Marvel’s ‘Ant-Man’ Begins Filming And Reveals ‘Iron Man’ Hook
Marvel’s Ant-Man movie finally began filming Monday following a bumpy road to production. The Peyton Reed directed production was made official by both the director and Marvel Studios, which revealed a connection to Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man and the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Reed was the first to make Ant-Man filming official with the following short and sweet Tweet.
Alright, gang. Today is the day. LET’S. GET. small. #AntMan
— Peyton Reed (@MrPeytonReed) August 18, 2014
This was followed by a more detailed press release by Marvel that revealed cast details for Ant-Man.
Set for release in the United States on July 17, 2015, the film is directed by Peyton Reed (“Bring it On,” “The Break-Up”) and stars Paul Rudd (“I Love You Man,” “Role Models”) as Scott Lang aka Ant-Man, and Michael Douglas (“Behind The Candelabra,” “Wall Street”) as his mentor Dr. Hank Pym and Evangeline Lilly (“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “Lost”) as Hope Van Dyne, daughter of Hank Pym.
The film also includes outstanding additional cast including Corey Stoll (“House of Cards,” “The Bourne Legacy”), Bobby Cannavale (“Danny Collins,” “Annie,” HBO’s “The Long Play”), Michael Peña (“End of Watch,” “American Hustle”), Abby Ryder Fortson (“Togetherness”), Judy Greer (“13 Going on 30,” “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”), David Dastmalchian (“The Dark Knight,” “Prisoners”), Wood Harris (“Remember the Titans,” “The Wire”), John Slattery (“Mad Men,” Marvel’s “Iron Man 2”) and Gregg Turkington (“The Comedy,” “On Cinema”) and multi-hyphenate T.I. (“American Gangster,” “Takers”).
There are a couple of interesting names listed here that are interesting starting with John Slattery. He played Tony Stark’s father, Howard, in Iron Man 2 in a series of Walt Disney-ish throwback films. His inclusion in Ant-Man suggests either an opening to those bygone days between Howard Stark and Michael Douglas’ Henry Pym or flashback scenes. These scenes should be interesting since Pym and Stark aren’t fans of one another in the comics.
Other interesting names include Judy Greer from Arrested Development and Archer plus rapper T.I. (real name Clifford Joseph Harris Jr.). The rapper hails from Atlanta where Ant-Man is being shot. Roles for both actors haven’t been announced, but it’s possible that Greer plays Lang’s ex-wife and T.I. is one of his friends.
The July 17, 2015 release date should raise some eyebrows though. That means Ant-Man has just eleven months to shoot and go through all the post-production work in time for release. Fortunately for Marvel, the movie has already gone through a protracted development process that saw the film lose Edgar Wright as director after multiple script revisions.
Ant-Man will be markedly different from the original comics and most other Marvel films. It revolves around a heist.
Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, con-man Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.
Will Marvel strike cinematic gold from the unlikely Ant-Man like it did with Guardians of the Galaxy? Sound off in the comments below.
[Images via Marvel]
