It”s been a grand day for Ant-Man as Marvel rolls out the marketing machine for its next C-List superhero. By now, the folks at Marvel are old hats at polishing underdog franchises until they shine their way to the box office success.
First up, the official “Ant-Man” trailer. Yeah, a guy who shrinks down to the size of an ant and rides around on bugs is silly. So is a talking raccoon and a sentient tree. The key is to admit it.
Anyone else look for clues to the time period in the trailer? I'm coming up blank. Sure, Hank Pym has technology in his lab, but there were no cellphones or other hallmarks of 21st century living. Not even a television in Scott Lang's living room. So is this happening concurrent to “Avengers” or before? Perhaps our only hint comes from Marvel's official one-liner:
The next evolution of the Marvel Cinematic Universe brings a FOUNDING MEMBER of The Avengers to the big screen for the first time with Marvel Studios” “Ant-Man” when master thief Scott Lang must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats.
Do they mean comic book founding member? Or did Tony Stark name his new club after his dad's secret cabal of spies and heroes? Ughhh, July is too far away.
Also, today Entertainment Weekly snagged the exclusive first look at Paul Rudd in the Ant-Man costume. I'm beginning to sense a theme with the marketing strategy.
“Ant-Man” crawls into theaters July 17, 2015.