Michael Douglas Didn't Even Know About His Role In Marvel's What If...?
Fans knew more about Michael Douglas’s return than he did.
What If...? is one of the most unique projects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The idea of this animated Disney Plus series is to take all the familiar characters and stories from the movies and throw a "what if" spin on them.
The series worked, receiving mostly positive reviews from fans and critics alike. Many of the MCU stars returned to their roles, lending their voices to the iconic characters. Chadwick Boseman even won a posthumous Emmy Award for his voice-over performance.
But not all the actors even knew they'd be lending their voices to their characters. Michael Douglas, the actor who portrayed Hank Pym in the MCU, was pretty much in the dark about his role in the show.
Douglas, who's been a part of the MCU since Ant-Man, revealed in a 2019 interview with Collider that he wasn't even aware of his part in the What If...? project even though he was officially confirmed at that moment.
The renowned actor also confessed in an interview with Digital Spy that he wasn't really familiar with the MCU before joining it because he wasn’t a comic book fan as a kid.
Eventually, Douglas delivered his voice performance in one of the best episodes of What If...? season 1. In the episode titled What If... the World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?, Nick Fury struggles as one by one, the future Avengers are mysteriously taken out.
It's revealed that Hank Pym, driven by grief over the loss of his daughter Hope, is behind these shocking events. Douglas does a fantastic job voicing the character, and it’s actually the only Marvel feature where Hank Pym is the key character.
Douglas made his last Marvel appearance in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Even though the movie didn’t quite live up to the expectations, one thing it did right was giving more screen time to Douglas as Hank Pym. You can’t deny Marvel sure knows how to pick legendary actors for their roles.
What If...? season 2 doesn’t have a specific release date yet. However, it is expected to premiere around Christmas Day.
Sources: Collider, Digital Spy