More Ant-Man movie details

So this is a new bit. I don't actually know if I talked about it when it started to come up last month but Paul Rudd is confirmed as Edgar Wright's Ant-Man in the 2015 Marvel movie Ant-Man. This still left Marvel fans wondering which Ant-Man Rudd would be playing, as there were three options for the role (but really two major options, no one was really banking on it being Eric O'Grady). Well it seems as if Marvel and Wright are ready to close the doors on those questions as they've just cast Hollywood legend Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, leaving Rudd in the Scott Lang role. The way Lang has worked in the past, for those unfamiliar, is that he becomes Ant-Man after stealing Pym's suit to use it to try to save his daughter Cassie who has a lung condition and requires expensive treatment. Eventually it gets sorted and Pym gives Lang his blessing to become Ant-Man full time, leading to Lang's affiliation with the Fantastic Four (as seen most recently in the current FF series) and to membership on the Avengers. To give away a little too much, probably, he's killed in the AVENGERS DISASSEMBLED storyline that would lead to the major HOUSE OF M business when Scarlet Witch goes a little crazy and ends up accidentally killing members of the Avengers including Lang. He's brought back in the events of 2011's YOUNG AVENGERS: CHILDREN'S CRUSADE when...okay, maybe I'm getting a little too deep into something that does not matter considering this post was originally just about casting news and its implications. Let's get to that then.

So obviously the biggest news of this whole announcement is that Michael Douglas, who will be 70 this year, seems to age Hank Pym out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now, like or dislike Pym, it's hard to argue that he's an important character in the Marvel Universe. In the comics, he's a founding Avenger, he invented Pym particles, and he created Ultron, among other things (probably too bad for him that he's pretty well-known for striking his wife on a particularly bad occasion). He's also not 70 years old in the comics. This changes a lot of what people (me) may have been predicting about the movie. It's almost weirder that they're leaving Pym in but making him 70 than it is to just make it Lang and kind of combine the two characters. I suppose this is a way to keep Pym in the MCU but to de-complicate things a bit instead of having two potential Ant-Mans running around. There are also some other rumors floating around after Edgar Wright posted posted a screencap from Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes on his website which showed a character grabbing for the Ant-Man mask. The episode the shot was taken from is entitled "To Steal an Ant-Man" and features Lang's first appearance on the show, wherein he steals the Ant-Man costume, which caused plenty of people to think a week ago that Rudd would play Lang and not Pym. However, sources like Hollywood Reporter speculated it might mean more than that, as that particular episode also invoked, for the first time in that series, Iron Fist and Luke Cage. I waved that off at first as maybe reaching a little far, even after the article went on to link the whole thing to Iron Fist and Luke Cage's upcoming Netflix series, but I'm not as convinced now. First and foremost: can Ant-Man sustain his own movie? Second: Avengers: EMH was very clearly a sort of testing ground for future MCU concepts so it's not entirely farfetched. Third: Lang, in the comics, had a relationship with Jessica Jones for a time, also slated to get her own Netflix series, which could potentially tie everything together pretty nicely. OKAY, maybe I'm getting a little farfetched now, but maybe-OH MAN, EDGAR WRIGHT DIRECTING A MOVIE WITH IRON FIST IN IT WOULD BE THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED.

Marvel partnering with Netflix for new original programming!

Oh man guys, this is a pretty big one. On the heels of the probable success of ABC's Marvel's Agents of SHIELD and the ongoing success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Thor: The Dark World premieres in America THIS VERY EVENING), Marvel has announced a partnership with Netflix to produce four brand-new serialized programs leading to a mini-series event. The four live-action series will be focused on individuals Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage, ultimately leading to the mini-series The Defenders which will presumably team the four to fight in Hell's Kitchen.

This is a bombshell of an announcement. Marvel has only recently reclaimed the rights to Daredevil after a long stint with Fox (that saw the creation of Daredevil in 2003 and Elektra, for some reason, in 2005 - check out the "How Did This Get Made" podcast this week for the HDTGM team's thoughts on Daredevil along with special guest and one-time Daredevil writer Ed Brubaker) and the company has been working out ways to celebrate that news. On top of that, rumors of a Heroes for Hire or Jessica Jones series have swirled for the last few years as both of those properties lend themselves more to a lower budget, serialized project than something like Thor or Iron Man. All in all, this is a huge announcement with extremely high hopes and what I would call an extraordinarily high ceiling. Of course, it could always go the other way but LET'S NOT THINK ABOUT THAT NOW, LET'S ALL JUST GET OUR HOPES REALLY REALLY HIGH.

