There's no turning back now; Marvel's Ant-Man is moving ahead rapidly with Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas donning the Avenger's costume. With production set to begin soon the rest of the cast is beginning to take shape, and it looks like Michael Pena may be a part of it.
The Wrap says Pena, who can currently be seen as a phony sheik in American Hustle, has been offered a role in the film. Nothing on who he might play, and there isn't any character in the Marvel comics that immediately springs to mind, but Pena is a diverse actor who can do pretty much anything he's called on for. The number of excellent character actors Disney/Marvel have added in the last few months alone has been incredible.
There's still the matter of finding the female lead, and Variety says Bryce Dallas Howard and Rashida Jones are the top contenders for it. Jones has been rumored for the role of Wasp before, but this is the first we've heard of Howard. She may be a bit tough to schedule around since she's also got Jurassic World, and fans already love Rudd and Jones from I Love You, Man.
But there's nothing that says the female lead actually is for the Wasp, and our friends at Bleeding Cool say it's really for the daughter of the second male lead. Presumably that would be the daughter of Hank Pym, played by Michael Douglas, but he doesn't have any children in the comics. Rudd's character, Scott Lang, has a superhero daughter named Cassie Lang, but neither Jones or Howard would be the right age for that. So there's something going on here that we aren't privy to yet. Pym may be the central figure in this story and not Lang.
Perhaps when Marvel hits us with a confirmation we'll find out the whole story. Edgar Wright's Ant-Man opens July 31st 2015.
