The inclusion of Marvel scientist and superhero Dr. Henry 'Hank' Pym, also known as Ant-Man/Giant Man/Yellow Jacket, in the forthcoming
Avengers movie appears to me a non-negotiable requirement to most fans. In Marvel comics canon, Pym was one of the founding members of the superhero team and has recently appeared alongside his teammates in two animated films.
Several days ago a
rumor began that Nathan Fillion, of
Serenity fame,
"is pretty much locked to be Henry Pym, and should be announced before any other new additions to the cast (think around Comic Con)." This information caused quite a stir on fanboy forums; since many fans have been pulling for Fillion to land a coveted, mainstream superhero role for years. The tentative contracting of Fillion's old
Firefly TV series director Joss Whedon as the man who will helm the highly anticipated
Avengers movie made the fillion/Pym rumor a bit more plausible. But have fans jumped the gun?
According to AvengersNews, they have. After speaking to their source at Marvel Studios, the movie site is reporting that the role of
"Henry Pym is not close to being cast yet.. [and] Nathan Fillion has not met with anybody at Marvel Studios regarding the film or any roles in the Marvel Universe." If this later bit of information is true, how did the original rumor come about?
It could very likely have been taken completely out of context to begin with. Fillion was attending the premiere of
Iron Man 2 last week and was asked by
MTV News if he would like to work with Whedon in the
Avengers movie. The actor joked about possibly playing the role of Pym, which provoked his fans to cause an internet buzz for days.
AvengersNews has also issued out an update to their
earlier report about actor Kevin Pennington's role as a re-imagined S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in future Marvel films. The list of characters has been narrowed down to three possible candidates:
- Agent Rick Jones
- Noh-Varr (Kree alien known as Captain Marvel/Marvel Boy)
- Agent Clint Barton (
but not in his Hawkeye persona yet)
They've also quoted their source as saying that Pennington's character
"would be working with [director Nick] Fury and would likely have a future in the upcoming S.H.I.E.L.D. film."