Rudd's casting in Ant-Man pretty much set the tone for Marvel's new movie - it may boast explosive action and comic book reverence, but it is most definitely a comedy. That was always going to be the score somewhat (Edgar Wright was famously involved for a long time), yet it's hard to imagine anyone grounding it as well as Rudd; he works equally well as the shmuck alongside Michael Douglas' Hank Pym and the almost straight guy to Michael Peña's Luis. But while Rudd does get to use his effortless joviality in Peyton Reed's film, that's not what makes his turn as Scott Lang so impressive. An ex-con who restarts his life of crime, Scott isn't your basic superhero character (even by Marvel's grounded standards) and Rudd knows when to rein in the silliness to deliver actual emotion, something we've never seen from the actor on this scale before. Ant-Man is set to return in Captain America: Civil War, and could conceivably be a part of The Avengers much longer after that. Given how great Rudd is as the character, it's hard to complain.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
