Yesterday, Marvel Studios dropped a huge bit of casting news, announcing that Michael Douglas has secured the role of Hank Pym alongside Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang in next year’s Phase Three feature Ant-Man. However, that wasn’t the only piece of Cinematic Universe casting, with Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. showrunner Jed Whedon also revealing that Bill Paxton has signed on for a recurring guest role in the series.
The Aliens and True Lies star is set to appear as Agent John Garrett, a character who made his debut in the comic book series Elektra: Assassin and who is described by Whedon as, “a rough-and-tumble former cohort of Agent Coulson [Clark Gregg], with a little bit of attitude and cigar-smoking swagger… When Garrett got his promotion to Level 7, he refused to sit behind a desk and doesn’t like the formalities of S.H.I.E.L.D. He’s going to help Coulson solve some mysteries and is not afraid to rig an explosive or two.”
Paxton is set to appear in at least four episodes of the series with his arc expected to begin late February / early March.