Avengers: Age of Ultron may have cast a long shadow over the summer blockbuster season, but there’s another Marvel production vying for box office success in the form of Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man, and today Empire has debuted a trio of stills for the upcoming feature showcasing Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly and Michael Douglas in action.
Taken under Hank Pym’s wing, Rudd’s Scott Lang is coached in the fine art of what it takes to be a master thief. Such tutelage will involve Douglas’ character eventually pitting our titular hero against his former protégé, Darren Cross – played here by House of Cards‘ Corey Stoll – who wants nothing more than to utilize the physics-defying armor for military purposes. It’s an arc that bears some resemblance to the original Iron Man, and Ant-Man will even see Rudd’s bite-sized world beater go toe-to-miniscule-toe with Stoll in the Yellowjacket suit.
Of course, this battle will be much more dynamic than the lumbering encounter between Tony Stark and Obadiah Stane’s Iron Monger, and some of the trailers released thus far have hinted at the atypical encounter. As for Reed’s film as a whole, it’ll be fascinating to see how Marvel handles a standalone film that follows in the footsteps of Age of Ultron, particularly one introducing a brand new character into the fray.
Alongside the aforementioned quartet are Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña, Abby Ryder Fortson, David Dastmalchian, Wood Harris, Judy Greer, Gregg Turkington, T.I., and John Slattery. Ant-Man will scurry into theaters on July 17.
The next evolution of the Marvel Cinematic Universe brings a founding member of The Avengers to the big screen for the first time with Marvel Studios’ “Ant-Man.” Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, master thief Scott Lang must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.