Uncanny X-Force 6, Deadpool 11

Uncanny X-Force 6
Humphries (w) and Alphona and Soy (a) and Sotomayor and Curiel (c)

In the physical world, Betsy has been kidnapped by Cluster, who fears that Fantomex has been captured by Weapon XIII and wants Betsy's help. Betsy, still angry with Fantomex and the way things ended with them, refuses. The conversation is cut short when Spiral, free from Puck and Storm, teleports beside them and attacks, knocking Cluster away and teleporting away with Psylocke. When they land, the two begin fighting, with Psylocke still furious at Spiral for a great number of things. Right as Betsy seems in the prime position to kill Spiral, Spiral's apparent actual concern for Ginny and her seemingly real desire to just live a normal life wins out and Betsy spares her. Meanwhile, through all of this, Psylocke has also been having a mental chat with Wolverine which involves Wolverine being mostly angry at the way things are turning out for this X-Force team. The two traverse a calmer section of Betsy's mind, talking and arguing a good deal. When things finally get a little heated and Wolverine and Psylocke seem poised to fight one another, the giant bear that was in Bishop's mind appears behind Betsy, backing her. Apparently he has connected to her after she pulled a thorn from its paw and now resides in her mind. Wolverine settles down and Betsy ends the mental conversation. Back in the real world, Psylocke has rejoined her team, who Cluster had also returned to after she lost Psylocke rethinks and agrees to help Cluster to rescue Fantomex.

This book is on the brink, it feels like, of being a really great book. There are lots of things being set up quietly that you can see if you squint hard enough. It's still a mystery how these pieces will fall into place but the pieces themselves are pretty impressive. Each individual issue (this one included) are solid reads, engaging and entertaining enough, but it feels like whatever it is they're leading to has a chance to be truly incredible. Of course, time will tell for that and it's hard to say too much just yet but there's still a lot happening as Humphries has had a little more time to delve into characters these last couple of issues. I can also almost safely say, hopefully for real this time as opposed to EVERY OTHER TIME I'VE SAID THIS, that the Fantomexes will play a big role in the next issue. Still REALLY looking forward to seeing more on their end.

Deadpool 11
Posehn and Duggan (w) and Hawthorne (a) and Staples (c)

Deadpool is taking a more personal approach with the Agent Preston story as he's entered her house and tied up her husband and son in order to explain things and cook them food. He's also invited Agent Adsit along because apparently the writers wanted to remind me how much I hate in-jokes. The three people from Preston's life believe Deadpool's story and intend to try to help Agent Preston in any way they can. For the time being, though, Deadpool must deliver another soul for Vetis. The soul this issue is of a creepy man who, thanks to his powers, can shapeshift. We first see him pose as Luke Cage to try and have sex with Jessica Jones before Deadpool breaks in and chases him out (Jessica was, fortunately, at the point of realizing how not Luke Cage the guy was). Back on the streets, the shapeshifter takes a couple different identities, all of which Deadpool spots and tries to attack, only to be rebuffed by local civilians who believe he's attacking someone innocent. Finally Deadpool runs afoul of Daredevil. Suspecting that this Daredevil is also the shapeshifter, he attacks only to find that it is, in fact, the real Daredevil. Deadpool gets pretty thoroughly beaten by Daredevil as the shapeshifter escapes. Deadpool breaks out of the restraints Daredevil has put him in and shoots a civilian in his thigh, hitting the femoral artery and forcing Daredevil to take the man to the hospital. Deadpool trails the shapeshifter and kills him, delivering the soul to Vetis. The next person on Vetis' list is Deadpool's friend Michael, who Deadpool explains he's already killed and sent the soul to hell, meaning that Vetis can't have his powers. Vetis is enraged and, with the powers he has now, attacks Deadpool as the issue ends.

I'm still not a huge fan of this series. I do think this arc has been a significant step forward from the last one, featuring the dead presidents, which felt rather like the same joke over and over again and was certainly more laden with in-jokes and puns and references and what not. This arc has taken a step away from that formula (though not a giant step) and the writing is improved by it. Still I often find myself halfway through an issue wondering how the issue isn't over yet. The scene with Daredevil in this issue was certainly the most compelling scene, even if it didn't particularly add anything (that's too soon to tell; if Daredevil or other heroes come back in a bigger way because of Deadpool's actions today, it'll make this scene more important). The way that he interacts with Daredevil and other heroes is always an interesting look into Deadpool as a character and his solution to get Daredevil off his back is a nice character choice. Still the book feels mostly weak overall. Any step in the right direction, though, is a good one.