5 Interesting Things the ‘Ant-Man’ Cover Reveal Tells Us

by Howie Decker @HowardTheDeck on January 6, 2015

in Movies

Entertainment Weekly has given a sneak peak at the cover of their upcoming issue, and it’s our first full look at Paul Rudd in full Ant-Man regalia. Since we’re better at reacting to news than breaking it, here are 5 interesting things the Ant-Man EW cover reveal tells us:

Paul Rudd looks at home in the Marvel Universe

We all knew he could pull off Scott Lang, but plain and simple, Rudd looks great as Ant-Man. In case you haven’t seen it yet:

 

Marvel’s Nerd Equity is Through the Roof

To reiterate something I’ve already said on our podcast (and something that is no secret), Marvel Studios has built up enough “nerd equity” that our default reaction to upcoming film news and reveals is near-unconditional trust. The cover says it all: “Get ready for Ant-Man”. The call to action has a dual purpose- to let you know that the issue contains information that will help prime your pump for a new Marvel story, but also as a signal that the countdown has begun to yet another successful film-to-comic conversion.

 

We’ve Learned to Tailor Our Expectations

I don’t mean that in a Mad TV Lowered Expectations kind of way. I mean it like this: the two ants fixing the askew ‘i’ in ‘Entertainment’ along with the magnifying glass and smaller typeface of ‘the teeny tiny’ in the cover copy signify that we aren’t taking this film too seriously. An EW cover promoting The Dark Knight Rises wouldn’t dare employ fun mechanisms like the ones we see here. Media and fans have come to know that Marvel Studios movies are typically comic books come to life (which is what they should be), and comic books come to life should not be taken too seriously. Guardians of the Galaxy (in all of its success) went a long way to prove that. There’s a time to go in serious (see: Captain America: The Winter Soldier), and this ain’t it.

 

Ant-Man is a Long Time Coming

With regard to the “wild 10-year trip” the EW cover alludes to, die-hards know the long and sordid of it; but without that bit of copy, casual fans and the general movie-going public might assume Ant-Man is an SNL skit come to life. It would be understandable to expect that a silly-on-the-surface property such as this was greenlit and rushed to production based on the insane success of everything Marvel does, but this is a project that has been in the works since before Iron Man.

 

The Buzz is Big

The film’s release is a full six months out, yet social media exploded today because of a picture of Paul Rudd in a leather suit with metal trim. There are only three movies I’ve seen on opening weekend in the last 3 years, and they were all Marvel Studios films. Ant-Man will be no different. I won’t even commit to family vacation dates that far in advance. Only Marvel Studios (OK, and Star Wars) can claim specific dates on my calendar six months in advance.

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