Ant-Man And The Wasp Trailer Details You Missed
Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are still reeling from the events of Avengers: Infinity War. Its cataclysmic climax has already reshaped the decade-old landscape of the franchise and left countless questions about how Earth's Mightiest Heroes can possibly go on from here. Fortunately, mere days after Infinity War's premiere, Marvel has come to our emotional rescue with some lighthearted adventure that's sorely needed.
Ant-Man and the Wasp arrives this summer, and now that Infinity War's record-breaking box office invasion is in full swing, it's time to fire up the hype campaign with a new poster and trailer. The story this time around might be much smaller in scale, but just as ants can carry many times their own body weight, the movie promises to be jam-packed with action and adventure. While the trailer is full of big can't-miss moments like a size-shifting car chase and an ant playing the drums, it's also got some subtle things you might have missed.
Shrink down with us as we take a closer look at Ant-Man and the Wasp's smaller details.
When are we?
While Infinity War brings together just about every Marvel hero yet seen onscreen, two conspicuous and oft-discussed absences were Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye, and Scott Lang, a.k.a. Ant-Man. It was briefly explained in the movie that the absent Avengers had accepted a house arrest deal with the government in exchange for their outlaw activities during the events of Captain America: Civil War. Both being family men, Barton and Lang opted to stay close to their kids by any means necessary.
To lead up to the new trailer, Marvel released a video of their Infinity War stars speculating about where Ant-Man may have been during Thanos' invasion. The trailer does give us a vague hint to go on, with Scott's daughter, Cassie, asking how long he's been back to being Ant-Man. We can assume, then, that it's been a while since Civil War and that Scott has been out of action for some time. But the world glimpsed here is obviously not yet dealing with the world-shattering power of the Infinity Gauntlet. It seems likely that Ant-Man and the Wasp takes place immediately before Infinity War, perhaps even overlapping with its early scenes.
A new anthill
The cozy room in which we watch Scott and Cassie's father-daughter heart-to-heart is one we've never seen before. In the first Ant-Man movie, Scott was fresh out of prison and sharing a tiny apartment with three fellow ex-cons, while Cassie lived comfortably with her mother, Maggie. Cassie's old room was left in shambles after the climactic size-changing, Thomas-the-Tank-Engine-throwing battle with Yellowjacket.
With Scott lounging in a robe and boxes still unpacked, it seems Cassie's makeshift attic room is in his house. Not only does this suggest continued growth and healing in the Lang family dynamic, it promises that Scott has upgraded his digs. It's possible that Hank Pym has taken in his protégé, as the house that doubled as Ant-Man Headquarters was plenty spacious. At any rate, if Scott's heroic deeds have landed him under house arrest, it's comforting to know he's at least been confined to a nice house.
Young Avenger
Scott explains to Cassie that falling back into his Ant-Man antics "just sort of happened," and his enthusiastic daughter replies, "I wish I could fight bad guys just like you!" Not only is this a nice father/daughter moment, it could prove to be some pretty significant foreshadowing. If her future turns out anything like that of her Marvel Comics counterpart, Cassie will definitely get her wish.
In the comics, a teenage Cassie Lang begins secretly experimenting with her father's stash of Pym Particles. Eventually, she finds she can change size just like him, though her powers are linked to her emotional state. She takes on the superhero moniker of Stature and joins the Young Avengers team.
Ant-Man and the Wasp finds ten-year-old Abby Ryder Forston returning three years after portraying Cassie in the first Ant-Man. Intriguingly, though, 16-year-old Emma Fuhrmann has joined the cast of next year's as-yet-untitled fourth Avengers movie, and is rumored to also be playing Cassie alongside Forston. Not only does this report hint at a potential time-travel solution to the fallout of Infinity War, it suggests that Marvel does indeed have big plans for Cassie.
X-Con
Scott's likable criminal roommates Luis, Dave, and Kurt stole the show in the first Ant-Man, providing some of the movie's funniest moments and proving indispensable in a heist. The new trailer reveals that in their continuing efforts to go legit, the trio has started X-Con, a start-up home security business dedicated to using their expertise in break-ins to make their clients' homes burgle-proof. Though we don't yet know what kind of favor Hank, Scott, and Hope need from them, the ever-excitable Luis is happy to help.
