Will The Winsome Wasp Fight Alongside THE AVENGERS?
Way back when it was rumored that Ant Man was going to be in The Avengers. And when I say ‘rumored’ I mean I heard it from every corner in Hollywood. This, it seemed, like a done deal. I knew the identities of everybody taking a private jet down to Comic Con for the unveiling of the team this summer, and all my sources insisted that Adrien Brody would be on that plane, and that he would be playing Ant Man.
But it wasn’t true. So what the heck was the story? It’s rare that so many sources are incorrect; is it possible that there was going to be an Ant Man in The Avengers but that Joss Whedon, in his infinite wisdom, thought that the team needed more lady parts and so changed that role over to The Wasp?
This question - this baseless, hit-whoring speculation - gains some measure of credence in the latest report from The Hollywood Reporter. Earlier this week there was a rumor that Demi Lovato was going to audition for a role in the film*, which the Reporter debunked - but they did say this:
Sources say Marvel is looking for another actress to, um, (un)beef up the lineup, although in typical Marvel secretive fashion, the role is not being revealed.
The Reporter speculates that the role could be The Wasp, and I’m inclined to agree. Janet Van Dyne is one of the iconic members of the team, and she has a great personality that nicely bumps off of Tony Stark (and would play well off of a newly thawed Captain America and a newly Earthed Thor); if there was an Ant Man role in the story at any point changing over to the Wasp - who has the same powers, more or less - would be simple. And I’ve always wondered why The Avengers needed two scientists (Hank Pym, aka Ant Man, is a genius scientist, much like Tony Stark).
Of course the question arises: why didn’t they have a Wasp ready for Comic Con? Maybe the female role is a non-super one - a Maria Hill, co-leader of SHIELD, or a civilian female.
The Avengers will rumble to life in a big way in a week or so, with shooting happening later this year. I’m hoping more info leaks out soon; I’m kind of dying to find out for sure where they’re going with this.
* hey fellow online film writers: “Up for” a part is NOT the same as “Has” the part. For some reason the original story from Radar Online, which reported that Lovato was ‘up for’ a role, morphed into ‘Lovato is cast in The Avengers.’ Be better at your jobs!
