Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has proven to be one of the most divisive entries in the entire MCU, and as if the film didn’t have enough controversy surrounding it, writer Jeff Loveness recently said he planned to kill off Marvel’s beloved Hank Pym at some point.
Throughout Marvel’s history, Hank Pym was the original Ant-Man until he passed the mantle onto Scott Lang in the comics towards the late 70s in a storyline that would eventually be adapted in the superhero’s first movie. That setup has made Michael Douglas’ incarnation of the character rely on his scientific knowledge to guide Scott in the MCU, while also sorting out his relationship with his daughter Hope, which apparently was enough to consider his story arc finished.
According to Loveness, initial plans for Ant-Man 3 were “going to kill Hank at one point,” as he told Backstory Magazine (via The Direct), but most bizarrely, the idea was to have Pym become “almost like this hive mind of the ants.” Although the insects do eventually help turn the tides of war at the Quantum Realm, the Rick and Morty veteran quickly realized the thought of a dead Pym controlling the ants “like that... that didn't go too far."
It bears saying that Douglas himself has mentioned his one condition to be open to return for yet another Ant-Man movie down the line would be his character getting a proper death, which did eventually happen in the comics in 2015. That’s not the only aspect Loveness had his doubts about, as he also considered turning Ant-Man’s trip past the probability storm into a bit of a “dream sequence.”
Suffice it to say, fans have had their fair share of qualms with Ant-Man 3’s story, including the ending, which Loveness has denied was reshot in any shape or form, albeit admitting the team did ponder making Kang the Conqueror deadlier. Nevertheless, killing Scott and Hope, or even leaving them trapped in the Quantum Realm was scrapped to avoid the movie feeling too similar to Ant-Man 2 or Avengers: Infinity War.
Clearly, audiences did not have any problems speaking with their wallets when it came to the movie, as Ant-Man 3 seems destined for box office failure for Marvel, a rare occurrence, even by the MCU’s modern standards. Fortunately for Disney, Guardians of the Galaxy 3’s prospects are already looking much brighter.
Source: The Direct