Ant-Man came and went this past weekend and it was a very small movie compared to what fans of Marvel have been used to. After the one-two punch of Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Age of Ultron provided action on a grand scale, Ant-Man was just a movie about a burglar who wanted to do what was right for his daughter.
With that story in mind, Ant-Man was a fun ride with some of the best action scenes in any Marvel movie. However, it seemed a little less than many people might like and probably won’t be as re-watchable as other Marvel films.
Check out Caleb’s review of Ant-Man here, and while I might have given it a 7.5 if I reviewed it, I agree with most of his thoughts.
However, re-watching the movie will provide viewers with some Easter eggs and glimpses into the future that they might have missed the first time around. Be warned, there are some spoilers here.
Tales to Astonish
The name-dropping of Tales to Astonish was something that I caught right off the bat. For those who don’t know, Tales to Astonish was one of Marvel’s earliest comics and was where many heroes were introduced before they got their own comics. One of these characters was Hank Pym’s Ant-Man.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
I loved how we opened with Hank Pym back when he was younger, following the death of his wife, when he quit S.H.I.E.L.D. It was a nice connection to see Howard Stark and Peggy Carter, and to realize that – years after the events of television’s Agent Carter – the two are still working so closely together. It was also nice to see Hydra is still sticking around despite being hunted down for so long and they are still wanting to buy weapons.
Pym vs. Stark
In the comics, Hank Pym was Ant-Man/Giant Man/Yellow Jacker for years before Scott Lang came along. He was a founding member of The Avengers along with Tony Stark’s Iron Man. All along the way, the two never agreed on anything as Pym was a pacifist and Stark was a weapon’s maker. While the two are from different eras in the Marvel movie universe, they still gave Hank some conflict with another Stark – Tony’s dad Howard. As in the comics, they were allies, but never really got along together. That was even more evident when Scott wanted to call The Avengers and Pym said that he kept his research away from a Stark for years and wasn’t going to give it to another Stark now.
Falcon vs. Ant-Man
This was no Easter egg, as it was a major part of the story, but how cool was it to see Ant-Man actually battle a member of The Avengers when he took on Falcon?
Yellow Jacket
Anyone who read Avengers comics knows this, but for everyone else – the costume that Darren Cross took on was that of Yellow Jacket. That was actually a Hank Pym persona at one time. He left The Avengers and returned as Yellow Jacket, without telling anyone it was him under the mask. The idea of the Pym Particles effecting people’s minds was also prevalent at that time as Pym was becoming unstable and eventually cost himself his marriage and his membership in The Avengers as Yellow Jacket.
The Wasp
The biggest complaint about Marvel movies is that people want more women to take the lead in movies (even though most female led action movies make no money outside of rare occurrences – Marvel could change that). In the mid-credits, Hope was shown the Wasp costume and hopefully this means Wasp will join The Avengers at some point, although her dad is still anti-Avengers.
BUCKY!
Yeah, the final post-credit scene saw Falcon and Captain America with Winter Soldier, who had his arm trapped in something. They needed help, but couldn’t get Iron Man because of the “Accord.” Then, Falcon hints that he will get Ant-Man. Kevin Feige has said that this was actually footage from Captain America: Civil War, which means Ant-Man could be back as soon as the next Marvel movie. And the “Accord?” That is likely a nickname for the superhero registration forces.
