Paul Rudd's Premiere Ant-Man Photo Pumps Up Marvel Fans

Shortly after the announcement of some new cast additions to Marvel's "Ant-Man" movie, tweets surfaced with a picture of a dingy fellow next to a beat-up van.

That scruffy guy is none other than Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, the master thief-turned-superhero after receiving a suit that shrinks its wearer, while giving him the strength of a small army.

Director Peyton Reed recently began principal photography for "Ant-Man" in San Francisco. The Internet has now been buzzing over bits of information concerning the highly-anticipated film.

Rudd commented on the idea of playing a thief-turned-superhero in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly.

"There are levels. There are some pretty bad thieves and there's some really good thieves, let's be honest. There's people who do it for the right reasons," said Rudd.

What Are Those Reasons?

Michael Douglas will be playing Rudd's mentor, Dr. Hank Pym. Pym is a scientist that needs someone to infiltrate his former company in order to steal back some of his inventions, after his former corporate partner Darren Cross/Yellowjacket, played by Corey Stoll, swindles him out of his proprietary rights. Stoll is known for his role in Netflix's NFLX 'House of Cards."

Related Link: Sci-Fi Smash Hit 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Sets Up Sweet Merchandising Curve At Disney

Evangeline Lilly will play Hope Van Dyne, the daughter of Pym and Janet Van Dyne, also known as Wasp; a founding member of the Avengers in the comic books.

The picture comes out shortly after a few new Ant-Man players were announced, including rapper T.I., Judy Greer, "Boardwalk Empire's" Bobby Cannavale and John Slattery. The latter's famous shock of white hair, made famous in AMC's TXW "Mad Men" is sure to add some suaveness to the film's projected humorous, yet gritty take on the superhero genre.

Continued Success?

Scripting comes from Adam McKay, with production headed by Marvel Studios, now owned by Disney DIS. The scheduled release date of July 17, 2015 is due to work off of the money-making momentum of Marvel's other slated releases, including "Avengers: Age of Ultron" for May 1, 2015, the third "Captain America" installment on May 6, 2016, and the next "Guardians of the Galaxy" film on July 28, 2017. There also a number of unnamed releases in the pipeline.

The interplay of back-to-back movie releases, combined with home video releases and merchandising should help keep the Marvel Cinematic Universe on its hot streak.

Jason Cunningham had no position with the mentioned entities while writing this article. Visit Jason on Twitter at @JasonCunningham