Kevin Pennington, a handsome, 24-year-old actor with only a few credits to his name (the recent “90210” TV reboot), has been tweeting about a few interesting encounters with Hollywood. First it was a “marvelous meeting earlier… could be something big.” Then it was “I signed my first film contract today, and it’s gonna be big.” Then he mentions it was a three picture deal before praising “Iron Man 2,” saying he starts shooting in two months and that he’ll be appearing at the San Diego Comic Convention. Have you put the pieces together yet?
“Captain America: The First Avenger” begins shooting at the tail-end of June as the last coming effort from Marvel Studios, with “X-Men: First Class” going in front of cameras in late summer, so that means he’s got to be a part of Cap’s entourage, right? Marvelous News did some digging and according to their source, Pennington is slated to be a member of the covert espionage organization S.H.I.E.L.D., particularly a fan favorite who MAY or may not have been a part of S.H.I.E.L.D or the Avengers in the comics. That doesn’t seem very narrow, but if it is someone in the comics’ incarnation of S.H.I.E.L.D, we’ll bet it’s either “Dum Dum” Dugan (who’s brash and mustached, which the fresh-faced Pennington might struggle with) or Wendell Vaughn, a leading S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the souped-up, (sorta) grounded Ultimate line, but more known to fans as the superhero Quasar in regular story lines (some are speculating the role could be Hawkeye who started out as a S.H.I.E.D. agent too, but see below).
This “source” could also just be bullshitting us all, however. He/she goes out of their way to claim Pennington won’t be playing either the archer Hawkeye or the bumbling genius Ant-Man, and that’s because the latter is being played by a “locked-in” Nathan Fillion (TV’s “Desperate Housewives,” “Castle”), who would be announced around Comic Con. We contacted a very high-end “Ant-Man” source (not hard to guess if you’ve been keeping track), and he flat out responded with “Not as far as I know!” While there’s no start date for “Ant-Man,” the character could very well be featured in the “Avengers” movie, and producers would likely consult with the fan-friendly director Edgar Wright before making such a decision. Fillion’s not a bad choice frankly, but when a top source says no, we’re more than inclined to believe him.
Regardless, Comic Con is coming very soon, and the “Avengers” is allegedly shooting in the spring of 2011. Surely, they’re going to be making some big announcements at Comic Con and one that would include who would play “Ant-Man,” no? (and if Marvel hopes to make good with Ed Norton, umm, guys, now’s the time for that laurel of peace). Stay tuned for further developments…