In the Marvel Comics universe, Ant-Man was a founding member of The Avengers. In Marvel’s cinematic universe, however, Ant-Man is a fledgling hero whose first instinct when faced with a major threat is, well… to call The Avengers instead of him.
Marvel Studios’ upcoming Ant-Man movie is already looking like a significant departure from much of the studio’s cinematic universe, but the latest trailer for the film offers further evidence that Paul Rudd’s size-changing superhero is going to be a very different kind of protagonist. And thankfully, when The Avengers aren’t available, he appears more than capable of taking on a challenge or two himself (otherwise Ant-Man would be a pretty boring movie).
The new trailer for Ant-Man puts quite a bit of focus on Rudd in costume as Ant-Man, providing a nice balance of humor and superhero action that not only showcases the stunts his character can pull off with his high-tech suit, but also the sort of lighthearted tone one might expect from a film scripted by comedy-friendly screenwriters Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, Paul Rudd, and Adam McKay.
The trailer’s debut comes hot on the heels of another promotional video for Ant-Man that arrived online this week. In a faux television news report from “WHIH World News,” actress Leslie Bibb reprises her Iron Man and Iron Man 2 role as reporter Christine Everhart. The clip gives us a special preview of the fictional network’s coverage of the destructive aftermath of the events in Avengers: Age of Ultron, as well as a story on recently released criminal Scott Lang, Rudd’s character in Ant-Man. (You can watch the video below.)
A Twitter account for the WHIH World News also teases that an “exclusive story on Scott Lang” will air July 7, hinting that Marvel Studios has something big coming next week.
Catch our EXCLUSIVE story on #ScottLang Tuesday, July 7th. #WHiH https://t.co/TMGzX6Gr5J
— WHIH News (@WHIHOfficial) July 2, 2015
Along with Rudd, the cast of Ant-Man includes Michael Douglas (Wall Street, The Game), Evangeline Lilly (Lost, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies), Corey Stoll (The Strain, House of Cards), Judy Greer (Archer, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Martin Donovan (Inherent Vice, Insomnia), and Wood Harris (Dredd, Remember the Titans). The film is directed by Bring It On and Yes Man filmmaker Peyton Reed, and serves as the concluding installment of “Phase Two” of Marvel’s cinematic universe.
Ant-Man hits theaters July 17.