First look at Ant-Man

We got our official first look at Paul Rudd in the upcoming Marvel film, Ant-Man.

Rudd is set to play Scott Lang in the film. Lang is an ex-con who becomes the successor of the Ant-Man suit from Dr. Hank Pym, played by Michael Douglas.
Ant-Man is set for release on July 17, 2015.

Ant-Man vacancy saga continues. Who will direct?

There are two conflicting sides to this bit of news today.

Initially there were reports that director Rawson Thurber was offered the director's spot for Ant-Man and quickly turned it down. There was no reasoning given and it made him the second director in a week to turn it down after director Adam McKay passed on it.
However, Jeremy Smith from AICN (Ain't it Cool News) has come out saying Thurber was never even offered the job and people need to change their stories.

Either way, Ant-Man is proving to be very difficult and with the production start date coming up fast there is no doubt that Marvel is probably scrambling at this point. My guess will be we will see either a very familiar face or someone we don't even know. With that said, I won't be surprised if we see a familiar name like Gore Verbinski or Brett Ratner. I won't like it but it won't be surprising.

Personally, I think the only other director I would like to give this one a go would be Matthew Vaughn. Between X-Men: First Class and Kick-Ass I think he would be a great fit for Ant-Man, but it probably won't happen. He's currently on as a producer for Fox's Fantastic Four reboot and will be doing press for Kingsman: The Secret Service later this year. Another one I would love to see get a chance (think about it) is Spike Jonze. Other good possibilities would be Gareth Evans, Rupert Wyatt, McG, or Jeff Wadlow.

Any directors you would like to see get a chance with Ant-Man or is this movie doomed before it even gets rolling?

Michael Douglas to play Ant-Man

This is coming totally out of left field. Marvel sure played this one out well.

We have new news about Edgar Wright's Ant-Man coming in 2015. Previously, we all believed the casting of Paul Rudd to mean we had our Hank Pym. We now have confirmation that Paul Rudd will be playing the role of Scott Lang and Hank Pym will be portrayed by none other than Michael Douglas.
If you are as unaware of Ant-Man as most people are, there are multiple people who have taken on the suit. It originated with Hank Pym and later moved onto a reformed thief named Scott Lang. Lang took on the role of Ant-Man after Pym retired his identity. Given the age of Michael Douglas I am wondering exactly how much of a presence Rudd is going to have in this one. Unless they show the slight origin on Lang while at the same time following Douglas on his road to retirement remains unknown. It also remains unknown whether Rudd or Douglas will appear in future Marvel films like The Avengers: Age of Ultron or The Avengers 3. Either way this is shaping up to be an interesting project.

Michael Douglas makes another rather impressive addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In addition to Douglas we have had other acclaimed actors such as Robert Redford, James Spader, Bradley Cooper, Jeff Bridges, and Tommy Lee Jones appear (or set to appear) in Marvel films.

[Updated] Paul Rudd in talks for Ant-Man

So it appears the rumors were true. Paul Rudd is apparently in very early talks to play Ant-Man in the upcoming Marvel film. Hank Pym (aka, Ant-Man) is being brought to us by Edgar Wright on July 31, 2015.

It was originally rumored that Simon Pegg was being considered for the role, but those were shot down after word got out that Wright was leaning towards Rudd for the lead role. Rudd's direct competition was Joseph Gordon-Levitt who just signed on to direct and star in an adaptation of Sandman. It is assumed that Hank Pym will be dealing with the backlash of The Avengers: Age of Ultron seeing that the sequel opens just three months prior to Ant-Man. There are no plot details as of now and no villain set, but it has been said that the main villain from Age of Ultron will not play a part in Ant-Man.
In the comic world, Pym was a founder of The Avengers along with his girlfriend, Janet Van Dyne (aka, Wasp). In the cinematic universe it appears he will be joining the party a little late as we already have Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Captain America, and Hulk in the group. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they add in a Pym cameo seeing that Ultron is his own creation. Either that or Ultron will ultimately be saved until The Avengers 3.

[UPDATE] Marvel has confirmed that Paul Rudd will play Ant-Man. The studio says this deal has been finalized for quite sometime, it just hadn't been officially released. They also cited that Rudd has been their frontrunner since Wright's film was approved.
After letting this sink in a bit, I don't think Paul Rudd will do a bad job. Similar to the other heroes they have a decent mixture of comedy and seriousness and Paul Rudd is great at balancing both. Welcome aboard, Paul.

Frontrunners for Ant-Man revealed

Everyone who was hoping for Simon Pegg needs to sit down to prepare for some pretty unsurprising news.

The frontrunners to lead Edgar Wright's Ant-Man are apparently Paul Rudd and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Surprise? No. It seems that these two are in just about everything these days.
It is being reported that both Gordon-Levitt and Rudd are going to meet with Edgar Wright and Marvel executives once more before a decision is made. The role of Ant-Man (aka, Hank Pym) is that of a brilliant scientist who invented a substance giving him the ability to shrink in size as his own will. Wright is apparently searching for a normal looking actor with a witty sense of humor.