Scott Lang's chances of a comeback in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania are slim. Ask any Marvel fan and they'll likely tell you that they're worried for the astonishing shrinking hero's safety as he prepares to face Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror, the most dangerous villain the Avengers have ever faced. But, thanks to James Gunn, this might be Paul Rudd's last hurrah in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Gunn has stated that he intends to find work for his old Guardians of the Galaxy gang somewhere in the rebooted DC Universe, and that this could easily extend to other Marvel actors. If Scott is shot down in Quantumania, the filmmaker has the perfect opportunity to recast Rudd as DC's own answer to Ant-Man. It would be a hilariously meta move, and we all know how much that is up his street.
The Atom, DC's answer to Ant-Man, has always been willing to sacrifice his life for the lesser-known of the comic book world's size-shifting superheroes. Although he actually appeared in October 1961, several months before Hank Pym's premiere in January 1962, Ray Palmer has unfortunately always had to endure Ant-Man's coattails as the lesser-known of the comic book world's size-shifting superheroes.
Rudd would most likely not want to be a part of another superhero film as a similar themed character, but he might be able to play Palmer in an Atom film about Ryan Choi, the second human to take on the mantle, which would be a major win and step forward for the studio, and getting Rudd on board to reprise his Ant-Man role on February 17.