When Ant-Man 3’s Michael Douglas desired a dramatic conclusion for his character

Marvel fans weren’t pleased with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s reviews when it opened in theaters in 2023. Peyton Reed, the film’s director, received flak for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film’s mediocre CGI and plot. The superhero movie went on to become one of the highest-grossing movies of the year, despite receiving mixed reviews.

Michael Douglas, who portrayed Hank Pym in the trilogy, recently said that he desired for Hank Pym to have a dramatic demise in the MCU amidst the buzz around the film. The Oscar winner discussed his dream while promoting Franklin, his new Apple TV series, on The View. The Oscar-winning actor intended to send the character out in the most “fantastic way possible,” using lavish special effects to provide a memorable ending.

“This is actually was my request for the third one,” the seasoned actor said. As there are new characters and everything, at least, I said that I’d want to have a major explosion where I shrink down to the size of an ant and blow myself up because there are so many amazing special effects. I want to employ whatever effect there is, but that was on the last one, whatever it is. “Now, I don’t think I’m going to show up,” he said in jest.

A question about Michael Douglas’ potential comeback for a fourth film was posed to him by The Hollywood Reporter during a 2023 red carpet interview for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The 79-year-old actor responded in a hilarious way, saying that the only reason he would think about going back would be “as long as I could die.”

In an interview with Backstory Magazine a month after the film’s premiere, MCU writer Jeff Loveness disclosed some fascinating ideas for the third installment. One of the suggestions was a rather elaborate scheme to assassinate Hank Pym’s character in a most unusual way. Loveness said that while Pym will die in the series, he wished to bring Pym back to life so that he could mentally control ants. Loveness said that, although being a fascinating concept, this notion was eventually dropped during the brainstorming session.

Following the box office disappointment of Thor: Love and Thunder and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Marvel Studios is reevaluating their strategy for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). They’re going back to the strategy that worked for them up to Avengers: Endgame. Instead of releasing the majority of their planned projects all at once, the creators have spaced them out so as not to overload fans. Only Wolverine and Deadpool are scheduled for release this year.