History Awesome / AntMan

* The fact that a movie with such a silly premise, and had the baggage of a rather infamous DevelopmentHell surrounding it, was a box office hit. The success of this movie led to Marvel reshuffling Phase Three to include ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' in order to give Peyton Reed a chance to direct an Ant-Man movie that's 100% his vision rather than just salvaging what Edgar Wright left behind.

* Another meta one for Creator/HayleyAtwell and the character of ComicBook/PeggyCarter. This marks her ''sixth'' appearance in the MCU, not counting [[Series/AgentCarter her own show]], with a [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar seventh]] on the way. Without a doubt, she's passed the likes of [[Film/IronMan Phil]] [[Series/AgentsofSHIELD Coulson]] and [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Nick Fury]] in permeability of being in the MCU.

** A large chunk of that is due to Michael Douglas' performance. Once again, Marvel not only gets big-name actors who you would swear would never do a superhero movie, but they turn in a performance just as good as any in a "serious" film. Infusing Hank Pym with the right mix of intellect, arrogance, ego, and heart is no mean feat, and Mr. Douglas did it beautifully, exonerating the character from "Hank Pym Wife Beater."

* Howard gets one in the opening scene as well. When Mitchell mocks Hank for failing to protect Janet, Howard visibly reels in disgust, and after Hank bloodies Mitchell for the insult, Peggy stops the attack while Howard just sits there. And when the bloodied Mitchell shoots him a reproacful look for it, Howards ends him with one line:

-->'''Hank:''' (points to an oil painting on the wall) "I think that will suffice."

* Hank is also CrazyPrepared, revealing that the [[spoiler:tank keychain isn't just a decoration. ''It's an actual tank shrunken to a smaller size.'' This proves instrumental in helping him and Hope escape Cross's vault.]]

* As [[spoiler:Falcon]] is searching for Ant-Man and mentions to someone that they're looking for a guy with powers, they're told they'll have to be more specific, [[spoiler:[[Comicbook/SpiderMan "We got guys who jump, we got guys who swing, we got guys who climb up walls..."]]]]

* Hank's EstablishingCharacterMoment. He barges into a top-level meeting between Howard Stark, Peggy Carter and Mitchell Carson, nonchalantly exposes their attempts to copy his Pym Particles research, introduces Carson's nose to the table when the guy insults his wife, and formally tenders his resignation.

* The fact that a movie with such a silly premise, and had the baggage of a rather infamous DevelopmentHell surrounding it, did well enough to get a 2018 sequel green-lit is a really incredible feat to accomplish. The success of this movie led to Marvel reshuffling Phase Three to include ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' in order to give Peyton Reed a chance to direct an Ant-Man movie that's 100% his vision rather than just salvaging what Edgar Wright left behind.

* The film got a lot of flak early on for having what seemed like a ''really'' stupid premise, since (on paper) shrinking and speaking to insects doesn't look all that impressive compared to other super-powered individuals in the MarvelCinematicUniverse. And then the film shows you precisely how cool fights can be even when you're ant-sized, just what you can do when you control ants, or all the awesome things that can be done with shrinking technology in the right hands - and the awful things that happen with it in the wrong ones...

** Scott's ants in general are awesome. Those little guys are as much of a hero as any Avenger and their assistance almost always helps turn the tide from defeat to victory. This includes Scott's fight with Cross, where even though he keeps knocking them away, they just ''keep coming'', keeping him occupied and more than a few managing to bite into his suit's electronics - if they'd hit anything important, Cross would have been helpless to them at that size. Hank and Hope regard the ants as the suit's greatest power and they're absolutely right. It's the one power Cross's suit lacks ''and that's why he loses.''

* The fact that a movie with such a silly premise, and had the baggage of a rather infamous DevelopmentHell surrounding it, did well enough to get a 2018 sequel green-lit is a really incredible feat to accomplish. In addition, it will be awesome for Peyton to get his chance to direct an Ant-Man movie that's 100% his vision rather than just being known as the guy that salvaged what Edgar Wright left behind.

-->'''Cross:''' Wow. ''Wow.'' *briefly makes a 'not-bad' expression* I mean, I saw that punch coming a mile away, but I expected it would be all pathetic and weak.//

-->'''Cross''': Oh ''wow''. I mean, I saw that punch coming from a mile away, but ''wow'', I expected it to be weak and pathetic!

** The ants in general are awesome. Hank and Hope regard them as Scott's ''greatest'' power, and they're absolutely right. The ability to communicate and control insects is the one power Cross's suit lacks ''and it's why he loses.''
** Scott's ants in general are awesome. Those little guys are as much of a hero as any Avenger and their assistance almost always helps turn the tide from defeat to victory. This includes Scott's fight with Cross, where even though he keeps knocking them away, they just ''keep coming'', keeping him occupied and more than a few managing to bite into his suit's electronics - if they'd hit anything important, Cross would have been helpless to them at that size.

* Also, the film received some more early flak from fans who were less than pleased at the announcement that it would be Scott Lang and not Hank Pym being the main character, the latter instead being relegated to a LegacyCharacter and aged mentor of Scott's. In the film itself however, he has a WAY stronger presence than anticipated with his heroism not only on display in flashbacks and in-universe reel footage as the original Ant-Man, but even in his so-called retirement as he not only masterminds the whole venture but pulls a few awesome stunts with his tech as well (see above). Combine that with a compelling character arc involving him coming to terms with his past and you almost cant tell he's not the main.
* The fact a movie with such a silly premise, and had the baggage of a rather infamous DevelopmentHell surrounding it, did well enough to get a 2018 sequel green-lit is a really incredible feat to accomplish. In addition, it will be awesome for Peyton to get his chance to direct an Ant-Man movie that's 100% his vision rather than just being known as the guy that salvaged what Edgar Wright left behind.

* [[spoiler: Sam Wilson]] being able to time his punch just right to knock out Scott charging him while shrunk.

** Scott's ants in general are awesome. Those little guys are as much of a hero as any Avenger and their assistance almost always helps turn the tide from defeat to victory.
* Cross getting assaulted by numerous Bullet Ants, they buy time for Scott to catch up and Cross is cool in just ripping them apart.

* Hank revealing to Hope [[spoiler:the unfinished second Wasp suit in the mid-credits stinger. We might still get to see the Wasp in action.]]

* Normally, a lead actor taking creative control of a script is a sure sign of WagTheDirector and can garner mixed results (see Edward Norton's control over ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk'' for an example of how things can go wrong). But Paul Rudd, with Adam [=McCay=], managed to do a significant rewrite of Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish's screenplay with lots of input from the rest of the cast, expanding many roles and fully incorporating the film into the MCU, to good reviews and box office results.

* Hank's CharacterEstablishingMoment. He barges into a top-level meeting between Howard Stark, Peggy Carter and Mitchell Carson, nonchalantly exposes their attempts to copy his Pym Particles research, introduces Carson's nose to the table when the guy insults his wife, and formally tenders his resignation.

* The fact a movie with such a silly premise did well enough to get a 2018 sequel green-lit is an incredible feat. And it will be awesome for Peyton to get his chance to direct an Ant-Man movie that's 100% his vision rather than just being known as the guy that salvaged what Edgar Wright left behind.

* In his first mission Scott has to fight [[spoiler: Falcon, who's not only a highly trained soldier with years of combat experience]], but an AVENGER! How do things go? After a comedic but serious fight, Scott wins.