Marvel was already dominating a large chunk of the weekend’s pop culture conversation with the debut of Daredevil on Netflix. The studio apparently thought it was a great time to keep that momentum going by releasing the first full trailer for Ant-Man.
As should be expected, there’s a lot more cool stuff in this new trailer from a special effects and action standpoint. The teaser released in January focused more on character beats, presumably because the effects weren’t ready to show the public. That’s obviously changed. We get to see the title character do what he’s most known for in the Marvel Comics, shrink down to tiny size and run around with insects.
But we still get a feeling of what sort of character Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang is, a wise-cracking smart-ass who maybe feels a little bit foolish with his superhero gear and goofy codename. That also serves to poke at the inherent goofiness of this character, which I’ll always feel wasn’t really part of Marvel’s original movie plan, but the studio wanted to be in business with Edgar Wright and this is the movie he wanted to do. As we know, that partnership didn’t work out, but Marvel figured out how to make this fit with its overall cinematic universe.
If there’s one concern I have, it’s that Corey Stoll’s Darren Cross (aka Yellowjacket) comes off too much as the scenery-chewing, mustache-twirling supervillain. (I’m a big fan of Stoll from House of Cards, but don’t really feel he’s done anything as good since then.) But maybe that fits with the tone that director Peyton Reed and screenwriters Adam McKay and Rudd are setting for this movie. And hey, that Yellowjacket suit looks really cool, right?
Ant-Man, which also stars Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lilly, hits theaters on July 17.
