And there are a few reasons why.
- Mis-Direction. When a movie switches the director, not once, not twice, but three times, alarms should go off. I hearken back to Superman II. Although it was still a very good film, you could clearly see that the movie had a jumbled vision (at times slapstick comedy, at times a dark, provocative action film), which left some viewers dissatisfied. But if Ant-Man can come close to Superman II in terms of quality, then it will be a box office victor.
- Who the Hell Is Ant-Man? Since I am not an avid comic reader (I rely on my comic book geek baby bro. for such details) and the character has had no significant presence on the big or little screen previously, there may be a “who the hell is Ant-Man?” reaction to this seemingly unknown-to-the-masses character. Sure, his alter ego Hank Pym is one of the founding members of the Avengers and the creator of the malicious robot Ultron (in the comics at least), but most casual filmgoers wouldn’t know that. Marvel has done a great job with other relative unknown heroes (e.g. Guardians of the Galaxy). They’ll have to do it again.
- Paul Rudd. Let me first say that I am Paul Rudd fan. I loved him in the 40-Year Old Virgin and Role Models films. But that’s the rub, those are all in the “smart but sleazy” comedy space. It’s an interesting casting choice for sure, one which will surely be discussed if the film disappoints.
- No Ultron Linkage. As a guy who had little to no interest in seeing Ant-Man on screen to begin with, I asked myself, “if Pym has no tie-in to the creation of the villain in the Avengers sequel, why on earth would Marvel Studios feel compelled to make this film?” It’s obvious that Tony Stark is the central figure behind what currently drives the MCU engine, including Ultron’s on-screen origin. We’ll find out if de-coupling Ant-Man from Ultron was the right idea.
I have my doubts about Ant-Man. But I also had doubts about the Guardians of the Galaxy, and we all know how that turned out (great).
In the end, I’m cautiously optimistic that Marvel will get it right. But if they don’t, some of the factors I noted above will be the likely culprits.
