When it hit the web that Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Paul Rudd
were Marvel’s choices for Ant-Man, my
thoughts were as follows:
‘Thank god it’s not Simon Pegg.’
‘They are very very different ideas for actors.’
‘Well Joseph Gordon-Levitt won’t be doing that.’
‘Therefore it will be Paul Rudd, and that is a great choice,
Marvel well done sir.’
Honestly I am glad it is now been revealed that Paul Rudd
will indeed be Ant-Man because I think the guy is a great actor, both comedic (of
course) and surprisingly dramatic. For anyone who has seen Our Idiot Brother or some of his more emotional scenes in Friends you’ll know what I'm talking
about. The guy has done well for himself and I think moving into a mainstream
blockbuster role is the natural progression for him.
Paul Rudd being a comedic actor he should be able to portray
Ant-Man in a very self-aware way. The character of Ant-Man is somewhat ridiculous
and will of course be difficult to translate to the big screen. They needed an
actor who can play the character very likeable and slightly tongue-in-cheek
because otherwise, why would someone bother with Ant-Man when there are
characters like Thor and Iron Man around? Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man I’m sure will be
vastly different from anything we’ve seen before in this universe. I love the
idea of this comedic actor, who is entirely capable in terms delivering fair
dramatic performances playing a character as ludicrous as Ant-Man.
On a side note, Edgar Wright is a fine choice for directing
duties and is of course excellent at working with comedians. I can see Paul
Rudd and Edgar Wright working well together and I think Ant-Man will set a good platform and tone for Marvel’s Phase 3 coming 2015.
