“LET’S. GET. small.” director Peyton Reed tweeted today. And so Marvel’s “Ant-Man” has finally kicked off production. Despite the bumps in the road —director Edgar Wright leaving the project after creative differences with Marvel— the “Ant-Man”-gate of May 2014 seems to have been all but forgotten once Comic-Con rolled around and fans were wowed with teaser footage.
Today, Marvel delivered a final production announcement, and it included cast additions comprising Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, John Slattery, rapper T.I. and comedian Gregg Turkington aka Neil Hamburger. Cannavale, perhaps recently known for excellent work on the third season of “Boardwalk Empire” is probably replacing for Patrick Wilson who reportedly bowed out of the film when Wright’s exit delayed production (the movie was supposed to begin shooting in July).
It’s unclear who Greer or T.I. will play, but the inclusion of Slattery does tip Marvel’s hand to recent rumors (*spoilers* here if you don’t want to go any further). Reports have suggested MCU characters like Howard Stark, Peggy Carter, Arnim Zola and a young Alexander Pierce (the older version played by Robert Redford in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier") would be featured, and that appears to be the case.
You’ll recall that John Slattery is already part of the MCU as Howard Stark, Tony Stark’s inventor father (modeled on Walt Disney), so we’d wager this confirms chatter that Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) crosses paths with the aforementioned assortment.
Also included in the cast are David Dastmalchian (“The Dark Knight,” “Prisoners”) and Wood Harris (“Remember the Titans,” “The Wire”) among the leads including Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly and Douglas. “Anchorman” filmmaker Adam McKay did a pass on the script while Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari are reportedly on set in Atlanta doing production rewrites. “Ant-Man” gets small next summer on July 17, 2015.
Wasn't Howard Stark played by someone else in Captain America? Slattery only played him in Iron Man 2. Why switch back now?
Nothing against John Slattery, he's great, but the inclusion of Howard Stark has to be one of the reasons why Edgar left, wanting a stand-alone feature. I really wish Marvel waited until after Guardians of the Galaxy came out, cause with that, they saw that an specific director can deliver an outstanding stand-alone film and I'm sure that they're regretting letting Edgar go after that.
This cast is intriguing enough.