Actor Michael Douglas is apparently leaving behind his MCU role as Hank Pym for good, saying he’s embracing his current hiatus from acting in favor of producing.
Setting aside the non-zero chance that Douglas is hiding some kind of cameo in the upcoming all-in movie Avengers: Doomsday, this leaves Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania as his final appearance as Hank Pym.
“I don’t think so. I had the experience, and I was excited to do it. I’d never done a green screen picture before,” Douglas tells Deadline when asked if he’s got any plans to return as Pym in the MCU. “But I’m enjoying my hiatus and enjoying my life. It was overwhelming running the production company and acting at the same time.”
Douglas’ turn as Hank Pym in the MCU was one of the most charming parts of the beleaguered Ant-Man franchise, with the divisive Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania making particular use of Douglas’ talents while finally giving Pym his biggest onscreen superhero moment in the MCU.
While Quantumania has some fans, it has become a symbol of many of the issues with the later phases of the MCU thanks to its green screen environments and feeling of disconnect from the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Nonetheless, it provides one of the brightest spots for Hank Pym, who uses his ant communication technology to build an army of Quantum Realm beasts to help take down Kang in the film’s final act. It also finally offers viewers a chance to see Hank Pym interact with his partner Janet Van Dyne (played by the always radiant Michele Pfieffer) for more than just a few moments.
It’s sad to think Quantumania might be the culmination of Hank and Janet’s time together in the MCU rather than the beginning.
Hank Pym was given a much-deserved rebirth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, eschewing some of his more controversial elements from comics. But the baby was also thrown out with the bathwater, as Ant-Man and the Wasp were written out as Avengers founders as they are in comics, where Janet Van Dyne is actually the one to name the team.
Even some of Hank’s biggest mistakes were transposed onto other characters – like Tony Stark being the MCU creator of Ultron, a villain who is actually the creation and arch-enemy of Hank Pym in comics.
There’s no going back on that now, and even if the MCU undergoes some kind of a reboot in the wake of Avengers: Secret Wars, it’s unlikely that those specific stories will be retold simply in favor of making them slightly more comic accurate.
But there’s perhaps some potential to revisit the early days of the MCU, rebooted or not, maybe in the form of a flashback movie that tells of some of Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne’s days as the original Ant-Man and the Wasp during the Cold War.
And of course, Douglas may say he’s done with the MCU, but he’s not ruling out a return to acting in general at some point, saying he’d be open to it “if something good comes up that I really like.” So maybe there’s a bit of room to coax him back to the MCU after all.
For now, check out our guides to all the upcoming superhero movies and all the upcoming movies heading our way this year.
