'I don't want to be an idiot': Michael Douglas needed help understanding Marvel Cinematic Universe
Michael Douglas with Catherine Zeta-Jones at the Quantumania UK premiere on Feb 16, 2023.
PHOTO: Screengrab/Instagram/michaelkirkdouglas
PUBLISHED ONFebruary 21, 2023 5:12 AM
Michael Douglas still "asks quietly" about stuff he has no idea about in the Marvel universe.
The Hollywood actor didn't grow up reading comic books and had no idea about the MCU until he became Hank Pym in 2015's Ant-Man, and while promoting the latest instalment, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Douglas confessed that despite being sent comics to "get some idea" about the fantasy world, he still has to get some guidance so he doesn't feel like an "idiot".
The 78-year-old star had also never done green screen before making his Marvel debut but finds it much easier now.
He said: “What's unique here is you don't see the material until you're almost arriving for your rehearsals and this is the Marvel System or the Marvel Way. So you're a little at loose ends.
"Everything's a little easier after the first one because I'd never done a green screen movie before and now you have a little idea of what's going to happen.
“The other nice part about doing a second or third is you know your co-stars, so you have a much more comfortable [time]. It's not like having to introduce yourself for the first time to people.”
The Avengers: Endgame and What If…? actor added in an interview with Digital Spy: "On the first one I knew nothing. I was not a comic book addict when I was a kid.
“I didn't know the Marvel world, so they sent me a whole slew of the comics to get some idea.
“I didn't have any idea about [the universe] and even now I still have to ask quietly because I don't want to be an idiot. Now it's getting very complicated because Kang, our ultimate villain in Ant-Man: Quantumania, is going to be in a lot of the different Marvel films."