Deepfakes are a dangerous thing, but there’s been a growing worry that we’re edging closer to the possibility of entire movies being created by actors who died a long time ago, with digital recreations stepping in to take pride of place right in the middle of the uncanny valley. Having spent his entire life in the business, Michael Douglas has been a savvy operator for decades, so he’s already preparing to get ahead of the curve.
Of course, the Marvel Cinematic Universe stalwart has been de-aged a couple of times before when performing as the younger version of Hank Pym, but even though the Academy Award winner has voiced his desire to be killed off in Ant-Man 4 should Quantumania somehow lead to a sequel, he might not even need to be alive for it to become a reality.
In an interview with The Guardian, Douglas admitted that he’s been thinking about his digital likeness when he ends up shuffling off this mortal coil, and he’s open to the idea on the provision that it’s his estate and family that get paid for it, and not multi-billion dollar corporations and metaverses.
“It’s funny you should mention that. You get to an age where you start thinking about your will and estate. Now I’m thinking I’m also going to have to license my name and likeness so the rights go to my family rather than to the metaverse. I see what AI is doing with pictures with text. It’s only matter of time before you’ll be able to recreate any dead person at any age with the voice and the mannerisms, so I want to have some control.”
As morbid as it sounds, then, the death of Michael Douglas won’t necessarily be the death of Michael Douglas’ career. Then again, seeing as the 78 year-old’s legendary father Kirk lived until the ripe old age of 103, it might not be something anyone will even need to consider for a long time yet.
