Paul Rudd Reveals Why The Ant-Man Crew Were The Coolest Bunch At The Avengers: Endgame Funeral Shoot

Part of the magic of "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame" is getting together the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in one place. The preceding films were full of lead and supporting casts of top-list actors. Marvel had to pony up the money and deal with the logistical fun of getting most of those folks together for a movie shoot.

When you get that many folks together, cliques are going to form. The human mind cannot connect to that many people at once, and to be honest, why would you want to? It's also logical that groups would form across the casts of similar films. The "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" or "Black Panther" folks already know each other, for example. It's easier to strike up idle conversation.

Given this scenario, who do you think would be the coolest clique to be a part of?

Easy answers come to mind. The "Iron Man" crew has Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, and Gwyneth Paltrow. The "Guardians of the Galaxy" cast is likewise stacked. The original "Avengers" team has Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, and Chris Hemsworth! (And Jeremy Renner, I guess?)

According to Paul Rudd, however, the real ringers are the cast of the "Ant-Man" films. Not only do you have the ageless Paul Rudd, the "Ant-Man" films have secret weapons in veteran actors Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer. The pair feature in the films as Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, the original Ant-Man and the Wasp. When "Avengers: Endgame" had to bring everyone together for the funeral scene, that's when the power of Michelle Pfeiffer in particular made itself manifest. Rudd told The Hollywood Reporter:

"It was the first time a lot of people were meeting each other, and it's a pretty impressive collection. I know I was going around, like, 'Oh wow, there's the "Guardians" crew,' and 'Oh my God, there's the "Black Panther" crew. And when our crew showed up, and we had Michelle Pfeiffer, it felt like, among all those Avengers, we had the coolest group. And I remember walking around at the little mixer afterward, and having, like, [Mark] Ruffalo and [Chris] Hemsworth go, like, 'Holy shit, it's Michelle Pfeiffer.' And there was a lot of that. Everyone's just looking over at her and everyone's a little bit nervous."

Is it any surprise that the cast that put together the best promo commercial in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is also the coolest crew? I think not. Ant-Man might be the smallest hero in the universe, but he was also a lynchpin in bringing everything back in normal in "Endgame." And as the original Ant-Man and the Wasp, Douglas and Pfeiffer are some of the earliest superheroes in the bunch.

The whole crew is coming back for the upcoming "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania." Pfeiffer is reprising her role as Janet Van Dyne, alongside Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, and Michael Douglas. Kathryn Newton is stepping in as the recast Cassie Lang, while Jonathan Majors is joining as Kang the Conqueror. "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" is scheduled to hit theaters on July 28, 2023.