Bill Murray's Ant-Man 3 Role Could Have Been Filled By Matt Berry
"Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," the first movie in Phase 5 of the MCU, opens a lot of new terrain in the Marvel multiverse. It introduces us to Marvel's menacing new arch-villain Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), showcases the vastness of the Quantum Realm and its colorful inhabitants, and brings M.O.D.O.K. to the big screen for the first time. If that wasn't enough, "Ant-Man 3" also brought Method zombie actor, shark antagonist, and Scarlet Johansson-whisperer Bill Murray into the MCU as the rebel-turned-Kang-flunky Krylar.
It was fun to see a subatomic Murray schmooze and slither his way around the Quantum Realm, but the role of Krylar could have gone to a very different modern comedy titan: Matt Berry. An interview with "Ant-Man 3" scribe Jeff Loveness reveals that he had the "What We Do In The Shadows" star in mind when initially crafting the role before Murray came on board.
Krylar Daytona, human in all the ways that matter
In the interview, Loveness reveals that different names were initially floated around as actors who could play Krylar. "There was a couple of names tossed about," he explains before enforcing the Marvel code of silence, "I don't know if I can even say." Early on, he does volunteer that Berry was a great initial fit for the writer. "I think in my in the back of my head, I had Matt Berry in mind," Loveness notes, "I just love that guy so much."
Once Murray came on, they bent Krylar's scenes to fit Murray's style:
"But obviously once Bill Murray came around, you kind of molded the voice to him. It's almost like a Bob Hope cameo in an old movie: Just give him four minutes of runway, let him do his thing, boost the elevation a little bit, and let him get out."
Ultimately, Loveness thinks Murray "pulled it off pretty great," and his slithery charm lent itself well to Krylar. With Loveness set to write "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty," perhaps the best news is that he'll have an even better chance to give a memorable role to Berry in the future, no doubt a character that is both dastardly and nefarious. Matt Berry as Doctor Doom, perhaps?