Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) - Teaser Trailer Reaction

After the modest success of 2015's Ant-Man, Marvel Studios returns their surprisingly turbulent franchise-starter with Ant-Man and the Wasp, the second entry into their new trilogy now featuring the addition of Hope / The Wasp to the Ant-team. Given Marvel's incredible track record with trailers, it's no surprise that the one to drop the ball would be the film that hasn't really gained much real interest since its announcement. Other Marvel flicks such as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War already had invested interest before their respective trailers were released, and given the response to the recent set photos, Captain Marvel will no doubt elicit a similar response. With Ant-Man and the Wasp though, its entirely possible that the reason there's been so little interest is that Ant-Man itself wasn't a huge success.

Given that Ant-Man was a $519 million modest hit, it's become one of the less-popular Marvel films of recent years. In fact, the only films to have grossed lower than Ant-Man are The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger. Even Doctor Strange was more financially successful than Ant-Man, despite being even less prominent in the public consciousness. Perhaps this is because Ant-Man itself wasn't hugely popular with audiences. After all, Summer 2015 was a very busy time for big-budget movies, and Ant-Man didn't really blow many if any people away. People were expecting a solid flick, they got a solid flick, and thus didn't really feel the need to show up to the cinema a second time around.

This could serve to be a problem with Ant-Man and the Wasp: without the audience investment of, say, Guardians of the Galaxy, or to a certain extent Doctor Strange, it's possible that this will be a much less financially-successful Marvel film, grossing in the $500-600 million range as opposed to $700-900 million. There's been such little interest in the film compared to its prior five installments (Guardians Vol. 2 through to Infinity War) that it'd need to really stick its foot in the door to ensure its success. At least Ant-Man only cost about $130 million to make, while Ant-Man and the Wasp will most likely be a $150+ million feature (based upon this trailer). It'll need to gross more to really be successful for Marvel Studios and Disney, but to do so, it'll need to attract the audience almost instantly...and I don't think it has.

Perhaps I'm projecting my own opinions onto the audience here, but the teaser for Ant-Man and the Wasp didn't really do much. The music felt a little off for the film, perhaps because we're now familiar with the "sound" of Ant-Man, thanks to Christophe Beck's score. There's also very little humour in this trailer, with the only joke appearing towards the end - and being executed in such a way that I just didn't find it funny at all. Thor: Ragnarok had the "he's a friend from work" line, which really enthused audiences at the time, but Ant-Man and the Wasp doesn't have anything like that. In fact, I can't think of any standout set-pieces from this trailer at all. Sure, there's some cool brief moments here and there, but nothing that really looks amazing; we've seen all of this before.

Another element that doesn't help is the lack of plot. The premise is established that Scott is now under the watch of the FBI after having helped Cap in the events of Captain America: Civil War, and of course Hope is now suited-up as the Wasp, but other than that, we have no idea what the film is actually about. Sure, Marvel trailers have coasted on ambiguity before, but most have done so with a deliberate "hook". The newer franchises are selling new stories, characters and worlds, and the sequels are selling themselves either on brand recognition (i.e. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2), on raising the stakes (i.e. Captain America: Civil War), or on establishing a new tone or status quo (i.e. Thor: Ragnarok). Ant-Man and the Wasp has none of these in its favour, and without establishing a new threat or mission, it just doesn't have anything to really hook an audience.

I'm not saying that the trailer is bad, or that the film will be a dud, but as first impressions go, this is a film that just doesn't have anything going for it. The cinematography has stronger contrast than most Marvel movies, but most of it looks very de-saturated, as opposed to being a bright and colourful superhero flick. The CGI is good, but it's pretty standard at this point. The action depicted is all pretty much what we've seen before but re-contextualised (i.e. Giant-Man looking over a boat or building; Wasp shrinking and running over a knife mid-air). I hope that the film is great, but I also hope that a second trailer demonstrates a more exciting or interesting film, because at the moment, Ant-Man and the Wasp is apparently delayed by a whole month for UK audiences - arriving on August 3rd, supposedly. Whatever interesting things happen in the film, if it's being released a whole month later, US audiences will have spoiled them via social media. Heck, most YouTubers can't resist putting up a spoilery thumbnail weeks before the film even gets a wide release, because they've managed to see it early at a press screening. In the 21st Century, staggered release dates are a frankly terrible idea, and will surely hurt Ant-Man and the Wasp if Disney continue with this direction.