Peyton Reed Considering Actor Cut Twice From Ant-Man Movies For Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania director Peyton Reed has announced a new ‘casting pick’ for the Ant-Man threequel: actor Tom Scharpling. You may not know Scharpling by name, but he’s actually a longtime Marvel Cinematic Universe veteran: Scharpling has appeared in both Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp, only to have his scenes in both films deleted. Reed made the announcement of Scharpling’s “casting” in Ant-Man 3 in a tweet celebrating the actor’s birthday: “I am very proud to announce that I am considering Tom Scharpling for a possible role in my new motion picture ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA. Happy Birthday, ⁦@scharpling⁩. Fingers crossed!”

Obviously from the tone of the tweet Peyton Reed is just joking about Tom Scharpling being in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – or is he? Seems like it would be a cruel birthday present to offer a role to an actor who has clearly been trying to get in a Marvel movie for some time. It would be especially cruel since Reed has cut Scharpling from two of his Ant-Man films already.

We prefer to take the ‘glass half full’ view that Peyton Reed is actually going to give Tom Scharpling another shot at showing up in an Ant-Man movie. It would be a hilarious in-joke for die-hard fans who know the behind-the-scenes anecdotes about Tom Scharpling’s threepeat attempt to get in the MCU.

It would be an especially meta-moment if Scharpling showed up as a character who has been trying to reach Ant-Man and crew for some time, with some kind of crucial news or MacGuffin. That’s the kind of thing that would get a big round of applause from those in the theater (yup theater) who are in the know.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is shaping up to be another big “event” film in the MCU’s Phase 4 lineup. The film will help build toward a Young Avengers movie in the MCU, by introducing Marvel villain Kang the Conqueror, as well as a new hero in Scott Lang’s daughter, Cassie Lang. The film will see the return of Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer from Ant-Man and The Wasp. Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country) joins the cast as Kang the Conqueror, while Kathryn Newton (Freaky) joins the fold as Rudd’s daughter Cassie Lang.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania does not yet have a release date.