Line #1 Trivia/AntMan1


1	* AbilityOverAppearance: Creator/PaulRudd being cast as Scott Lang means he isn't a redhead like in the comics, but Creator/EdgarWright himself pointed to Rudd's natural charisma which would make Scott likeable despite being a criminal in-story; essentially, he was the natural choice for the role.
2	* ActorSharedBackground: Luis is from a family of Mexican immigrants, just like Creator/MichaelPena.
3	* AuthorsSavingThrow: Early on there were fears that Wasp would be left out of the movie, due to early promotional materials simply listing Janet as believed dead. This turned out to not be the case and it was confirmed that Janet was the Wasp back in the '60s through the '80s. Kevin Feige mended this further by [[http://screenrant.com/marvel-cinematic-universe-wasp-confirmed/ confirming]] that Wasp will appear in the movie and will be seen in the future MCU movies after Creator/EvangelineLilly signed a multi-picture contract with Marvel.
4	* AwesomeDearBoy:
5	** Creator/PeytonReed is a huge Marvel fan and seized the opportunity to direct a film in the MCU even if it meant stepping in at the last minute to take over a project previously helmed by a director with serious geek cred. Before the film's release, he went on the record as saying he'd absolutely direct the sequel, [[Film/AntManAndTheWasp which he did]].
6	** Creator/AdamMcKay was also a big fan of Marvel, and while he didn't step into the director's chair out of respect for Creator/EdgarWright, he was more than willing to work with Creator/PaulRudd to do rewrites for this film. He thoroughly enjoyed his time working on it, and has expressed interest in working with Kevin Feige again, especially where the ''Silver Surfer'' could potentially be involved.
7	* CreatorBacklash: Edgar Wright, the original director of ''Ant-Man'', hasn't watched the film or even the trailer and he says, "It would kind of be like asking me, 'Do you want to watch your ex-girlfriend have sex?' Like, 'No, I'm good.'" Not to mention he hasn't spoken to Peyton Reed, and the last time he ever spoke to him was to tell him not to use his (Wright's) storyboards.
8	* CelebrityVoiceActor: In the Japanese dub, Luis is voiced by comedian Creator/RyuichiKozuki, who some fans of Japanese dramas would recognize him as Frank in the live-action adaptation of ''Literature/OtherworldlyIzakayaNobu''; also, The Wasp is voiced by model Creator/YukiUchida.
9	* TheDanza: In the Latin American Spanish dub, Luis is voiced by the late Creator/LuisAlfonsoMendoza, who both share the same first name.
10	* DeletedScene: [[DeletedScene/MarvelCinematicUniverse See here]].
11	* DevelopmentHell:
12	** The idea of a potential ''Ant-Man'' movie had been kicked around before Marvel had its own movie studio. Once the Marvel Cinematic Universe was founded, there were plans to include him in the Phase One films and be a member of the Avengers. Those plans fell through and he was supposed to have a film in Phase Two instead. The movie was then pushed back to becoming the first part of Phase Three ... until it was decided that this movie would actually be the finale of Phase Two, after ''Age Of Ultron'', and that ''Captain America: Civil War'' would lead Phase Three. In short, its release date didn't change so much as its classification.
13	** The road to production for this film was so convoluted and Marvel was so unsure of it that they only signed Michael Douglas to a single picture deal. It was only after the film turned out to be a success that the studio scrambled to lock Douglas into a multi-picture contract to make sure Hank Pym would continue to make appearances in the MCU.
14	* DuelingWorks: With the 2015 ''Film/{{Fantastic Four\|2015}}'' reboot. To say ''Ant-Man'' [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomped]] ''Fantastic Four'' would be a severe understatement--FF turned out to be the most critically-lambasted superhero movie since ''Film/{{Elektra}}'' and ''Film/{{Catwoman\|2004}}'', and flopped so hard that it crushed any hope of a sequel, along with derailing the director's career. ''Ant-Man'', while still on the lower end of the MCU's usual gross, still did extremely well and critics were generally favorable to it, so much so that when eviscerating FF, they told their audience to watch this movie instead.
