Michael Douglas has revealed that Marvel refused his request to be k***** off as Hank Pym. The actor first walked into the Ant-Man universe curious about a new kind of filmmaking. Years and several films later, he was ready to leave, and he had a plan for how it should happen. Most actors chase longer contracts, but Douglas was chasing an exit. Superhero fans may find that a little surprising.

While most actors treat a Marvel contract like a golden ticket, Douglas treated it like a revolving door, and his exact words leave little room for doubt.

Michael Douglas wanted Marvel to k*** off Hank Pym after two Ant-Man movies, but the studio refused. He debuted as the character in 2015 and returned in three subsequent appearances, most recently in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023).

“I would have been k***** off after the second one, but they wouldn’t let me," Douglas said when asked whether reports about his Marvel Cinematic Universe exit request were true.

On The View in 2024, he said it “actually was my request for the third one,” plus an ant-size explosion.

On Happy Sad Confused, Douglas explained why he joined Marvel in the first place. He had never made a green screen movie and told his agents he wanted to try one. He called it hard acting, since performers react to a green wall while crews show pictures of the finished look. Douglas praised Paul Rudd as a wonderful actor and the cast as a lovely group, but leaving proved impossible.

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While Marvel kept Douglas locked into a franchise he could not escape, another label has followed him for decades and irritates him in a very different way.

By the usual definition, Michael Douglas qualifies as a nepo baby, since his parents were actors Kirk Douglas and Diana Dill. Even so, he told the hosts of SmartLess that the term really bothers him. He argues that parents in every profession try to help their children enter the family business. Hollywood, he said, gets singled out only because the names involved are so well known to the general public.

Host Jason Bateman agreed that nepotism exists far beyond entertainment. The elder Douglas earned an honorary Oscar in 1996, while the younger Douglas shared a Best Picture Oscar for producing One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and won Best Actor for Wall Street. His memoir, One Helluva Ride, explores how closely career and family history are linked. Hollywood may have opened one door, but Marvel refused to open the exit.

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What are your thoughts on Michael Douglas wanting out of Marvel? Let us know in the comments.