Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania Nearly Included Joe Montana And A Man-Sized Ant Voiced By Werner Herzog
This post contains spoilers for "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania."
One can say many things of "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," but it is, without a question, a pretty weird movie — particularly by Marvel Cinematic Universe standards. Director Peyton Reed's trip through the Quantum Realm to bring Scott Lang face-to-face with Kang the Conqueror included many, many strange moments, with the inclusion of M.O.D.O.K. only ranking as a relatively small part of it. Much of that weirdness is thanks to writer Jeff Loveness, who incorporated some of his "Rick and Morty" sensibilities in his screenplay. But it turns out, he left some of his weirdest ideas on the table.
/Film's Ethan Anderson recently sat down to chat with Loveness, and you can read the full interview right here. During the conversation, Loveness touched on some of the strange ideas he had that were just a bit too off-key to actually come to fruition. How strange? We're talking a man-sized ant voiced by Werner Herzog. Here's what Loveness had to say about it:
"In that probability storm, there was going to be like this Cronenberg-style, Stan Winston animatronic, Ninja Turtle guy in a suit that was going to be a man-sized ant that was giving Scott a vision, almost like the goat in 'The Witch' or something. I really wanted it to be voiced by Werner Herzog. I got a lot of s*** for my [Alejandro] Jodorowsky comparisons, but I wanted it to be almost like 'Holy Mountain,' like, 'Where the hell am I?' I was going to have this psychological trippy sequence with the Werner Herzog ant ushering him in, and clearly, that did not make it to the movie."
When weird is too weird
That leaves much to process. For one, the whole "guy in a suit" idea seems to indicate this might have been accomplished through practical means, rather than CGI. As for the Herzog of it all? Yes, this is the man who brought us films such as "Heart of Glass" and "Grizzly Man," but he's also the guy who showed up for a hilarious cameo in "Parks and Recreation," in addition to the guy who seemed to have a pretty good deal of fun in "The Mandalorian." So it doesn't seem totally out of line that he would consider doing something like this, even if it didn't ultimately come to pass.
But that's not all Loveness had in mind. Speaking further on the topic, the writer explained that "because Scott Lang is from San Francisco, he was going to see [former NFL quarterback] Joe Montana in there." Again, this idea never made it to film, but it does provide a window into just how big he was willing to swing. Though Loveness also added, "Clearly this is why I need to be stopped. Like, I get it." At some point, weird for the sake of weird may not serve the story enough to justify it, and a cameo from San Francisco 49ers legend Joe Montana appears to be where that line is drawn in the sand.
"Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" is in theaters now.