Marvel Movie Roundup: Ant-Man and Doctor Strange Casting

Posted 6 years ago by Movies

Marvel Roundup

This has been a pretty interesting week for Marvel movie news and rumors. The next couple years is going to be an exciting time for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it continues into Phase 2 and gets into Phase 3.

Ant-Man

First up was the news that Michael Douglas is set to play Hank Pym in Edgar Wright’s Phase 3 kickoff movie Ant-Man. I’ve been excited about this movie for years and this just makes it sound better. We already knew that Paul Rudd was playing the main character (the Scott Lang Ant-man), and that the film will be a heist movie, so setting up an older Hank Pym as the original Ant-Man and casting someone like Douglas to play him is pretty awesome, in my opinion.

It’s pretty amazing the actors Marvel is getting these days. Robert Redford, Tommy Lee Jones, and now Michael Douglas are all in superhero movies. Think of how silly that would have sounded just a few years ago.

I think Edgar Wright will completely knock Ant-Man out of the park. This movie has the potential to have some of the most creative action sequences and fight scenes ever, and they should fit Wright’s style perfectly. Think of how awesome flashback scenes of Hank Pym’s Ant-Man in the 60s or 70s would be directed by Edgar Wright? Ugh, I can’t wait for July 2015, and I turn 30 that month. That should show you how excited I am for this movie.

Doctor Strange?

It’s not clear how much weight this rumor has yet, but it makes sense. The word is that Johnny Depp has met with Marvel about playing Doctor Strange in the long-in-development Phase 3 film. I personally hope this one is true. People forget that Depp is a good actor when he’s not covered in weird makeup or milking the Pirates franchise. Marvel needs something to sell this obscure character to the growing number of average Joes who are seeing these movies (and aren’t very familiar with the comics), and a big name like Depp would do the trick.

What do you guys think? Is Johnny Depp too old to play a character that could potentially be the Robert Downey Jr. of the next couple phases of Marvel movies?
  • Dex

    My only concern about Douglas is that we may not have a young, superhot Janet van Dyne. As much as I like Depp and think he could bring a certain amount of quirk that Strange would need, I’d rather see almost anyone else in the role. I blame Burton for over-casting him.