When Disney purchased Marvel, many wondered what impact being a part of the Disney family would have. While that question may be impossible to answer in the big picture sense, we do have a concrete example of how being a part of Disney impacted Ant-Man and the Wasp. You may be aware the Laurence Fishburne is a big comic book fan. In addition to his role in the distinguished competition’s Man of Steel as Perry White, he voiced Norrin Radd in Fox’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. But Fishburne has been a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the way Kevin Feige and his team have adapted the Marvel Comics source material. But despite his passion, Fishburne had yet to appear in an MCU film.
“I just was really hungry to be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe,” says Fishburne. “I would’ve played an asteroid in any movie given the opportunity!”
As Disney fans are aware, Fishburne portrays “pops” on ABC’s Black-ish as well as serving as an executive producer on the series. Black-ish, as it turns out, films at The Walt Disney Studios, where Marvel Studios is based. Fishburne recalled that he knew Marvel Studios Co-President Louis D’Esposito. (They both worked on 1984’s The Cotton Club).
He went to Marvel Studios and asked what did he have to do to be in one of their movies. They told him that they would get back to him. They called him a bit later and asked him about Bill Foster.
As Fishburne said, “What initially excited me about the role of Bill Foster is that he is a scientist in his own right, a contemporary of Hank Pym’s with the same level of smarts and curiosity. The fact that I’d be playing scenes with Michael Douglas and be a foil to him was a big factor. I’ve never worked with him before, so who in their right mind would walk away from that?”
Fishburne also said he enjoyed working with director Peyton Reed, who got his start with Disney Parks’ Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. “When I first met Peyton it was like meeting an old friend. We share a love for the medium of comic books and a real appreciation and understanding about why these stories are relevant to people. We connected on that level, so there’s a natural ease and flow to working with each other.”
And while we can’t really talk about the role Bill Foster has played as the film has not been released, we can guarantee that, if Mr. Fishburne has his way, he will be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a long time to come.