Ant-Man and the Wasp: What worked and what needed work

3. A complex, sympathetic villain

Speaking of female superhero representation, Hannah John-Kamen is only the second woman to play a lead villain, Ava Starr (aka Ghost), in an MCU film. Cate Blanchett became the first when she starred as Hela in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok.

Hela was compelling because she was unapologetically, deliciously dark and power-hungry. Ava is captivating for almost the opposite reason: she doesn’t want power or glory. She just wants to be normal. Her methods are not exactly moral and, of course, she openly threatens Janet’s life, but Ava is also hard to root against.

The villain in Ant-Man, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) (aka Yellowjacket), served a purpose, but he was hardly an interesting character in his own right. Obviously, his brain and his technology were a major threat to the entire world, so I wanted him to be stopped. But I also knew that he inevitably would be.

I wasn’t sure what would happen with Ava, but I knew that I didn’t want her to die. As a result, I remained engaged in her storyline throughout the film and was mostly satisfied with its conclusion.

Ava helps proves that characters who operate in a morally gray area, such as Black Panther‘s widely acclaimed villain Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), are often more effective antagonists than more clearly nefarious characters are.

To quickly address the film’s other villain, Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins), I think he was a solid background player that helped keep the plot engaging.