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First Reactions to Marvel’s ‘Ant-Man’

First Reactions to Marvel's 'Ant-Man'

Jun 26, 2015 9:52 am

Marvel’s “Ant-Man” screened for junket press in Los Angeles last night, and the first reactions hit the Internet as soon as the lights came up. Naturally, these have to be taken with a grain of salt, since junketeers rarely forget on which side their bread is buttered and the studios are experts at tailoring invitations to people who are going to like the movie (or, failing that, embargoing reactions when they suspect they won’t). But for what it’s worth, initial reactions to “Ant-Man” are largely positive, with critics calling it a welcome change of pace that feels as much like a heist movie as a Marvel extravaganza. A few claim to feel the presence of departed writer-director Edgar Wright, who was replaced by the more “collaborative” writer Adam McKay and director Peyton Reed, but the reactions tend to focus on more on the movie’s overall tone — and Paul Rudd’s abs — than questions of directorial style. (Wright’s name remains in the screenplay and story by credits, and he’s an executive producer as well.) Marvel’s Kevin Feige recently confirmed that “Ant-Man” marks the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase II, and many of the reactions single out “Ant-Man’s” two credits stingers — one midway, one all the way at the end — as particularly significant, presumably because they set the scene for Phase III. What the fact that initial viewers seem more excited about what comes after the movie than what happens during it means for the film itself, we’ll have to wait until reactions spread beyond 140 characters to see.

“Ant-Man” opens July 17.

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