Captain America: Civil War Trailer 2

Edited by Robert Beach 

There’s really no need for a preamble here is there? Captain America: Civil War is easily going to be one of the biggest films of the year, the starting pistol on phase 3 of Marvel’s vaunted cinematic universe after the mixed bag of phase 2 and the next installment of the seminal superhero of the 2010s. What’s more, the movie stars almost the entire Marvel roster of characters at the moment making it, in function if not in form, basically Avengers 2.5. 

It’s also serving as the introduction point for both Black Panther and Spider-Man, two long-awaited heroes finally making their way into the Marvel cinematic universe. The fact that everyone and their mother are breaking down this new trailer is as simplistic and acceptable a fact of life as gravity or the sky being blue.

What Could Ant-Man 2 Be?

Edited by Robert Beach

Ant-Man is doing better than I, or a lot of critics, really thought it would. It’s still not burning down the house like Thor or Iron Man did, but it’s a solid release for Marvel that held its own against serious challengers like Minions and Pixels.  None of this is to say an Ant-Man sequel is guaranteed, especially given Michael Douglas hasn’t signed one of those multi-picture deals with Marvel, so if there is going to be a follow up, expect renegotiations there.  Still, Marvel likes success; Ant-Man is pretty successful, and they’ve been looking for something to fill the third movie slot in 2019, so if we hear sometime soon Ant-Man 2 is officially in the works, I wouldn’t be surprised.  With that predication out of the way, let’s talk about what this sequel could be.  

Panel Vision - Hope van Dyne & The Marvel Problem

So, it’s been a little over a week now since Ant-Man came out.  The dust is starting to settle as far as the film’s cultural and box office results go and while the box office results seem moderately solid the cultural response has been a bit more mixed.  Sure enough the film had its fans and I certainly count myself as one of them but more often than not I’ve encountered people who regarded it with just sort of a moderate enjoyment.  More over the film has become something of a nerd talking point over the state of representation, especially the representation of women in Marvel films.  I want to talk about this but I can’t do so without spoilers so if you’re still on the fence about Ant-Man go ahead and read my already spoiler free review, then go see the film, then come back here.  For everyone else, let’s go.  

 

Ant-Man Box Office, Small is Bountiful

Welcome to Would You Like To Know More, a new category of post where I deal with geek news.  In these articles I’ll be relaying news stories, expanding on announcements and events, explaining obscure nerdy news, and speculating on what’s to come.  With all that said let’s talk about Ant-Man’s box office returns. 

So, the opening returns are in on Ant-Man and while the film is making solid bank and managed to take the #1 spot from Minions it is coming in a bit bellow predictions and has had one of the weakest openings of any Marvel studios film.  Audience reaction seems to be pretty evenly spread across the spectrum with some people like myself really liking the film while others have at best found it forgettably enjoyable and at worst emblematic of Marvel’s bigger issues with diverse representation in their films.  However, Ant-Man’s role in the ongoing ‘Marvel Problem’ is a discussion for a different blog post, for right now I want to talk about the impact of Ant-Man’s more modest success might have on how Marvel produces films and the future of these characters. 

Panel Vision - Ant-Man

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I don’t think there’s been a movie to garner the same kind of snarky dismissal that Ant-Man has in the lead up to its release.  To some extent the press relationship to Ant-Man is understandable.  The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a cultural juggernaut unlike any we’ve ever seen before and it seems plenty of folks in film journalism are just sharpening their knives waiting for the big boys at Marvel to collapse and Ant-Man really seems like the best possible option for them.  An adaptation of a C-list hero so out there and bizarre even Marvel abandoned the character pretty quickly in the comics.  Follow that up with Ant-Man’s troubled production and the very public parting of ways between Marvel Execs and geek auteur Edgar Wright and it’s easy to see why this film might be considered at ‘high risk.’  However it turns out everyone was wrong because Ant-Man is really good, in fact it’s downright excellent, a true stand out of the overall very sloppy Marvel Phase 2.