Superman vs. Batman vs. Antman

Posted 10 years ago by myetvmedia

Warner Bros. announced at SDCC (San Diego Comic Con) that the sequel to Man of Steel would feature Batman with a July 17th 2015 release. To everyone’s surprise, Marvel announced one that they would be moving up the release date of one of their highly anticipated upcoming movies to be directed by Edgar Wright, Ant-Man, to July 31st, 2015. Ant-Man, well this was a bit of a shocker. You’ve got Batman, Superman, Ben Affleck and a story based on one of the best comics of all time (The Dark Knight Returns), and then you have a nerd who talks to ants, who has also been one of the more derided characters both in the comics and the fandom for the past decade or so.

Well, actually, you don’t, because there have been three Ant-Men (Hank Pym, Scott Lang and Eric O’Grady) so far, and all of them have been much deeper characters than that. Unfortunately, most recent stories featuring Hank Pym (the first and best known Ant-Man) have basically turned him into a joke, ignoring many years of great stories and character development. This may be the kick in the pants needed to rekindle the character as a bit more than “ants lol.”

And it is an interesting choice for both Marvel and the House of Mouse. You have an audience that’s already showing signs of exhaustion with superhero movies, a massive film as competition (like it or not, Superman/Batman is going to make massive bank unless they do something incredibly stupid) and Marvel is fielding Ant-Man. Why?

This is what we know so far. It is a standalone movie, not directly connected to any previous movies beyond surface level details. It will be directed by Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim and World’s End), who can balance comedy and action really well. It has been in various stages of development prior even to Iron Man. And because Ant-Man isn’t an A-lister Wright was allowed to develop the script and story at his own pace. Will it work?

I think it will, and I’m not just saying that as a fan of Hank Pym (SCIENTIST SUPREME!)

First off, Edgar Wright has built up a lot of goodwill. From his first major work (Spaced) he has shown a love and appreciation of comics and nerdery few have. Add in some amazing movies, (the Cornetto trilogy) a consistent level of appreciation from both critics and casual cinema-goers, and an uncanny ability to mix and match genres seemingly at odds with other (a romantic comedy with zombies?) without insulting fans of either genre, and at the very least it’s going to be a great movie.


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Superman vs. Batman vs. Antman

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