Following on the blockbuster casting of Robert Redford as a villain in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Marvel have cast another screen icon–this time as Hank Pym, inventor of the Ant-Man suit, in Edgar Wright’s forthcoming adaptation of Ant-Man, Marvel announced today.The two-time Academy Award-winning actor will join director Edgar Wright and Paul Rudd in the film, which hits theaters July 31, 2015.Last night, Douglas earned a Golden Globe for his role as legendary entertainer Liberace in the HBO original film Behind the Candelabra.The studio also confirmed that the film’s star, Paul Rudd, will be playing Scott Lang in the movie–something the director had hinted at recently on Twitter.”With Hank Pym’s rich history in the Marvel Universe, we knew we needed an actor capable of bringing the weight and stature to the role that the character deserves,” said Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. “We felt incredibly relieved when Michael Douglas agreed to step into the part with the charm and fortitude he brings to every character he inhabits, and couldn’t be more excited to see what he will do to bring Hank Pym to life.”In the comics, Hank Pym was the first Ant-Man and a founding member of The Avengers. He also was responsible for the invention of Ultron, an android life form who will serve as the villain in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron film. Rumors had swirled that Rudd would star as Lang or even Eric O’Grady, the smarmy Ant-Man created by The Walking Dead‘s Robert Kirkman, ever since it was revealed that Ultron would not be introduced in the Ant-Man movie.Production on Ant-Man is expected to begin soon, but these are the only two roles cast; if they go the route of giving Ant-Man and Pym a S.H.I.E.L.D. background, as seems likely, they can absorb some supporting characters from previous Marvel movies or even Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but presumably at least Janet Van Dyne will still need to be cast.
