Disney Imagineer and Creative Director for Disney Cruise Line's Worlds of Marvel restaurant Danny Handke revealed that Avengers: Endgame and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star Paul Rudd's "Thanus Theory" joke from the eatery's "Avengers: Quantum Encounter" video was improvised by the actor.
In the Disney Wish cruise ship presentation, Rudd's Scott Lang/Ant-Man laments that he "didn't shrink down, go in and uh... kill Thanos in a really creative way." Thus, Handke, while speaking to The Direct, discussed how the video's meme reference surfaced. "Before we shoot, we usually bring in a Marvel writer to help punch the script and it was [ex-Loki head writer and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer] Michael Waldron; he added more jokes and things," he began. "And, Scott Lang, the whole thing about him was he's nervous about giving a presentation. He's never -- post-Endgame -- been a public speaker before, so this is one of his first public speaking engagements we get to witness. And so Michael put the Thanos joke in there as kind of an icebreaker for him that's super awkward, and Hope is like, 'Oh my gosh. What are you talking about?'"
Handke added that the crew was unsure that they could get away with the joke. While there was uncertainty that Rudd would be willing to do it, the actor went on to "[do] it in his own Paul way." Handke concluded, "[Rudd] took the script and improvised it and created this really funny version of it and that's what made it into the show."
Rudd himself previously discussed the Thanos-invasive theory back in 2019, commenting, "A lot of people have asked me recently if I shrink down and go… into Thanos, in a certain orifice, and then grow giant size. But why not the ear or the nose? Why does it have to be [his backside]?" Endgame writer Stephen Markus also touched upon the theory and pointed out why it wouldn't work, stating that Thanos was shown being able to "take a punch from the Hulk," and if Ant-Man grew while inside the Mad Titan's rectum, he would end up "simply crushed against [its] immovable walls."
On the Quantumania end of things, while plot details about the upcoming Marvel Studios film are currently under wraps, Hope van Dyne/the Wasp actor Evangeline Lilly claimed earlier this year that Quantumania is the Ant-Man franchise's best installment. Additionally, Rudd heaped praise onto Kang the Conqueror actor Jonathan Majors' work on the movie, while Bill Murray confirmed he will play a villain in it, though he gave no hint as to his character's identity.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is currently set to open in theaters on Feb. 17, 2023.
Source: The Direct