Marvel didn’t waste any time starting promoting Ant-Man, as after a short montage showing their films to date and a short piece about Guardians of the Galaxy (with our first look at Thanos), the studio brought out director Peyton Reed, stars Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas, long rumored cast member Evangeline Lilly, and new addition Corey Stoll.
Lilly will be playing the daughter of Hank Pym (Douglas) and was referred to as both Hope Pym and Hope Van Dyne on Twitter (Marvel’s website refers to her as Van Dyne). Does this mean that Janet could be her mother? I hope so.
Director Reed tried to ease the fears of anyone who was disappointed by Edgar Wright dropping out by playing up his geek cred. Apparently, Reed has been attending San Diego Comic Con for 20 years, and once portrayed Ant-Man on a poster for his punk band that paid homage to the cover from Avengers #1.
Stoll is playing Darren Cross, a former protege of Pym turned evil and has taken on the identity of Yellowjacket. In a recurring theme, he has also stolen some of Pym’s technology for his alter ego, and will be fighting Rudd’s character, who also stole Pym’s technology. This is believed to be the role that Patrick Wilson had before he dropped out from the project days ago. If so, this is might quick turnaround time for casting the part.
While Lilly is known to most from her work on Lost, Stoll is a bit of a lesser known quantity. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his work on House of Cards and can currently be seen in The Strain. He has appeared in films such as Midnight in Paris (where he played Ernest Hemingway) and Non-Stop.
The film will be shooting in Atlanta starting August 18th, although Marvel did show some test footage of Douglas as Hank Pym and Ant-Man riding a flying ant.