How many villains will Ant-Man face in the Marvel movie named after the tiny hero? It’s a question we’re wrestling with after a suspicious Instagram by co-star Evangeline Lilly… an Instagram post that she since has taken down.
Lilly, who plays Hope Van Dyne in the upcoming Marvel origin story, shared an image on her Instagram of her with co-stars T.I. and David Dastmalchian (The Dark Knight), but tagged it with what we believe is a major hint. She wrote (according to ComicBook.com, who grabbed the imagery):
*#!$ing around #onset today with #TheCrims.@troubleman31 @dastmalchian #Antman #Marvel #MarvelComics"
OK, so what does she mean by #TheCrims? We automatically assume she means "The Criminals," suggesting that T.I. and Dastmalchian are playing bad guys in Peyton Reed’s superhero adventure. Dastmalchian, in particular, has an evil complexion that was put to good use in Christopher Nolan’s Batman movie. And at the moment, neither one of them have confirmed who they are playing in Ant-Man. Did Lilly tip the director’s hand with this image?
Probably, because the post is not on Evangeline Lilly’s Instagram page anymore, meaning Marvel might have asked her to take it down. Too late, though. We all saw it, and now we want to know what it means.
From what we knew prior to this morning, the main villain in Ant-Man was going to be played by Corey Stoll, who was confirmed to play Yellow Jacket. That’s a more traditional Marvel villain, an equally powerful super villain who can match wits (and tiny strength) with Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang. But calling the co-stars #TheCrims suggests a few possibilities. We know that Rudd’s character is a thief at the start of the movie, and that he will try to break into the lab of Michael Douglas’ Hank Pym, eventually stealing his Ant-Man technology. Could these be his criminal cohorts? And will they have larger roles?
There have been supporting characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that started small but eventually grew (no Ant-Man pun, intended). I’m thinking of Agent Coulson. Then again, there have been villains, like Tim Blake Nelson’s Samuel Sterns, who almost became integral, but fizzled out. Where will T.I. and David Dastmalchian fall? We’ll find out when Ant-Man opens in theaters on July 17, 2015.
