Marvel Cinematic Universe: Ranking all 18 movies after Black Panther

Credit: Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Studios; poster for Ant-Man (2015)

11. Ant-Man (2015)

As a premise, Ant-Man sound like a recipe for disaster, if not an outright joke. After all, it’s not about an obscure Marvel superhero, but a thief who can shrink and talk to ants. But the strength of Ant-Man is that it embraces the silliness to the point it makes it look cool. Perhaps it’s because the film’s story originated from Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Baby Driver), who was assigned as the film’s original director before he quit over creative differences.

Even though Marvel Studios assigned Peyton Reed as the new director, Wright’s fingerprints still are all over Ant-Man. In some cases, it’s very obvious which aspects of Wright’s original script the final cut may have kept. Obviously the scene where Ant-Man takes out a pair of security guards, which resembles early test footage Wright made. Yet other scenes have similar vibe, such as the flashbacks narrated by Michael Pena’s Luis to a climatic battle involving Thomas the Tank Engine in child’s bedroom. It makes you wonder how much more zany Ant-Man would’ve been.

Credit must also must go to Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, who also helped co-write his own dialogue in later drafts. Throughout the movie, Rudd’s comedic timing is top-notch, and plays off exceedingly well with Michael Douglas’ disgruntled Hank Pym and Evangeline Levy’s sassy Hope. Along with the scenes involving Scott’s daughter, Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson), Rudd makes for a very likable protagonist who’s just trying turn his life around.

But like with so many of these Marvel Studios films, it’s the choice of villain who brings it down. Not only is Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) every stereotypical evil business mogul Hollywood somehow can’t get enough, he’s more Hank Pym’s enemy than Scott Lang’s. This makes the climatic fight between him and Ant-Man, while still entertaining, feel ultimately hollow.