Just in case you are behind in your Marvel Movie news, Shaun of the Dead filmmaker Edgar Wright is finally making traction on his long-gestating Ant-Man movie. Although nothing seems really confirmed except that Michael Douglas is playing Hank Pym and Paul Rudd is playing Ant-Man (presumably Scott Lang), it sounds like he will be adapting the story that finds second Ant-Man, Scott Lang, stealing Hank Pym’s supersuit. The most recent news points to Evangeline Lilly being pretty close to getting the female lead. I tried this once with Thor: The Dark World, and I was dead wrong. But screw it, I’m going to try to narrow down who Lilly is up for anyway.
The Wasp
Obviously, my first thought when it comes to female lead in an Ant-Man movie, its original Avengers member, The Wasp, aka Janet Van Dyne. She teams up with Hank Pym to avenge her father’s death, getting her own Pym particle suit and a marriage to Pym (we all know now is destined to fail) out of the deal. Even though Michael Douglas is no stranger to a young wife (his current wife Catherine Zeta Jones is 25 years younger than him), Paul Rudd is probably the one getting a love interest. They could very easily just rewrite Janet to be Scott’s peer instead of Hank’s. Or she could be in flashbacks which leads me to the next choice
Jocasta
Jocasta is a robot version of Janet created by a lonely Hank Pym. It’s kind of creepy, but let’s go with it for now. Jocasta looks more like Janet mixed with the robot from Metropolis, they could always have Lilly play both (Janet in the 60s, and the ageless Jocasta in the present) making her more of a Terminator-esque cyborg than a metallic gynoid (no, that’s not a dirty word).
Dr. Erica Sondheim
In the original heist of the Ant-Man suit, Scott needed it to save a medical specialist named Dr. Erica Sondheim from kidnappers. He needed Dr. Sondheim to help cure his daughter, Cassie, who was sick. From a lot of the rumors, it sounds like they are cutting out the middle woman and having Cassie just be the kidnap victim. That doesn’t mean Sondheim isn’t involved though.
Peggy Rae
Peggy Rae is the ex-wife of Scott Lang and mother to Cassie. If Cassie is really the one kidnapped, Peggy might have a pretty big role as grieving mother, and with Scott Lang share some love-lost bitterness, residual sexual tension, and the hope that maybe they can make it work once the adventure is over.
Rita DeMara
Rita DeMara is a fellow thief who once stole one of Hank Pym’s Yellowjacket outfits. Let’s just take a minute and ponder the lax security of a Pym laboratory. Anyway, Wright has described this movie more than once as a heist film, and many heist films usually come with a team. Not just some loner trying to take it all on. If Scott Lang is actually assembling a team of thieves and other criminals, he might have Rita in on the whole thing.
Trish Starr
We still don’t technically know who the villain is. Obviously, the Ant-Men will be played against each other for a little while, but in all likeliness, they’ll team up in the end to take down their shared enemy. If Ant-Man had a Joker or a Lex Luthor, it’s Egghead. And Trish Starr is Egghead’s neice, a damsel perpetually in distress often by her uncle’s own doing. Hank Pym was her usual savior in the comics, but if you haven’t noticed yet, they are playing with the ages in an interesting way. So, Scott Lang might be taking over as her hero.
Madame X
Madame X was originally known as Comrade X, a male master of disguise that was eventually revealed to be a woman all along. She was one of Hank Pym’s earliest rivals tasked by the Soviet Union to steal Pym particles. She started out flirting with Pym and pretending to be the ex-girlfriend of her own alias.
Tigra
Tigra was a masked vigilante until a magical ceremony with a race of Cat People turned her half tiger/half human. She’s a B- or C-list Avenger, and she has had on-again, off-again relationship with Hank Pym. She represents a bigger issue with the Marvel movies. The Avengers roster will reach critical mass, and all those lists that blogs make of characters they hope to see will never make it in. Thankfully, many of The Avengers still have solo flicks for which B- and C-listers can appear in. Think Black Widow in Iron Man 2. They shouldn’t waste these opportunities.
Darla Deering
Darla Deering is a trendy socialite and recording artist compared to the likes of Katy Perry and Lindsay Lohan (but way less self-destructive). She started dating Johnny Storm before he took off with the Fantastic Four. At the last minute, Johnny asked her to be his substitute on their replacement team, the Future Foundation. This new team is led by Scott Lang, and the two of them would eventually fall for each other. She’s so new I doubt Marvel has considered her, but she very quickly became a fan favorite.
Maria Trovaya
Maria was Hank Pym’s first wife from back before he was a vigilante, before he even discovered Pym particles. She was a political prisoner from Hungary, and when she returned as Mrs. Pym, she thought her American citizenship would save her from prosecution. It didn’t, and she was tragically executed. She has sadly become just a blip on Pym’s biography even though her death is what drove him to obsession over his work. In all likeliness they’ll forget about her despite being so important.