The trailer's brief glimpse of the X-Con office reassures us that just because they're legitimate businessmen, our favorite robbers haven't forgotten how to live large. Their workspace is classed up with a cozy aquarium and a record player accompanied by a large collection of vinyl albums. We already know a little bit about Luis' taste in fine art (he's a Neo-Cubist kinda guy, but thinks Rothko is sublime). Hopefully Ant-Man and the Wasp will also reveal what kind of music he's into.
Business Brunch with Burch
He doesn't speak in the trailer, but we do get our first look at Walton Goggins as Sonny Burch, who steals the suitcase-sized Pym building. It's still unclear who Burch works for or just what he's after, though in the comics he's a slick weapons contractor who has been allied with Ant-Man nemesis Darren Cross and Iron Man rival Obediah Stane. Since both of those villains have already shown up and died in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Burch's allegiance is anyone's guess.
What we can surmise, however, is that Hope Van Dyne tries to settle a dispute with Burch amicably, and it doesn't go well. A brief shot in the trailer shows the Wasp strolling calmly away from him in a restaurant, only be crashing to the establishment's kitchen moments later for a knife-throwing, tomato-smashing fight scene. And can we point out how short Burch's pants are here? Either his wardrobe got hit with Pym Particles, or this is just another example of Walton Goggins' unique sense of style.
Quantum questions
Luis, who has previously shown a propensity for recapping complicated stories, is naturally given the task of dispensing some exposition in the trailer. He's heard that the wall-phasing hacker Ghost has stolen some of Hank Pym's powerful tech after Pym began venturing into the Quantum Realm. We get a quick look at this subatomic world, with at least one of the two Ant-Men exploring its surreal wonders in a superpowered vehicle.
This quest into the quantum space was set up in the first Ant-Man movie, with Scott taking the massive risk of "going subatomic" in order to stop Yellowjacket. His successful return to normal size raised some important questions for Hank, whose wife Janet (the original Wasp) heroically sacrificed herself similarly during the Cold War. While this trip into the unknown comes as no surprise, we have to wonder if the reality-warping ability to travel back and forth could have implications for the entire MCU, perhaps even providing a way to thwart Thanos.
Where's Janet?
Speaking of Janet Van Dyne, this new Ant-Man and the Wasp trailer continues to play coy about the arrival of a fan favorite character to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the comics, Janet was a founding member of the Avengers, and even gave the team their name. As the only female member of the original lineup, the character filled an important role in Marvel history, and fans have been waiting patiently these ten long years for her to flit onto the silver screen.
Janet almost made it to the first Avengers movie in 2012, but that plan fell through during rewrites. Three years later, Ant-Man further disappointed Wasp fans by banishing her to the Quantum Realm, even if it did try to relieve the sting by hinting that she was still alive and promising that her daughter would pick up the mantle. Finally, Michelle Pfeiffer will be bringing Janet to life in Ant-Man and the Wasp, and though the new poster features her prominently, the trailer is still saving this long-delayed debut for later.
Or is it? There are a couple of blink-and-you'll-miss-them shots that just might be hinting at Janet's presence. First, as Ant-Man drifts through the Quantum Realm, someone streaks past him in a blur. Later, Wasp can be spotted jumping into a fistfight wearing not Hope's new suit, but what appears to be Janet's old one, as seen in the first movie's flashback.
Who is Goliath?
The trailer ends with our first introduction to Laurence Fishburne's character, Dr. Bill Foster. Though Fishburne was announced for the role of Foster last year, the trailer is our first confirmation that the character's history as Goliath will also make it to the screen: He mentions the name in regards to his past with Pym before getting into a bit of a size debate with Lang.
Goliath is a name with some interesting comics lineage, having been used not only by Hank Pym but Clint Barton as well. As for Foster, he was introduced as Pym's lab assistant in the '60s, making him one of Marvel's first prominent black characters. A decade later, he would use the Pym Particles to his own advantage, becoming the third person to fill the oversized boots of Goliath (he was also briefly known as "Black Goliath" in a self-titled solo series). We don't know yet whether we'll see Foster become Goliath in Ant-Man and the Wasp, but we can be sure the movie will continue to expand the history of Marvel super-science beyond the Stark family.