Michael Douglas Asked Marvel to Kill Him Off in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ and Pitched a ‘Fantastic’ Death: ‘I Can Shrink to an Ant Size and Explode’

Micheal Douglas went viral last year when he told THR on the “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” red carpet that he would only be interested in returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Hank Pym in a fourth “Ant-Man” movie “as long as I can die.” It turns out that was actually Douglas’ wish for “Quantumania.”

Appearing on “The View” (via Entertainment Weekly) to promote his new Apple TV+ historical drama series “Franklin,” Douglas revealed that he actually wanted to be killed off from the MCU in the third “Ant-Man” movie. He even asked for a huge special effects bonanza to help send Hank Pym into the great beyond.

“[Getting killed off] actually was my request for the third one,” Douglas said. “I said I’d like to have a serious [death], with all these great special effects. There’s got to be some fantastic way where I can shrink to an ant size and explode, whatever it is. I want to use all those effects. But, that was on the last one. Now, I don’t think I’m going to show up [for a fourth].”

Hank Pym survived the events of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” but it doesn’t sound like Douglas is too interested in coming back to the MCU. He played the character in all three “Ant-Man” movies, plus popped up briefly in “Avengers: Endgame.” Marvel has not yet announced its plans for the “Ant-Man” franchise’s future.

“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” was one of two big box office disasters for Marvel in 2023 along with “The Marvels.” The film was intended to kick off the fifth phase of the MCU with a bang by introducing the Thanos-like villain Kang the Conquerer (played by Jonathan Majors, who has since been dropped by Marvel after he was convicted of two misdemeanor counts of harassment and assault), but critics largely panned “Quantumania” and attendance fell off after the film’s opening weekend. The sequel ended its box office run below the $500 million mark worldwide.

After the release of “Quantumania,” Ant-Man actor Paul Rudd told Insider he had “no idea” what his future in the MCU looked like, adding: “None of this is my call, so I try not to think about it too much. So you’d have to ask the Marvel brass that one.”