Now that Paul Rudd is promoting his new Netflix series Living With Yourself, he is all over the place in the best way. Since he plays Ant-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he's always asked about that. During his recent time on Conan, he was asked about Ant-Man's smarmy-looking action figure.
How would you describe this?
I think the smirk makes Scott Lang look like an '80s villain, but both Paul Rudd and Conan O'Brien used stronger language in their own descriptions:
Conan: What an asshole!Paul Rudd: Ant-Man's a dick!Conan: Look at that guy. Or a stroke victim. They should use this in hospitals. 'If you see this, get that person to a hospital right away!'
Paul Rudd told Conan he had no say on the design of the Ant-Man action figure, but he couldn't believe somebody signed off on it.
No, when I saw it I just started laughing so hard. ... It really makes me laugh that somebody put some time into this and sculpted this.
Paul Rudd ultimately threw the action figure into the audience, which was quite a commentary.
The best part of Conan's video was his own Joker-like cackling laugh at the action figure.
Interestingly enough, we do have some insight on how Paul Rudd's action figure came to be.
Last year, around the time Ant-Man and the Wasp came out, the senior product design manager for Hasbro talked to CinemaBlend about creating the Ant-Man action figure:
Some actors are easier to capture in action figure form than others. Paul Rudd happens to have easily recognizable features, so it allowed us to capture the attitude of his character with his trademark smirk in the sculpting stage.
He also shared more about the Photo Real technology used in the process:
The process starts with a 3D sculpt of the head and face. Once we have an approved sculpt, we overlay digital photo reference provided to us by Marvel to capture the intricacies of each actor's likeness.
So, yeah, a lot of work went into that Ant-Man action figure. I still think he looks like the typical smirking villain of every '80s movie, but also a lot like the smart-ass that we know and love as Scott Lang. Paul Rudd does have a lovable smirk, but his charm is too inimitable to be accurately captured in a tiny action figure.
Paul Rudd wasn't the only one confused by his action figure -- Captain Marvel star Brie Larson joked about hers coming with a second head. The Russo Brothers picked up a cool Sam Wilson-as-Captain America action figure for Anthony Mackie. I think Stan Lee's turned out pretty well too.
Ant-Man's story isn't over after Avengers: Endgame, and it's possible that Paul Rudd's response to his own action figure could inspire The Power That Be to make him a new one. Maybe they'll reward him with something "Thanus"-related, since he sounded bummed about that missed opportunity. Also, may I suggest his box set include a mini version of Endgame's true hero?
