Marvel Star Asked To Die In Last Movie With Major Special Effect
According to Michael Douglas, the star all but demanded to be killed off in his latest Marvel outing, and even pitched executives on a creative death scene which he would have been happy to play out. Apparently, Douglas offered to film a scene for last year’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, in which he would shrink down to the size of an ant, and explode in dramatic fashion, fulfilling Hank Pym’s arc in the ever-expanding cinematic universe. Pym ultimately survived the events of Quantumania, though Michael Douglas has since expressed publicly that he would only return to Marvel if the studio would finally agree to kill him off.
This Isn’t The First Time Michael Douglas Wanted Hank Pym To Die
It seems that the fans aren’t the only ones facing superhero fatigue these days, as even the Marvel actors are searching for ways to depart the long-running franchise with grace. Last year, Michael Douglas made waves when he discussed his desire for his Marvel character to die in a possible fourth Ant-Man film, while attending the red carpet premiere of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Clips of Douglas’ comments subsequently went viral, especially after the film underperformed at the box office, seemingly signaling a downward trend for the MCU at large.
Superhero Movies Aren’t Doing Well
Since then, there have been no confirmed announcements of future solo Ant-Man adventures, and Michael Douglas is not currently listed to appear in any upcoming Marvel productions. Paul Rudd recently confirmed that he has not heard anything about a fourth Ant-Man film yet either, which seems to imply that the next time we’ll see Scott Lang will be in the next Avengers movie. Quantumania‘s failure was not an isolated incident, as 2023 ultimately turned out to be disastrous for comic book movies at large, with features such as The Flash, The Marvels, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom all disappointing at the global box office.
What Douglas Said
Michael Douglas elucidated on his Marvel future during a recent press appearance for his upcoming Apple TV+ series Franklin. In the interview, Douglas confirmed that he initially wanted his spectacular death scene to play out in Quantumania, rather than a rumored fourth installment, saying “[Getting killed off] actually was my request for the third one. I said I’d like to have a serious [death], with all these great special effects. There’s got to be some fantastic way where I can shrink to an ant size and explode, whatever it is. I want to use all those effects. But, that was on the last one. Now, I don’t think I’m going to show up [for a fourth].”
Michael Douglas As Hank Pym
Based on these comments, it sounds like Michael Douglas has little interest in future Marvel outings, even if the studio does wind up moving forward with another solo Ant-Man project. Most MCU actors are contractually obligated to appear in a certain number of films before departing the franchise, with that figure expanding in recent years as the crossovers between franchise characters have become more frequent. Douglas has portrayed Hank Pym in four films so far, including each of the films in the standalone Ant-Man trilogy, as well as 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
Marvel’s Future Is Unclear
With many spinning plates impacting the franchise, it seems unclear what is planned for the future of the MCU at this time. Jonathan Majors‘ guilty verdict for assault and harassment has resulted in the Kang the Conqueror actor being removed from Disney’s payroll, despite the character serving as a lynchpin for the next phase of the entire MCU. If other actors follow Michael Douglas’ lead and choose not to return for additional Marvel films, the fabric of the multi-billion dollar franchise may unravel even further.
Source: Variety
