Paul Rudd says his latest Marvel film ‘may be the end of Ant-Man’

Published

1 year ago

February 17, 2023

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Paul Rudd says he has no idea if this Marvel film will be his last.

The third in the Ant-Man series, following 2015’s Ant-Man and 2018’s Ant-Man And The Wasp, it’s the first of the films he hasn’t also co-written.

“Maybe it is the end of Ant-Man,” Rudd told Sky News.

“I don’t really know. As far as what’s next, the only thing I can say for sure is that the Kang the Conqueror is going to be a very big part of whatever it is.”

The film’s director, Payton Reed, has previously referred to the film as the end of the Ant-Man trilogy.

But with 31 films in the ever-growing Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and counting, it’s not necessarily reason to believe Scott Lang’s time is at an end.

Being part of the Marvel films isn’t something Rudd has taken lightly: “They feel huge working on them because, you know, they are. And I think that [Marvel] have a way of making films that are different from other studios… Everyone who works at Marvel trusts in the machine a little bit. They’re good at making the things that they make.”

A big part of that, he says, is down to the people who work on the business-side of the enterprise, including the president of Marvel Studios.

Rudd’s unlikely comic book past

“Kevin Feige and some of the producers, they know what it is that they want to see because they’re comic book fans, they are Marvel fans. They’ve grown up reading the comics. They are fanboys and fangirls. And so, they really, I think, care about the product.”

But despite Rudd’s loyalty to the franchise, he wasn’t always so attentive.

Supplied by an English uncle (Rudd’s parents both hailed from London), the actor admits: “I read the Beano and Dandy more than I read any Marvel Comics, that’s for sure.”

Veteran stars return

Michael Douglas, who plays Dr Hank Pym – the character who invented Pym Particles, allowing Ant-Man to reduce and increase in size – is also a long-time member of the cast.

He says being back in the Marvel family is “like wearing an old coat”.

“It’s like the old film days, when actors did movies together all the time. It’s just comfortable.”

Much of his screen time is spent with fellow screen legend Michelle Pfeiffer, 64, who pays his wife Janet.

And far from being put off by all the technology involved in modern-day superhero films, the 78-year-old star says it was the tech that first lured him into the franchise.

“I’d never done a green screen before, which is one of the reasons why I wanted to do it, to see how it all works.”

But he admits that along with the highlights of Marvel come responsibilities: “Once you’re onboard, there is such secrecy about the whole process… You don’t see a script until maybe a couple of weeks before the picture starts, and then you don’t have much input.”

He also says it’s different to other films thanks to its source material – the “very strict Bible” of the Marvel comics.

‘You’re actually in the Quantum Realm’

Filmed at Pinewood Studios in the UK, the production had a whopping eight stages and 48 sets. And thanks to an excess of action and VFX, it’s a job that tends to demand more technical than emotional acting from its stars.

Kathryn Newton, who plays Ant-Man’s daughter, Cassie Lang, told Sky News: “It’s very much like you’re standing on your mark. OK, now you have to cry. And that is. That is hard.”

Evangelina Lilly, the Canadian actress behind Hope Van Dyne and describes one of the more technical stages – dubbed “The Volume” – as “overwhelming”.

She explained: “Instead of a green screen stage, The Volume is a stage that has thousands of small LED screens that cover the walls and the ceiling, and they project on to it. Everything you’re actually seeing in the Quantum Realm.

“So, the quantum landscape is all around you. And when they change the camera’s angle, it changes the landscape so that you see something different. It’s immersive. You’re actually in it. You’re in the Quantum Realm.”

Unlike the first two Ant-Man movies, which were set in San Francisco, this film is based almost entirely in the Quantum Realm – an alternative universe hidden within the multiverse, where time follows its own rules.

A place so-far unique to the Ant-Man films, director Payton Reed says it’s a location he was keen to explore: “It’s not outer space from Guardians Of The Galaxy or Asgard from the Thor movies. It’s a subatomic world.”

Partly inspired by electron microscope photography, he admits he genned up on Quantum Theory For Dummies ahead of his first Ant-Man film, exploring things like quantum entanglement in the last film, and Schrodinger’s cat in this one.

