Marvel announced the Anchorman 2 actor will take the lead role of the superhero and his alter-ego Henry 'Hank' Pym in Edgar Wright’s forthcoming film, which is due for release in July 2015.
Marvel's Kevin Feige said: 'When Edgar Wright came to us with the idea of Paul Rudd, we felt a huge sense of relief because the first step in creating any Marvel Studios film is finding the right star.
Confirmed: Marvel has officially announced Paul
Rudd as the star of the new Ant-Man movie, which is part of the Avengers
franchise
'We knew early on that we had found the right person in Paul. When he not only agreed to do it but became as enthusiastic as any actor we’d ever met with about doing the work, we knew we’d found the right guy.
'We couldn’t be more excited for our audiences to see what he’s going to do to bring Ant-Man to life.'
Paul, 44, had long been rumoured to be a frontrunner for the lead role in the blockbuster but faced competition from The Dark Knight Rises star Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Time to pump some iron: Paul will need to train hard if he hopes to look anything like his character
Ant-Man, who debuted in January 1962,
has the ability to shape-shift from nearly microscopic to 100 feet, and
maintains strength of normal size even when in a shrunken state.He is a founding member of the superhero Avengers team, alongside the Wasp, and Iron Man, Thor and The Hulk.
Levitt is still linked to the film and he could be cast as thief Scott Lang who steals Pym's technology to become a new Ant-Man.
The Wright stuff: The World's End director Edgar
Wright is set to helm the film, which will be part of Marvel's Phase 3
storylines, following the release of The Avengers: Age of Ultron in May
2015
As yet Paul's involvement is the only official casting but 'I Love You, Man' actress Rashida Jones could be playing Jane van Dyne, Ant-Man's love interest who becomes a superheroine herself, taking on the alter-ego of The Wasp.
The World's End director Wright is set to helm the film, which will be part of Marvel's Phase 3 storylines, following the release of The Avengers: Age of Ultron in May 2015.
It's likely Rudd will also join the third Avengers movie, starring alongside Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America and Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk.
Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige recently described Ant-Man as a heist movie and the remaining cast are expected to be announced before the end of the year.
Love interest? Rashida Jones could be playing
Jane van Dyne, Ant-Man's love interest who becomes a superheroine
herself, taking on the alter-ego of The Wasp
