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Join today<\/a><\/p>\n \n Already a member? Michael Douglas<\/a> wanted to leave the Marvel<\/a> Cinematic Universe (MCU) series after two films and asked studio bosses to kill his character off \u2013 but they refused.<\/p>\n The Oscar-winning actor, 82, candidly revealed that he\u2019d had enough after starring in Ant-Man<\/a> (2015) and its sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) as physicist Hank Pym. <\/p>\n “I would have been killed off after the second one, but they wouldn’t let me,” Douglas told the Happy Sad Confused<\/a> podcast in a new interview.<\/p>\n The actor said he originally sought out a film like Ant-Man because he had \u201cnever done a green screen movie\u201d, and told his agents: \u201cI\u2019d like to do one to see what they\u2019re like.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s amazing,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt’s nothing, just a green screen, and they show you the pictures of what it’s gonna look like when it’s all finished.”<\/p>\n But Douglas, whose credits include Wall Street, Basic Instinct and Traffic, described the experience as \u201chard acting, man\u201d, stating: “It’s coming at you here, this and that, you know.”<\/p>\n While he enjoyed working with \u201cwonderful actor\u201d Paul Rudd and his \u201clovely\u201d cast mates, including Evangeline Lilly and Michelle Pfeiffer, the actor was forced to check the \u201cfine print\u201d of his contract after two films, but realised \u201cyou can\u2019t get out of it\u201d that easily.<\/p>\n Douglas went on to reprise his role in Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), as well as the animated series What If…? in 2021 and 2022.<\/p>\n The actor said earlier this year he was unlikely to return to the MCU, telling Deadline <\/a>he was planning on accepting fewer roles now he\u2019s in his 80s. \u201cI\u2019m enjoying my hiatus and enjoying my life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The actor, who also produces, said that he hasn\u2019t completely ruled out a return to acting, but it would only be \u201cif something good comes up that I really like\u201d.<\/p>\n Douglas won\u2019t be part of the ensemble<\/a> starring in Avengers: Doomsday, which is being released in December.<\/p>\n The film is set to be one of Marvel\u2019s biggest crossovers yet,<\/a> bringing together heroes from across three universes to confront Doctor Doom<\/a>, played by former Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. <\/p>\n
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Michael Douglas has appeared in four Marvel films in total (Marvel Studios)<\/p>\n![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Screenshot-2026-10-20-at-08-24-29.png\")
Michael Douglas won\u2019t be in the forthcoming \u2018Avengers: Doomsday\u2019 (Getty)<\/p>\n