Thomas Roach on why Hank Pym should make an appearance in Avengers: Age of Ultron…
Currently there are two Marvel films in production. One is the highly anticipated sequel Avengers: Age of Ultron and the other is Ant-Man. Without a doubt the end credits scene (or one of them) for Age of Ultron will feature something leading into Ant-Man. This would be logical as Ant-Man is a smaller property and Avengers: Age of Ultron will be massive. Offering a preview or tease for Ant-Man in the Avengers sequel would mean that a lot more people will end up seeing it at the cinema. All Marvel films are connected, yet some are clearly stronger box office draws than others ,and by advertising this rather obscure property on the back of the Avengers it would certainly ensure more ticket sales.
As many people will know, in the comic books it was actually Hank Pym (a.k.a. the original Ant-Man) who created Ultron, so including Hank in Avengers: Age of Ultron would be a decent way to honour the source material. It may be that the film has some reference to him being involved in Ultron’s design – as Hank Pym is being played by Michael Douglas who is 69 years old, the character could have designed an early version of Ultron at Stark Industries, with Tony Stark simply refining the designs later.
Ant-Man is set to start shooting in August and Avengers: Age of Ultron still has a few more weeks of filming before it goes into post production. Therefore there would be time in introduce Hank Pym in Age of Ultron. According Ant-Man director Peyton Reed, the script is not yet finished despite being so close to shooting, so surely something could be worked out to incorporate Pym into the Avengers sequel.
As you may be aware Ant-Man has gone through a hellish pre-production. Originally Edgar Wright was set to direct the film and was attached to the project since 2006. It was only a few months ago that he walked out over his vision being compromised. Since then we’ve suffered through rumoured replacements, the screenplay has gone through rewrites, and most recently three of the cast members left the project.
It is fair to say that Ant-Man has been a disaster so far and could potentially be Marvel’s first flop. It is bizarre that Edgar Wright was attached for so long without making any real progress. Kevin Feige has praised new director Peyton Reed, but Reed has only come on recently to replace Wright and could have a lot of trouble making this film if things continue the way they have been going.
Overall it would be wise to incorporate Hank Pym into Avengers: Age of Ultron somehow. This may just be an end credits scene, but they should probably go a bit futher in order to let some of Age of Ultron’s success rub off on Ant-Man.
Do you think Hank Pym should cameo in Avengers: Age of Ultron, or does it not matter either way?
Thomas Roach
Originally published August 1, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
