Casting Couch: Nathan Fillion As Ant-Man In The Avengers?

We here at FlickSided love to play computer chair casting director. We’ve pegged Chiwetel Ejiofor to play a young Morpheus in a Matrix prequel, picked Michael C. Hall to suit up as the Riddler and even cast the Wizard of Oz reboot. Our latest idea isn’t completely our own, but we’re definitely going to co-sign on the potential casting choice. Joss Whedon recently was signed to direct the upcoming The Avengers movie. It’s been pointed out that a Whedon alum, Firefly‘s Nathan Fillion, would make a great Henry Pym, aka Ant-Man. This is something that needs to happen, and I’ll tell you why.

Fillion has been almost criminally ignored by Hollywood producers. He’s handsome, charming, dashing, funny and fantastic at portraying characters who outwit their opponents, the latter being an absolute must for Pym. If Lucas and Spielberg ever decided to truly relaunch Indiana Jones, he’d be their man. I guess that’s another article for another day, but it illustrates what Fillion is capable of as an actor.

Back to why Fillion would be the perfect Ant-Man. What other actor has chemistry with Whedon and the chops to hang with the likes of Edward Norton and Robert Downey Jr.? Additionally, that actor also needs to have the comedic timing to star in a full-length Ant-Man movie written and directed by Shaun of the Dead helmer Edgar Wright. He’s also played an action hero before, so that’s not an issue at all. Oh, and Ant-Man will almost certainly be in The Avengers. He is one of the founding members and Wright has already met with Whedon — twice. Stan Lee has also confirmed Ant-Man in the summer superhero orgy.

Fillion as Ant-Man seems destined to happen, and I’m sure he’s on Wedon’s short list. Producer Kevin Feige has more than enough star power (Downey, Norton, Scarlet Johansson, etc…) to bring in the casual fans. He had to know this was coming after hiring the director of Firefly, right? Especially with Fillion’s Castle getting picked up for another season. As for Wright, I’m sure he just wants Ant-Man to come off like a bad ass in The Avengers, and it definitely seems like the plan is now to roll out Ant-Man after The Avengers so people will actually know who the hell he is.

Ant-Man’s casting probably going to be a committee decision with Whedon having a ton of influence, so the fans making some noise about Fillion (there’s a Nathan Fillion-Ant-Man Facebook Group now thanks to a buddy of mine) surely won’t hurt his chances. Here’s hoping that the little-known actor will slip into the “smallest” superhero role in The Avengers movie.