Why Michael Rapaport Is Perfect For Hank Pym!

After seeing Michael Rapaport play a hilarious jailbird idiot/nutcase in My Name is Earl to a deadly serious manipulative Homeland Security agent in Prison Break, I realised that this guy was one versatile, talented actor-a fact many seem to agree with...Time Magazine voted Rapaport was voted 1# On Most Underated Actors of ALL time. Seeing him in these two roles suddenly made me think that Rapaport would be perfect to play a fairly complex character like Hank Pym.

Since Pym's first appearence in Tales to Astonish #27 (Jan, 1962) the charatcer has had FIVE superhero aliases - Ant Man, Giant Man, Goliath, Yellowjacket and most recently The Wasp.

One of the most interesting aspects of Pym's personality is the fact he suffer from a serious inferiority complex and feelings of inadequacy when comparing his powers to those of Thor or Iron Man. As well as this he is also a schizophenic and has suffered from numerous personality crises leading to the above mentioned constant change of identities. Of course, another of Pym's biggest storylines is the striking of his wife, Janet (also known as The Wasp)

I believe that Rapaport diverse acting styles would be ideal in portraying this personality. Although he has been in many films and tv shows, just the two shows I have seen him in are actually pretty near representations of how Pym could be portrayed. I dont think that Rapaport would have a problem playing an intelligent scientist or a man with issues such as the ones described above. Casting an actor who is also a cood comedian may also be a perfect chance to add some humour to The Avengers (similar to Ryan Reynolds brief scenes as Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine adding some light relief in an otherwise serious film). Finally and perhaps quite importantly, Rapaport also looks the part and I personally dont find it hard to imaging him in any of Pym's various costumes (Yellowjacket being my first choice).

If Marvel cast Rapaport as Hank Pym, I think that a what could otherwise be an unimportant charatcer when compared to Iron Man, Thor or Captain America could instead be made an integral part of The Avengers especially when it comes to the creation of Ultron (a saga I would love to see) or perhaps with an actor of this calibre, The Avengers could be used as a perfect springboard for the long rumoured Antman film (which in my opinion would benefit from the inclusion of The Wasp and again the above mentioned characters and storylines which could tie in to any possible future Avengers films)

So...Rapaport has my vote, does he have yours?