I have never really been unsure about an upcoming Marvel movie. I’ve been sold since the first Iron Man and I can’t wait for the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron. With all of its movies up to this point, it seemed like Marvel never made any missteps in hiring directors and casting actors.
Last year my confidence waivered somewhat when director Edgar Wright left Ant-Man. He had worked on the project for almost a decade but left unceremoniously. At the time it seemed like Marvel may have made its first misstep, losing a talented director with a unique vision. I’ve been anxious to see the first trailer for Ant-Man; I want it to live up to my expectations for Marvel and its Cinematic Universe.
After watching the trailer, which you can see below, I’m not nearly as anxious as I was.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xInh3VhAWs8&w=560&h=315]
That is an amazing trailer. I love the voiceover by Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, encouraging Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang to become a hero. The speech attaches Lang’s journey to his daughter, making it much more personal than a full-scale alien invasion. This trailer definitely made me much more excited for Ant-Man and should nicely fill the gap between Age of Ultron and The Force Awakens.
Here are some other thoughts I had while watching the trailer.
- Why is Hank Pym so interested in Scott Lang? If I were one of the world’s most brilliant scientists, I don’t know why I would care much about some criminal.
- I really like this speech by Hank Pym. In the comics Pym goes back and forth between a nice guy and a big jerk. It looks like we’re going to get the better version of Dr. Pym.
- “This is your chance to earn that look in your daughter’s eyes. To become the hero that she already thinks you are.”
- There hasn’t been any mention yet of Hank Pym in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If Tony Stark has his big brain, you’d think he’d hang out with other big brains like Dr. Pym.
- This is a pretty sweet costume. I really like it a lot.
- First Evangeline Lilly beats up a bunch of Orcs and now she’s beating up poor Scott Lang.
- Alycia seems a little unsure about Ant-Man; it might be a harder sell than Guardians of the Galaxy. But someone riding an ant has never looked cooler.
This trailer did what it was supposed to and got me excited for Ant-Man. I like Michael Douglas as Hank Pym and I love that Scott Lang has a family; that’s a really nice change for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. July 17 is two months after Age of Ultron and five months before The Force Awakens. I just need a really awesome movie to come out in October to tide me over.
What did you think of the Ant-Man teaser?
Oh, so Scott is a criminal? Ok. Still, one didn’t have to know that to find the trailer engaging. I thought of you as I watched it, hoping you would enjoy it. Glad to hear you did. I’m more than sold on this one, it looks like it’ll be great.
And I’m not sure it is a harder sell than GOTG. I mean, a talking raccoon who shoots lasers? That’s wild even for comic books. But miniaturization has a long and venerable sci-fi tradition. Not saying it’s not weird, but maybe not as wacky as Rocket and Groot.
Enjoyed your post!
Rocket Raccoon and Groot were definitely hard sells. Alycia was most unconvinced by the title. Ant-Man doesn’t sound nearly as epic as Guardians of the Galaxy.
That’s why the teaser was so brilliant to address it head on,
I think it’s interesting they’re going with the Scott Lang Ant-Man as opposed to Hank Pym. That being said, I like how they’ve incorporated Hank in the story instead of leaving him out altogether (although I’m still sad they aren’t making him Ultron’s creator in ‘Age of Ultron’).
This must be the new Hank Pym – the one who learned his lesson after smacking Janet.
Yeah. Hank Pym beating Janet makes him fairly unlikeable. It would have been great to see Pym as Ultron’s creator, but Tony Stark works just as well within the confines of the MCU.