Over the past year or so, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has seen significant upheaval due to the departure of Disney's leadership, underwhelming box office results, and ongoing controversy involving individual performers. As per a recent interview with Paul Rudd, there is currently no information available on the potential comeback date and storyline of Ant-Man.
Paul Rudd Is Not Being Contacted by Marvel?
A tiny excerpt from the latest interview, whereby Rudd confirmed he had not been asked about Scott Lang's future since Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania failed at the box office last year, has been making the rounds on X (previously Twitter).
While promoting Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which also features Marvel actors Patton Oswalt and Kumail Nanjiani, Paul Rudd was questioned about the future of Ant-Man. He responded by telling the interviewer and the home audience that he had no idea what Marvel's future intentions are for the adored Avenger.
A Common Name Is Ant-Man
Despite being a lesser-known comic book character at first, Rudd's portrayal of Scott Lang in more than six MCU films has made Ant-Man just as well-known as Iron Man or the Incredible Hulk.
Sadly, the lackluster box office performance of the most recent Ant-Man standalone film may bode disaster for any plans to make more movies featuring the titular superhero.
Marvel Reversing Course?
Disney CEO Bob Iger has stated unequivocally that the conglomerate intends to limit upcoming Marvel films, reducing sequels to a minimum of the most important characters.
The news that Paul Rudd hasn't been asked to rearrange his schedule in order to suit up as Ant-Man once again virtually means that there won't be any further stand-alone Ant-Man movies.
Is Kang a Component of the Issue?
Even so, Ant-Man will play a crucial role in the MCU's future, particularly if Kevin Feige and co. continue to intend to cast Kang the Conqueror as the main antagonist in the upcoming two Avengers movies.
Ant-Man's skills would be crucial in a major conflict because he is one of the few creatures in the known world to have defeated a King version. Nevertheless, Paul Rudd's IMDb is still empty of any upcoming Ant-Man roles, not even for the upcoming Avengers movies.
The Issue with Jonathan Majors
Given that several issues have hindered the previously anticipated Avengers outings, this might be the result of a wider restructure at Disney. Most notably, after being found guilty of careless assault and harassment in December of last year, Jonathan Majors, who co-starred with Paul Rudd in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, was let go from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
When Majors was originally set to play Kang The Conqueror in the fifth and sixth Avengers movies, the whole plot of those movies changed.
Paul Rudd Will Not Be Back?
Some fans were nevertheless startled to discover how unaware Paul Rudd is of Ant-Man's destiny, even with Marvel's continuous upkeep.His comments in the interview suggest that he hasn't even been approached about doing more performances, either as a soloist or an ensemble member.
The MCU might be even more shattered than originally believed if this is the cast.
