ANT-MAN Cast Shrinks As Three Actors Exit Before Filming Starts

You’d think that after hiring a new director and writer that the problems for Ant-Man would end, right? Well, you’d be wrong. Despite principal photography set to begin next month, the film now has to deal with three of its actors exiting. Deadline is reporting that Patrick Wilson, Matt Gerard and Kevin Weisman have dropped out of the movie.

(From left to right) Gerard, Weisman, Wilson

Although there’s been speculation that they left due to creative differences, similar to what happened to Edgar Wright, apparently this isn’t the case. Gerard and Weisman’s characters were “omitted in the newly evolved version of the script,” while Wilson had scheduling conflicts with the film’s delayed production, forcing him to drop out. Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas are still on board, along with  Evangeline Lily, Michael Peña, Corey Stoll and David Dastmalchian.

I don’t remember if they ever revealed who Gerard (who played White Power Dave in All Hail the King) and Weisman would play in Ant-Man, but if their characters were able to be completely eliminated, it sounds like they weren’t very important to begin with, so it’s no huge loss. Losing Wilson, on the other hand, is a slightly bigger deal. There was a rumor last month that Wilson would play a villain called Crossfire, who would wear a yellow and black military-type version of the Ant-Man suit. Since Wilson’s role will likely be recast rather than written out, we may still see “Crossfire,” but having mostly seen Wilson as the good guy, I was looking forward to him channeling his inner baddie.

At least the movie’s main stars are still on board, but honestly, I’m not sure how much more turmoil Ant-Man can endure. These are quite a few setbacks it’s dealt with, and filming hasn’t even begun!

SOURCE: Deadline