I've had time to digest the first teaser trailer for Ant-Man, which debuted during Agent Carter on ABC Tuesday night. Even with this time to process the trailer, I'm a little confused with the tone they put out there for the first look at Ant-Man. I'm not alone in feeling like this, and I think that's because no one expected such seriousness out of the trailer.
What I think happened was everyone (myself included) thought 'Oh, Paul Rudd is Ant-Man. This is going to be funny.' Why get Paul Rudd if you didn't want his humor in there? That's along the same lines of getting Chris Pratt to portray Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy. You get that type of actor because they are funny, perfect for the comedic moments, but they can also possess some acting chops for the more serious scenes and action sequences.
I think Marvel, coming off of the wild success and popularity of Guardians of the Galaxy, didn't want to lead off Ant-Man with the same light-hearted tone. It might come off as a bit of a copy-cat, like 'It worked in Guardians of the Galaxy, so let's do it again.' They need Ant-Man to stand apart from all their other properties, but he already does because he's such a different character with powers unlike any other.
Though I personally liked the part about his daughter and being her hero — as well as saving her world — they shouldn't have made it so serious. It came off as trying to have the same urgency and magnitude of The Avengers: Age of Ultron, except there's not a dangerous AI trying to destroy the world. Every trailer is starting to feel the same from Marvel, and I think that's why people loved GotG so much; because it was so different. The dramatic moments in GotG made the funny ones that much funnier, and I didn't know they were coming. With the Ant-Man trailer, I now know his family and relationship to his daughter is going to be the primary source of drama. I would have rather learned that for the first time in the theater. And if the movie does revolve around a heist, why not focus more on that?
All of that said, I think Ant-Man is going to be fun, funny, and have some really cool scenes. That part in the trailer when Ant-Man went tiny was visually impressive; I can't wait to see more of that. I think MIchael Douglas and the mystery around his character watching Scott Lang is intriguing. I just think Marvel should have shown more of what makes Ant-Man bizarre and unique, because that's what he is.
He's niche. And I think Marvel should embrace the niche.
Then again, they probably will. This was a first look, after all. I didn't love GotG after that first trailer, and it grew on me over time and the more I saw it. When all is said and done, I think we can all agree that Paul Rudd's six-pack is seriously impressive.
