, Janet Van Dyne but instead, of the helmet, he gave her a set of wings and stinger blasts for weapons (he would ride a flying ant to get around and didn’t use wings himself). When the original Avengers first formed, Ant-man and The Wasp were both part of the original team that took down Loki, and (as mentioned before) it was The Wasp’s idea to name the team The Avengers.
Scott Lang, a former criminal, comes into the picture years later as an intern in Stark’s International Design Department but ends up seeking the help of a Dr. Erica Sondheim to help his daughter’s heart condition. When Dr. Sondheim is kidnapped, the desperate Scott Lang breaks into Hank Pym’s lab to steal his Ant-man technology so that he can rescue Sondheim. After a successful rescue, Lang tries to turn himself in but Pym surprisingly gives him the suit (talk about a Good Guy Greg) as long as he uses it for good. Lang then continues as the Ant-man and fights alongside the Avengers.
My Predictions:
Unfortunately, I doubt they’ll have the 70-year-old Michael Douglass be married to the 35-year-old Evangeline Lilly. Something also tells me they won’t have Hank Pym (Douglass) begin his career as Ant-man at the seasoned age of 70. Instead, Marvel will perform one of the biggest rewrites in comic-to-movie adaptations and completely revamp everything we know about Ant-man and The Wasp.
Hank Pym, an old scientist at Stark Industries, finally stumbles upon the size-altering science of his trade-marked Pym Particles. Scott Lang, a former criminal that now works as an intern for Stark’s Design Department, will seek the help of Dr. Sondheim for his daughter’s heart condition. Instead, Sondheim is kidnapped and Lang becomes desperate as his daughter’s condition takes a turn for the worst. He breaks into Pym’s laboratory and steals the Pym-Particle-altering-suit and goes after Sondheim’s kidnappers. When Hank Pym and Stark become aware of the robbery, they send Lang’s supervisor (perhaps Pym’s daughter as well) Janet Van Dyne to retrieve the stolen technology (but not before equipping her with a suit of her own, set with wings and stingers). She catches Lang, but sympathizes for his quest so she eventually helps him rescue Dr. Sondheim and falls in love with him in the process.
Again this is only my prediction and none of it is confirmed, not even Evangeline Lilly’s role (if any) in the film. It is merely speculation at this point but I can’t help getting excited over these developments.
