While the saga of Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man had its many ups and downs, when the finished film came around there was at least one big delightful surprise to be found: Michael Peña. The actor was cast before writer/director Edgar Wright left the project, and his character Luis ended up being the scene-stealer of the film with a charismatic goofiness in high quantity. So it should come as welcome news, then, that Peña has been confirmed to be returning for the sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp.
THR reports that Peña has signed on to star in Columbia Pictures’ horror thriller The Bringing, which was inspired by the true story of a woman who was found dead in a water tank on the roof of the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles, with security footage of the woman’s odd behavior going viral. The film revolves around a man investigating a woman’s death in the notorious hotel, and Peña has secured that lead role. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that former Collider writer Evan Dickson worked on the script for the film, as did Brandon and Phillip Murphy, with Starry Eyes scribes Kevin Kolsch and Denis Widmyer penning the most recent draft.
It’s unclear when production on The Bringing will begin, but it is in THR’s story on this casting that the news of Peña returning for Ant-Man and the Wasp was broken. Production on that Marvel sequel is slated to begin sometime next year, with Peyton Reed returning to direct and a story that will bring Evangeline Lilly’s character into a co-starring role opposite Paul Rudd. Rudd is once again contributing to the script alongside Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, the on-set writers for Ant-Man, with Adam McKay contributing to the story. Ant-Man and the Wasp is slated for release on July 6, 2018.
Peña will next be seen in this December’s Will Smith-fronted drama Collateral Beauty and recently completed a starring turn as Ponch in CHiPs. He’ll also be lending his voice to The LEGO Ninjago Movie, which opens in theaters next year.
