Getting some good news out of Marvel land today. Beloved actor Bill Murray has confirmed he’ll indeed be in the next Ant-Man movie Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
The actor’s name was spotted on a cast listing of the show, leading people to believe it might be possible he’d make an appearance.
German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung interviewed Murray and they had the following exchange (translated from German):
Newspaper: “Is it especially important for you to work with people you know well and like?”
BM: “You know, recently I made a Marvel movie. I probably won’t tell you, but never mind. In any case, some people were quite surprised why I decided on such a project. But for me the thing was quite clear: I got to know the director – and really liked him very much. He was funny, humble, everything you want from a director. And with the cheerleader story “Bring It On – Girls United” he made a movie years ago, which I think is damn good. So I agreed, although I’m not interested in these huge comic book adaptations as an actor otherwise.”
Newspaper: “And did you regret the decision?”
BM: “Let’s put it this way: the director is a good guy, and now I’ve at least tried out what it’s like to shoot a Marvel movie. But I don’t think I need that experience a second time. And to come back to your previous question: I have mostly had a pretty good knack for avoiding the nasties of this industry. Fortunately, most good artists are also good people. At least that’s how I experience it with my friends.”
The director he’s talking about is Peyton Reed, who also directed the other movie Murray is talking about — Bring It On (called Girls United in Germany).
It will be interesting to what role he’ll play in the new movie, but it looks like he’ll have a stunt double, so maybe that means it will be a meatier one.
Murray is famously hard to nail down in Hollywood and doesn’t have an agent or a manager. He created a 1-800 number so people could call him and pitch him things that way because he was tired of agents hounding him.
“I had a house phone, and it would just ring and ring,” Murray said. “Finally, I’d pick up the phone and I’d say, ‘Who in the fuck is calling me and letting my phone ring like that?’ The agent would say, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I’m calling for so-and-so.’ I’d say, ‘Look, you can’t do this. This is my house. If I don’t answer the phone, don’t do that because you’re making me not like you.’”
Tired of the calls, he thought up the number solution.
“I just unplugged the phone and then I got this 800 number, which is very handy,” he said.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is set to release July 28, 2023.