Unfortunately, great films do not necessarily equal gold at the box office. I’m sure everyone can name at least one great film/video game/tv show that didn’t get enough love. But I do believe that Ant-Man will do well at the box office. Not necessarily set records, but it will do really well. Because of one key factor. Man of Steel was very loud, bombastic, sweeping, epic, I don’t have a thesaurus for all the things it was. But it was also hollow, empty. Flash with no real substance. There is nothing wrong with big or epic movies. But there needs to be something to them. And for all it’s pomp and bombast, Man of Steel was lacking that human element. Superman/Batman, from early reports, sounds like more of the same. Visually impressive, great cast, but nothing I’m hearing about the script sounds good. It was rushed, it’s two different scripts mixed together, there’s pressure from on high to get it done quickly, not great combinations.

Whereas Ant-Man was allowed to develop as necessary. It was initially planned for Phase 2 (which includes Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World) but Wright was allowed to delay it until Phase 3. Delays can be a bad sign, certainly, but a movie getting pushed back a year or two sounds a lot better than something clapped together in some chopshop to hit a deadline. Add in Wright’s numerous strengths as a director, his long established cred, his many promises of keeping it respectful, and the fact that Marvel’s universe is long established and has the kind of fanbase to sustain it, the kind of fanbase that DC’s cinematic universe doesn’t have, and will have real trouble building in the next few years, and I think you’ve got a recipe for success.

Ultimately, it will boil down to differences in tone. Wright has described Ant-Man as an action-adventure with comedy elements, Superman/Batman (if it follows the same tone as Man of Steel) will be much more serious, straightlaced. Neither of these are inherently better or worse, but it’s going to be interesting to see what audiences choose. I know that Superman/Batman will do really well, but I also believe that Ant-Man is going to surprise us.

Donal O’Connor