Despite not having an overwhelming number of appearances in the MCU, Michael Douglas’s Hank Pym has consistently played an essential role in the franchise; in fact, he is the entire reason the Avengers were able to bring everyone back in Avengers: Endgame, as it was the Pym Particles that made that possible. Despite that importance, however, it turns out that, well before Endgame, Douglas was ready to call it quits as far as his time as Hank. Unfortunately for Douglas, it seems that Disney and Marvel didn’t agree.
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Per The Wrap, while speaking on Josh Horowitz’s Happy, Sad, Confused show, Douglas said, “I would have been killed off after the second one, but they wouldn’t let me…We did Ant-Man, and Paul Rudd was a wonderful actor, a lovely group, but then you can’t get out of it.” Perhaps most interesting is the fact that this means Douglas wanted out long before the most recent Ant-Man movie, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which was released in 2023 and ultimately proved to be one of the MCU’s least popular movies. Perhaps, had Marvel given Douglas what he wanted, this story wouldn’t have followed the same controversial beats and therefore would have been spared the backlash.
What Went Wrong With Quantumania
Just given the popularity of Paul Rudd and the character of Scott Lang/Ant-Man alone, it’s honestly surprising just how poorly Quantumania performed with MCU fans. Even three years later, this movie stirs up some strong feelings within the fanbase, and more often than not, they’re not positive feelings. There are a number of factors contributing to this largely negative response, though. For one, Quantumania suffered, as many MCU movies did between about 2020 and 2024, with the fallout from the Infinity Saga ending with Endgame. Many MCU fans adopted the mindset that the franchise would never be as good as it once was, leading to myriad movies and shows within that window of time being heavily criticized—some deserved and some less so. Making matters worse for Quantumania was the fact that it so heavily centered on Kang, whom Marvel ended up basically ditching as a big bad following the actor’s legal troubles.
The movie did also have several legitimate flaws, though, in addition to being released at a particularly difficult time in the MCU and having this narrative that was so wrapped up in a villain who ultimately amounted to nothing in the overall franchise. Among fans’ complaints were issues with the tone, the CGI, and even the sense of humor. Just given the extent of the criticism, it’s unclear whether Hank Pym’s role in the movie (or previous death, had Douglas gotten his way) really would have had all that much of an impact. Even so, perhaps Douglas was on to something when he preferred to see his character killed off after just two Ant-Man movies.
Do you think Hank Pym should have been killed off after the second Ant-Man movie, or do you think that wouldn’t have made Quantumania any better? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
