“The Good Place” and “Love Life” star William Jackson Harper has joined the cast of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” TheWrap has confirmed.
Marvel is keeping Harper’s role extremely top secret at the moment, which of course means that the majority of fans will assume he’s playing “Fantastic Four” leader Reed Richards. The film does, after all, feature Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror, one of the oldest and bitterest enemies of the Fantastic Four.
And who are we to stop them? Harper has repeatedly proven he can credibly do high octane technospeak, sound like an intellectual and do “I don’t mean to be a jerk, but I keep accidentally doing it.” He also looks great with a beard and he’s the kind of skinny-ripped that could sell being extremely stretchy. And being so secretive about a relatively minor or anticlimactic role doesn’t make a lot of sense QED, he’s playing Reed Richards.
(Of course, we have absolutely no idea if it’s true. But it sure feels true and for now, we’ll take it.)
Naturally, we won’t know until we get much closer to the film’s Feb. 5, 2023 release date. Presumably, if he is playing Reed Richards, Marvel will make it official with some kind of big announcement.
“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” stars Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lily as Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne. They’re joined of course by Majors, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer and Kathryn Newton, making her debut as the older version of Scott Lang’s daughter Cassie.
Speaking of Cassie, this is actually the second time the role has been recast. Cassie was played by Abby Ryder as an 8 year old in “Ant-Man” (2015) and at age 10 in “Ant-Man and the Wasp” (2018). “Avengers: Endgame” featured the time skip to 2023, of course, so Cassie was recast with 17-year old Emma Fuhrmann playing a 15 year old Cassie.
We’re sure Newton is good, but Ryder really was a delight in the role – it’s unfortunate they couldn’t find a way to bring her back. But hey, we’re getting William Jackson Harper and, maybe(?) Reed Richards. The movie gods giveth and taketh away.
Variety first reported the news.