Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star Michael Douglas is considering selling his likeness -- but does not want to lose it to AI.
In an interview with The Guardian, the Oscar-winning actor and producer was asked if he would follow the latest Hollywood trend of actors selling their digital images to keep appearing in movies after death. Though Douglas is weighing the possibility for himself, he wants his likeness to be in good hands. "It’s funny you should mention that. You get to an age where you start thinking about your will and estate. Now I’m thinking I’m also going to have to license my name and likeness so the rights go to my family rather than to the metaverse," Douglas said. "I see what AI is doing with pictures with text. It’s only a matter of time before you’ll be able to recreate any dead person at any age with the voice and the mannerisms, so I want to have some control."
Ant-Man's De-Aged Hank Pym
Douglas had allowed Marvel Studios to de-age his appearance as Hank Pym in scenes set in the '80s in 2015's Ant-Man and 2018's Ant-Man and the Wasp. Impressed with the CGI technology used to recreate his more youthful looks, Douglas wants to play Pym in an Ant-Man prequel. "Now that I see that you can have the ability to make yourself 40 years younger rather than simply having a flashback in the movie," Douglas said. "If you can make yourself small and you can make yourself big, I should certainly hope that you can make yourself younger. I wanna give Paul [Rudd] a run for his money! I think it's time for us to go at it mano-a-mano."
Having previously battled stage IV throat cancer in 2010, it's no surprise that Douglas at age 78 would consider remaining on the big screen after he's gone. Other actors at advanced life stages have taken similar steps. Actor James Earl Jones recently signed over the voice rights to his character Darth Vader to Lucasfilm/Disney for future Star Wars projects, effectively retiring from the iconic role.
Douglas can currently be seen as Pym in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania where his family, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and his daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) accidentally get trapped in the Quantum Realm and confront Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). Yet, Douglas remains open for a fourth Ant-Man installment under one morbid condition. "As long as I can die," he said.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is now playing in theaters.
Source: The Guardian