Movies / Comics To Film News

The Ant-Man Movie Trailer

By Hervé St-Louis
January 11, 2015 - 06:51

Marvel has released the trailer of its upcoming Ant-Man movie. The movie premiering on July 15 2015 features Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, the second Ant-man who is being groomed by Hank Pym played by Michael Douglas.

The trailer seems to follow the Ant-Man stories from the comic books faithfully. We can see Lang's daughter who has always played a role in his history. He originally became a con-man, trying to steal the Ant-Man costume in the comics.  After some time in jail, he became a super hero when Tony Stark recruited him to deal with some business. By then, he also had the blessing of Hank Pym.

My bet about Ant-Man is that Marvel is positioning the character to occupy the space that Spider-Man would if they had the rights to his movies.  He will be a funny and everyday hero people can relate to. Paul Rudd is a comedic actor that can pull this off well. Ant-Man, just like Spider-Man is a bug and often times works alone.

Marvel is using its classic formula of giving their super heroes problems by using the sick daughter theme as the motivation for Ant-Man's character. Think of it as the tearjerker moment in Guardians of the Galaxy where Star-Lord's mother dies while he was young. At this point, I find this kind of characterization a bit one dimensional and formulaic even if the writers and the director have sourced the material directly from the comics.

I also feel like Marvel is trying to convince people that Ant-Man will be a fun adventure movie by basing it on the co-tails of Guardians of the Galaxy. Marvel, with this trailer is telling audiences that although they may not know Ant-Man yet, that it will be a safe and fun movie if they give it a chance, just like with Guardians of the Galaxy. Expect to see a longer trailer at the Super Bowl in a few weeks.

This trailer wasn't really fun. All it did was establish the premise of the film and tell viewers like me who are very familiar with Ant-Man that his history from the comics will be kept intact.

I almost felt that Douglas sounded like Stan Lee in the way he narrated the film. That was fun. I assume that the movie will retroactively explain how he was one of the first Avengers in the 1960s after the disappearance of Captain America. As usual, they will integrate the S.H.I.E.L.D. in the backdrop and probably feature Tony Stark or Nick Fury in the bumper scene at the end of the credits.

Evangeline Lilly plays a new character, Hope Van Dyne. It's assumed that she is the daughter of Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne who was his companion, an original Avenger and the super heroine known as the Wasp. I assume the movie will highlight the conjugal troubles Pym and Van Dyne had while they were married and the many mental breakdowns that the former had. I supposed that through Lang, Pym will try to redeem himself.

The director may use Hope Van Dyne's relationship with her father in a parallel situation with Lang and his own daughter where Pym will try to get the new Ant-Man to save his own life and responsibility as a father by becoming Ant-Man. If we see Janet Van Dyne in Flashbacks, I hope Eva Longoria plays her!

These are all interesting ideas, but if the movie stick to this, then I will not be surprised at all. That's why I'm hoping that we will be able to see Ant-Man rise to the challenge by becoming the Marvel's cinematic universe's Spider-Man. If we get to see the Avengers of the 1960-1970s, it would be fun to see Wonder Man or even Hercules as part of the original team.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12