Physically Fighting Jonathan Majors In Ant-Man 3 Was 'Amazing' For Paul Rudd

Soon fans will rush to movie theaters for yet another installment in Marvel Studios' sprawling franchise — "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania." The film, which stars Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lily in the title roles, promises to be a particularly impactful entry in the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe, kicking off Phase 5 and — based on the ominous trailers — possibly bringing the journey of Scott Lang to a tragic, heroic end.

Perhaps the most exciting development, however, will be the introduction of Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conquerer, the Avengers-level threat first teased in "Loki," who's set to appear throughout the Multiverse Saga. Early reactions to the film released via social media this morning hail Majors as one of the film's strongest aspects. Based on what little we know about the character so far, Kang already seems to be the most dangerous threat the MCU has ever seen.

In a trailer released at the beginning of January, fans got a taste of how devastating Majors' Kang the Conquerer can be. Like Thanos before him, Kang isn't just an intellectual and cosmic powerhouse — he's boasting some serious muscle. In a brief clip of a seemingly pyrrhic confrontation between Ant-Man and Kang, the latter shatters the former's helmet with a mere stomp. A later shot shows Kang holding the bloody, battered Avenger in a chokehold as Lang painfully grunts, "I don't have to win... we both just have to lose." Though Kang gives Ant-Man quite the beating in their battle, Rudd recently said that shooting the fight scenes with Majors was nothing short of "amazing."

In an interview conducted by The Hollywood Reporter on the red carpet of the "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" world premiere at the Fox Theatre in Los Angeles, Paul Rudd talked about what it was like to go toe-to-toe with Jonathan Majors. "It's legit," he laughed. "It feels intense."

Rudd praised Major's performance as Marvel's next big bad, stating that Kang felt like a "formidable foe" while they were shooting "Quantumania." He then reminded viewers that Majors was in the middle of training for the boxing-drama "Creed III," which sees the "Lovecraft Country" actor facing off against an equally massive Michael B. Jordan. "...[H]e was also getting ready to go do 'Creed,'" Rudd explained, "so anytime we're doing any of that fight choreography... it was real. It was amazing."

The Hollywood Reporter also asked if Rudd would be returning in a future Marvel Cinematic Universe film, to which the actor replied, "no comment" — though he admitted that if there were any solid plans for the future of Ant-Man, he wouldn't know anything about them anyway. "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" debuts in cinemas worldwide on February 17th, 2023.