In one way, Ant-Man seemed like an odd choice to end Marvel’s juggernaut of a second phase. On the other hand, if you take its journey from initial concept being pitched at the dawn of the MCU to fully realized film, it’s almost perfect. Think of it as a palate cleanser between Phases. A little tequila sorbet to help you get past the events of the Age of Ultron and help you prepare the seismic shift that could come from Civil War. I’m not saying Ant-Man is a perfect movie, but it was a great way to close out this wave of films. Sure, they could have ended with Avengers 2, but they’ve done that before and this was something different. That’s not always a good thing, but for Marvel, it’s working. Very well.
I’ll try not to be too spoiler-y, but no promises. Let’s talk shrinkage. (more…)
Update: This video is being pulled faster than I can keep up with updating the link, unfortunately. I will post the fan-made storyboard interpretation from back in September as a place holder for those who missed it.
Of all the upcoming movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ant-Man is the one I’m looking forward to the most and for the longest time. Wright brought this test footage to last year’s SDCC, but it’s been in the works for more than three years now. Wright has stated that the film will be an origin story that will fit within the MCU, but still feel “like its own piece”. The film is supposed to feature both Hank Pym and Scott Lang and while I’m sure it will have loads of Wright’s signature humour, it will not be a parody or spoof. I’m sure the Ant-Man design will change quite a bit, but the aesthetic ceratinly fits with the technology established by the Iron Man films.
My theory? A tale of two Ant-Men starting in the 60’s or 70’s with Pym’s discovery of Pym particles and the developement of the Ant-Man technology. Pym, inspired by the works of Howard Stark, shuns the financial and public aspects in favour of strict scientific pursuit. His pacifistic ways force him to put his Ant-Man persona on ice after a personal loss until, years later when a young thief steals the technology and Ant-Man is publicly re-introduced to a new generation and a much larger, far more dangerous world.
It’s been long rumoured (wishful thinking?) that Nathan Fillion would be Ant-Man, but the films have skewed to a mostly younger cast and he really doesn’t have the box office draw or interest to fit. With a tentative release date of November 6th, 2015 we should be hearing casting news soon as well as filming updates. We’ll keep you posted.
After my rant even handed address about the need for LEGO maxifigures the other day comes along two examples of opportunities for TLG to step up. Firstly, Jared “Kaminoan” Burks AKA The Fine Clonier brings his creative flair to the infamous Hank Pym and creates Giant Man and Ant Man in three different scales. Utilizing official LEGO products he’s managed to prove a great point about the ease of simply increasing the size of the standard minifig shape to better create a sense of scale. The only thing missing is a large scale 20″ Giant Man which would put him in near perfect comic book proportions with a minifigure. He says it was the look of the new Hulk figure that got the ball rolling and I’d have to agree that the Giant Man he created would be a great scale for old jade jaws.
But could they do the Hulk justice with an upsizing and a print job?
It appears customizer CHRISTO‘s got that part covered. Excelsior.
