Given Marvel Studios' go-to strategy of inking their actors to long-term deals, we were surprised to learn Ant-Man star Michael Douglas hadn't signed on for any more MCU movies back in July. Since then, the movie has gone on to become a huge success, spawning a sequel in Ant-Man & The Wasp - which will see his co-stars Paul Rudd & Evangeline Lily and director Peyton Reed all return.
Marvel have developed an unfortunate reputation over the way they've dealt with some of their talent before. Luckily, that doesn't seem to be the case here! Speaking to Collider, the veteran actor gave an update on the situation, revealing negotiations have indeed begun, and that he's very much looking forward to reprising the role of 'Hank Pym' - under one condition though:
"I just got a call recently – they want to negotiate for a sequel and I thought “That’s great!” Hopefully, I won’t have to carry quite as much expositional dialogue as the first one but I had a wonderful time doing it. Just a great, great time. The cast was fantastic. Paul, Evangeline, Michael Pena – I’m sure he’ll be back. If they can scrape Corey Stoll off the wall, I’m sure they’ll want him too – he’s such a good villain. And Peyton too. It was a lovely experience, so you know, I welcome it. I chuckle about being involved with a movie that already has a release date in 2018... It’s hard to conceive of that, but it’s all good, all the way around, it’s all good."
That seems pretty fair. While Douglas' Pym was the highlight of the movie for some, I found his character was held back by his expository role in the story. Given Douglas' pedigree as an actor, it'd be nice to see Pym given a meatier role next time around. In any case, he sounds very excited about returning. Do you agree with what he says? Sound off below!
Ant-Man & The Wasp hits theatres July 6th, 2018.