Welcome to my MCU Rewatch, where I write an analysis of the MCU movies in the order of theatrical release. In this installment, I talk about the importance of doing right for family.
Release Date: 17 July 2015
Distributor: Disney/Marvel
Director: Peyton Reed
From the high-stakes of Avengers: Age of Ultron, we are now taken to the low stakes of Ant-Man. While Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) is a former scientist for SHIELD and entrepreneur of his own science lab, his world is separate from the world of the Avengers. In fact, Hank refuses to get The Avengers involved because he needs no one else to have Pym Particles, a specialized liquid that allows for the shrinking (and growing) of matter.
This is just one reason why Ant-Man differs from the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far. Another is the low-stakes presented throughout the film. Sure, the Pym Particles falling into the hands of Hydra is something no one wants, but this movie is ultimately about two fathers wanting to do right by their daughters.
Hank and Hope
Unfortunately, it means Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) is sidelined for all the action for this movie. The MCU has been showing more and more women in positions of power and agency, but they’re still a ways off from showing any sort of improvement. Here, Hope Van Dyne is a better fighter than Scott, knows her father’s technology as well as he does, and is intimately familiar with both the object and setting of the heist. Yet Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is the one in the ant-suit. Narratively, Scott is the one to go in because he’s expendable.
For Hank, the things at stake are his life’s work and his daughter. This heist puts them both at risk. Yet, if he were to only save one thing, he would prefer to save his daughter over the Pym Particles. Scott explains this to Hope in one scene–in his words: “I’m expendable.” Yet it still feels like she’s being sidelined from the action.
Pop culture doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Stories are the foundations of culture; they tell us how the world was created and why the moon changes shape in the night sky and why we have thunderstorms and earthquakes. They show us how the world works and, at this point in history, the stories told in pop culture do not match with the realities of everyday life in the United States. Our world has straight white dudes being heroes, but they’re not the only people who are.
Which is why it’s hard to swallow Hank passing over his daughter for the ant-suit for the first Ant-Man movie. So far, there are very little female superheroes to be role models for little girls (and big girls, for that matter). Yes, there’s Black Widow and Scarlet Witch and Gamora; neither of which have their own movies. It would have been so nice to see one get her own movie during Phase 2. Unfortunately, we have to wait until late in the game Phase 3 before Captain Marvel gets a movie of her own.
Scott and Cassie
Parallel the relationship between Hank and Hope is Scott and his daughter Cassie. Cassie is enthusiastic about her father. She loves him as much as he loves her, and he’d do anything to do right by her. He “goes straight” and swears off robbery, but that life is tough for someone with a criminal record. Not even Baskin Robbins wants Scott to work for them.
But it’s wanting to do what’s right for family that’s the heart of Ant-Man. Scott wants to do what’s right for Cassie. Hank wants to do what’s right for Hope. Unlike Hank and Hope, however, Scott has a good relationship with his daughter. They have inside jokes and amazing banter.
To underscore this being the heart of the film, the climactic battle at the end takes place in Cassie’s bedroom rather than Pym Labs. This highlights that the stakes in this movie are more personal in nature. Yes, they do kind of save the world by keeping the Pym Particles out of Hydra’s hand, and it does reveal that Hydra continues to operate even after the fall of SHIELD, but the important thing is family and keeping them safe and doing right by them. That’s the heart of this film, and that’s what makes it so endearing.
In a way, Ant-Man expands the MCU by revealing the heroes that don’t mingle with the Avengers right away. There are people in this universe with whole lives that are unaffected by the workings of SHIELD and The Avengers, and it’s nice to see a glimpse of that life in Ant-Man, even if we know it will be short-lived.
Stay tuned next time for the real Avengers 2, appropriately named Captain America: Civil War.
Random Thoughts on Ant-Man
- Luis is a very good friend and I love him.
- Luis is also very cultured, as evident with his throwaway lines about rose wine and museum art.
- Dave is a genius and is probably my favorite.
- Kurt deserves apropos too.
- In fact, all of Scott’s criminal friends are amazing and we all should love them because they deserve love.
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