Plus, he describes the “balancing act” of being at the helm of one of the franchise’s many productions: “It has to sort of somehow fit into this larger architecture of this grand MCU story that’s being told but not be smothered by that.

“The way it tends to work is we make decisions and come up with ideas for our movie and all the movies and things that come after us have to deal with the ramifications. And of course, we inherit things too.”

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Indeed, this film kicks off Phase Five of the MCU, with two more films are scheduled this year alone – the third instalment of Guardians Of The Galaxy in May and The Marvels in July.

And as Rudd confirms, there’s one character who is guaranteed a return – time-travelling terrorist Kang. The villain, who has killed the Avengers so many times across different timelines he literally can’t keep track, is played by Lovecraft Country star Jonathan Majors.

In a universe with endless possibilities, alternate realities and super-charged powers, Kang’s oppressive presence is one sure-fire certainty in Marvel movies over the next few years.

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is in cinemas now.

Entertainment

Tom Brady vows to be ‘better parent’ after Netflix roast tore into divorce

Published

14 hours ago

May 16, 2024

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Tom Brady vows to be 'better parent' after Netflix roast tore into divorce

Tom Brady has promised to be “a better parent” after a Netflix comedy special poked fun at his divorce.

The seven-time Super Bowl champion appeared on The Roast Of Tom Brady, where comedians like Kevin Hart tore into his split from Gisele Bundchen in 2022 after 13 years.

While the 46-year-old said he “loved when the jokes were about me,” Brady told The Pivot Podcast that he “didn’t like the way it affected my kids”.

“It’s the hardest part about, like the bittersweet aspect of when you do something that you think is one way and then all of a sudden you realise ‘I wouldn’t do that again’ because of the way that it affected, actually, the people I care about the most in the world,” he said.

“It makes you, in some ways, a better parent going through it ’cause again sometimes you are naive. You don’t know, or you get a little like, ‘oh shit’.”

Brady has two children – Benjamin, 14, and Vivian, 11 – with Bundchen. He also is a father to a third child, 16-year-old John, with actress Bridget Moynahan, who he dated until 2006.

‘Single life is what you deserve’

Hart, who hosted the Netflix special, kicked off proceedings by referencing their split, saying: “Single life is what you deserve because you had no choice.

“Gisele gave you an ultimatum. Gisele said ‘you retire or we’re done’. That’s what she said to you, Tom. ‘You retire, or we’re done’.

“Let me tell you something. When you got a chance to go eight, nine, and all it will cost is your wife and your kids, you gotta do what the f*** you gotta do.”

Nikki Glaser also fired jabs at Brady’s divorce, saying: “Five-time Super Bowl MVP, most career wins, most career touchdowns.

“You have seven rings. Well, eight, now that Gisele gave hers back.”

‘Roast taught me a good lesson’

Brady also told the podcast that as a parent, “you just don’t see the full picture all the time,” and added the roast taught him “a good lesson”.

“I’m going to be a better parent as I go forward because of it,” he added. “And at the same time, I’m happy everyone who was there had a lot of fun.”

Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, David Beckham shared he texted Brady to check on him after the roast aired, saying: “I know Tom well and I must admit, I did fire him a message just to check if he was okay.

“He’s more than okay, but yeah, it was hard to watch.”

Brady, who is widely regarded as the greatest quarterback ever, played 20 regular seasons with the New England Patriots and three regular seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, during which he won the Super Bowl seven times and was a three-time runner up.

Entertainment

Stars say Kevin Spacey should return to acting after ‘seven years of exile’

Published

1 day ago

May 16, 2024

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Stars say Kevin Spacey should return to acting after 'seven years of exile'

Hollywood stars have begun campaigning for Kevin Spacey to resume his acting career “after seven years of exile”.

Sharon Stone, Liam Neeson and Stephen Fry are among the names speaking up for the Oscar-winner following the release of a Channel 4 documentary levelling fresh allegations against 64-year-old Spacey, which he denies.

