After screening ANT-MAN AND THE WASP and interviewing Laurence Fishburne during the #AntManandTheWaspEvent press junket in L.A, I have to say that Laurence does a great job of humanizing his character Bill Foster, and the issues that makes him a sorta "villain".

But there's more to this villain then you think, and by the end of the film you might think Bill Foster closer to hero then villain.

Note: Marvel Studios, Freeform & Disney Junior invited me on this all expense paid trip to Los Angeles for the Ant-Man and The Wasp Event. While I will share different events and activities during the trip, any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.

Becoming Part of the Marvel Universe & Joining Ant-Man and The Wasp

Laurence Fishburne: I’ve been reading for a long time, been watching the movies, too. I ran into the director of the Fantastic Four movie, Rise of the Silver Surfer - his name’s Tim Story - and I said to him, "hey man, I’m Norrin Radd". And he said, "who?" So I had to tell him about the origins of the Silver Surfer and Galactus.

And I was like, "I should play that part in it", so he was kind enough to cast me to do the vocal performance in that movie. So that was my first foray into the Marvel universe.

And then three or four years back, I wanted very much to be a part of the MCU because of the way it was progressing. Like they were doing such great things.



Laurence Fishburne: And Louis D’Esposito and I had worked together about thirty years ago - we were both on the Disney channel. So I just asked to have a meeting with him and said, "Look, I’ll do whatever you need me to do, but I really would like to be a part of the MCU. If there’s any way that you can, see that I can do that.

And they came back and said, oh, there’s this character, Bill Foster, who I was not aware of - oddly enough - because I wasn’t an Ant Man reader. I was like Spider Man, Fire Man, Thor, Hulk, Avengers, X-Men.

So they presented this character to me, and I met with the director, and we got on really well ‘cause he’s also a guy who’s, you know, in his fifties who loves comics. It just kind of- just kinda organically happened.

Being a "Black" MCU Character and role model for the African-American community

Laurence Fishburne: Well it’s great because, Marvel was being inclusive and they were really, really doing things that were diverse as early as ’68, you know.

Black Panther appears in the comics of ’68, Goliath appears in the ‘70s. Sam, the Falcon, appears in the ‘70s. Robbie appears in the ‘70s, and women are always out front in the Marvel Universe, and have been since the beginning.

So it’s nice that they’ve been able to take the source material and bring it into the now. To be a real reflection, or at least a closer reflection, to what the real world looks like.

The family theme and role of Bill Foster as a Father of sorts

Laurence Fishburne: It was really in the writing that Bill is a surrogate father, or a foster father to Ava (Ghost). So that was nice. ‘Cause it gave me something human to play.

I mean it’s one of the best things about the Ant Man character, as Paul Rudd plays it, is that his primary relationship, his most important relationship is with his daughter. And it’s executed, I think, brilliantly in both movies.

Playing a Bad Guy?

Laurence Fishburne at Marvel Studios' Ant-Man and The Wasp Premiere: describes the "contentious" dynamic between his character, Dr. Bill Foster


Laurence Fishburne: Villainy. There’s nothing wrong with villainy. Villainy is great. And, if you go way, way back, you go back forty years. You can see I did a lot of villainy coming up.

Heroes, villains, whatever it is, as long as you can make them human then it’s fun. You know, that’s like the objective as to whether it’s a hero or a villain. You wanna humanize them and allow the audience to have the experience. Maybe I don’t like what he’s doing or maybe I don’t like what she’s doing, but there’s something in them that reminds me of me.


ANT-MAN AND THE WASP arrives in theaters everywhere on July 6th!



SYNOPSIS

From the Marvel Cinematic Universe comes ANT-MAN AND THE WASP, a new chapter featuring heroes with the astonishing ability to shrink. In the aftermath of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, Scott Lang grapples with the consequences of his choices as both a Super Hero and a father.

As he struggles to rebalance his home life with his responsibilities as Ant-Man, he’s confronted by Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym with an urgent new mission. Scott must once again put on the suit and learn to fight alongside the Wasp as the team works together to uncover secrets from the past.

Stars: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Pena, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Tip “T.I.” Harris, David Dastmalchian, Hannah John Kamen, Abby Ryder-Fortson, Randall Park, with Michelle Pfeiffer, with Laurence Fishburne and Michael Douglas.

Directed by: Peyton Reed

Marvel Studios' Ant-Man and The Wasp - Official Trailer #2


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