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While the superhero genre is the biggest it’s ever been at the moment, there’s room for pretty much every great actor to find something to do within one of these massive comic book universes if they so desire. But in the case of Laurence Fishburne, being part of just one superhero universe wasn’t enough. The Oscar-nominated performer was cast as Perry White in Man of Steel, subsequently reprising the role in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice as an established part of the DC Extended Universe. But Fishburne is now crossing the streams, as this summer he joined the cast of Marvel Studios’ upcoming sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp.

As it turns out, working with Marvel was actually Fisburne’s first choice, and he’s not just working with them on Ant-Man and the Wasp but also on another super secret project that he hopes will “change the world.”

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Image via Warner Bros.

Collider’s own Steve Weintraub recently spoke with Fishburne at the press day for Richard Linklater’s upcoming drama Last Flag Flying, and during the course of their conversation Fishburne explained his affection for Marvel dates back to his childhood:

“I have figured out how to get myself into the Marvel Universe… I can only tell you that I, as a comic reader from childhood, I was a Marvel guy primarily because I grew up in New York City in the 60s and 70s when Marvel was really touching on everything that was happening in my world. It was reflected in the books and in the stories they were telling.”

Fishburne revealed that while he wasn’t able to be part of Justice League due to scheduling issues, he actually went to Marvel and pitched them on joining the MCU, which led to his Ant-Man and the Wasp casting:

“I got the offer to do Perry White in Man of Steel, I said yes to that. Obviously Batman v Superman I said yes to that. I was unable to be involved in the Justice League movie, scheduling-wise it just wasn’t going to work out, but I had wanted very much to be part of the Marvel universe at the same time. So I went to them and pitched them a couple of ideas and basically said, ‘Look, if there’s anything I can do that makes sense for me to do in the Marvel universe, I would love to be involved. So they came to me with an offer to be Bill Foster in Ant-Man and the Wasp.”

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Image via Marvel Studios

While Fishburne wasn’t allowed to say much about his role in the Ant-Man sequel, he sounds enthused about the project:

“All I can tell you is I’m playing Bill Foster, who was Hank Pym’s assistant. That’s how I enter into the world and I’m very excited. Peyton Reed is directing it, who directed the first one. It’s gonna be as fun and cool and smart as the first one.”

The actor said at this point he still has two shooting days left on Ant-Man and the Wasp, but also revealed that he’s working on another secret project for Marvel:

“I’ve got black-ish going on, I’m developing something else for Marvel that I can’t talk about. It’s gonna be really cool. It’s gonna change the world, we hope (laughs). I went to Marvel and pitched them something that really couldn’t work out—there was a lot of legal red tape that just [was] something they couldn’t work out. But then they came back with the offer for Ant-Man and the Wasp and then they said, ‘Hey, what do you think of this?’ and I went ‘Oh yeah that, yes!’ so…”

Curious. Very curious. It’s unclear if the project Fishburne is talking about is a new film, a TV series, a short, a new comic run, or something else entirely, but the actor certainly seems incredibly excited about it so here’s hoping we learn more soon.

Look for our full interview with Fishburne up on Collider shortly.

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Image via NBC