The Oscar-winning actor was one of Hollywood’s biggest names when allegations of sexual misconduct were made in 2017, leading Netflix to cut all ties with him at the height of his House of Cards fame.

Despite being acquitted of numerous sexual offences after a trial in London, and winning a US civil lawsuit in which he was accused of making an unwanted sexual advance, Spacey said he still feels ostracised from the industry.

Basic Instinct star Stone told the Telegraph: “I can’t wait to see Kevin back at work. He is a genius. He is so elegant and fun, generous to a fault, and knows more about our craft than most of us ever will.”

The 66-year-old said it was clear aspiring actors had “wanted and want to be around him”.

She added: “It’s terrible that they are blaming him for not being able to come to terms with themselves for using him and negotiating with themselves because they didn’t get their secret agendas.”

Taken and Star Wars actor Neeson, 71, told the paper: “Kevin is a good man and a man of character. Personally speaking, our industry needs him and misses him greatly.”

British actor and writer Fry said Spacey had been both “clumsy and inappropriate” on many occasions, but to “devote a whole documentary to accusations that simply do not add up to crimes… how can that be considered proportionate and justified?”

The 66-year-old said Spacey’s reputation had been “wrecked”, adding: “Surely it is wrong to continue to batter a reputation on the strength of assertion and rhetoric rather than evidence and proof?

“Unless I’m missing something, I think he has paid the price.”

A spokesperson for Channel 4 said: “Spacey Unmasked is an important film exploring the balance of power and inappropriate behaviour in a work environment, aiming to give a voice to those who have previously been unable to speak out.”

Spacey won two Academy Awards as best supporting actor for The Usual Suspects in 1996 and best actor in 2000 for American Beauty, which also scored him a BAFTA for leading actor.

Last year, Spacey was found not guilty by a jury of nine sexual offences alleged by four men between 2001 and 2013 after a trial in London.

He also won a US civil lawsuit in October 2022, after being accused of an unwanted sexual advance at a party in 1986.

Spacey says he has struggled to get work despite his acquittals, branding his experience a “life sentence”.

Entertainment

Rust weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez appeals against conviction over fatal shooting on Alec Baldwin film set

Published

2 days ago

May 15, 2024

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Rust weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez appeals against conviction over fatal shooting on Alec Baldwin film set

The weapons supervisor for the Western film Rust is appealing against her conviction for involuntary manslaughter over the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on set, according to court documents.

Hannah Gutierrez was jailed in April after being found guilty by jurors following a trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the US.

She was in charge of weapons during the production of the film in October 2021, when a Colt 45 revolver fired by actor and co-producer Alec Baldwin went off during a rehearsal.

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died, while director Joel Souza was injured.

A defence lawyer for Gutierrez, who is serving an 18-month sentence at a prison for women in New Mexico, filed a shortly worded appeal notice on Monday.

Her legal team has 30 days to submit detailed arguments. They previously requested a new trial following the verdict.

Gutierrez’s trial was told she unwittingly brought live ammunition to the set, where it was expressly prohibited, and failed to follow basic gun safety protocols.

During her sentencing hearing, she told the court she had tried to do her best while working on the production, despite not having “proper time, resources and staffing”.

Alec Baldwin case latest

Baldwin, who was a producer for the film as well as its star, has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter.

He maintains he pulled back the gun’s hammer – but not the trigger – before it fired, and is set to face trial in July. He denies any wrongdoing.

The 66-year-old was originally charged in January 2023, more than a year after the shooting, but those charges were dropped a few months later. He was charged again in January this year.

His legal team has filed a motion calling for the charges to be dropped. Prosecutors responded with a 32-page document claiming that footage of the star on set shows he had “absolutely no control of his own emotions” and “no concern for how his conduct” affected those around him.

Assistant director David Halls, who also faced charges, entered a plea bargain for negligent use of a deadly weapon last year, receiving a six-month suspended sentence.

Filming of Rust resumed last year in Montana – with Baldwin reprising his role as the main character – after an agreement made Ms Hutchins’s widower an executive producer.