Patrick Wilson Joins 'Ant-Man'

Patrick Wilson is joining Ant-Man, to be directed by Edgar Wright, in a role that is yet to be revealed. He was often brought up by speculators as a good choice for Hank Pym, the originator of the Ant-Man technology, but he won't have that role in the film.

Wilson adds to the existing roster of Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, and Michael Pena. Rudd is playing Scott Lang, at one point a thief and eventually the second Ant-Man, while Douglas is playing Pym.

ScreenCrush has some solid speculation on the identity of Wilson's character, thinking that he could well be playing Darren Cross, the owner of Cross Technology Enterprises.

Cross ties into the origin of Scott Lang, the primary character in the film. As the name of Cross' company suggests, he's a Tony Stark-type figure. He has a problem that is actually not dissimilar from Stark's: a rare heart defect. Technology and surgery help him stay alive, but also mutate him to a certain degree.

In pursuit of a final solution to his problem, Cross seeks out surgeon Erica Sondheim, who is also sought by Scott Lang to cure Lang's daughter. The girl's illness is what directly precipitates Lang's theft of the Ant-Man tech from Pym, and which sets Lang's first core story in action. As far as we know that's also the narrative core of the movie, so Cross could very well be included in Wright's film.

(If all this is accurate, it might also position the female lead character as Erica Sondheim, rather than a variation on Janet van Dyne or some other core Ant-Man character.)

We're getting close to Ant-Man's start of production, so more details will likely be revealed soon. Steve Price will score the film. Ant-Man is set for release on July 17, 2015. [Deadline]