15	* DVDCommentary: The Blu-Ray has an audio commentary by Creator/PeytonReed and Creator/PaulRudd, Marvel Studios' first movie commentary to include the lead actor.
16	* DyeingForYourArt: Creator/PaulRudd's been known to show off his "Dad Bod" (not exactly out-of-shape, but carrying more than a little extra weight) but, like many other Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse leading men before him, got absolutely ripped for this film (to the point where the costume department removed much of the fake muscle padding in the suit because he got big enough to show definition naturally).
17	* ExecutiveMeddling:
18	** A number of rewrites from the Marvel Creative Committee occurred, which Creator/EdgarWright and Joe Cornish had no control over. Eventually, Peyton Reed was chosen as director and Adam [=McKay=] was in charge of rewrites.
19	** Wright's departure and Creator/JossWhedon's disillusionment after ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' led Marvel Studios to be reconfigured by Disney into a separate entity from Marvel Entertainment.
20	* ExiledFromContinuity: A case that applied to the Marvel Cinematic Universe was brought to an end by this movie, even though the studio had the rights to said characters. While Creator/EdgarWright was working on the film, he requested that Marvel refrain from using Ant-Man or Wasp until he had finished the movie, which is why they were absent from ''Film/{{The Avengers\|2012}}''. Now that the film has been released, they are free to appear in the MCU. However, he later said he wished for the film to be completely stand-alone with no references to the other films. This did not match the plan for the MCU, so, ultimately, it among other factors led to Wright leaving.
21	* FakeAmerican: Canadian Creator/EvangelineLilly as Hope van Dyne.
22	* FakeRussian: American Creator/DavidDastmalchian portrays Kurt with a very heavy Russian accent in this film, its sequel, and ''[[WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021 What If...?]]''.
23	* IAmNotLeonardNimoy: Many refer to Dave as "T.I.", since he's primarily known as a rapper instead of an actor.
24	* LifeImitatesArt: The Georgia State Archives building, which doubled as the Pym Technologies building, was [[http://www.ajc.com/news/watch-old-georgia-archives-building-imploded/tCNjYjxwzYc1GozLtywLrI/ imploded for real on March 5, 2017]].
25	* ThePeteBest: Hayley Lovitt makes a nonspeaking cameo as Janet van Dyne/Wasp. She was cast for her "saucer-like, Creator/MichellePfeiffer eyes". Guess who played her afterwards?
26	* PromotedFanboy:
27	** Despite not involved in the film anymore after resigning due to disagreements but still given credit for story, screenplay and executive producer, Wright is a big fan of Ant-Man, since he collected comics when he was a kid and owns a copy of ''ComicBook/TalesToAstonish'' #27 (Hank Pym's FirstAppearance) and ''Marvel Premiere'' #47 (Scott Lang's first appearance).
28	** For Peyton Reed, see Awesome, Dear Boy above.
29	* PlayingAgainstType:
30	** Looking at Creator/PeytonReed's resumé, the last thing you'd expect him to direct is a superhero movie, though he was attached to work on ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' (before Tim Story) and was close to directing ''Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy\|2014}}''. Some of his most notable work prior to this was ''Series/TheWeirdAlShow''.
31	** Comedy veteran Creator/PaulRudd and heavy drama veteran Creator/MichaelDouglas in a superhero movie.
32	** Creator/MichaelPena is mainly known for dramatic roles, but plays a more comedic character here.
33	** Creator/AdamMcKay is primarily known for writing grounded, cynical R-rated comedies and the occasional drama, a far cry from the light-hearted tone of a superhero movie.
34	* ReferencedBy: In ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'', one scene sees Mr. Grooberson (played by Creator/PaulRudd) getting a tub of Baskin Robbins ice cream out of a Wal-Mart freezer.
35	* ShowAccuracyToyAccuracy: A number of the toys (including the Marvel Legends figure from Creator/{{Hasbro}}) mistakenly depicted Ant-Man's helmet with an open mouth, much like how it's depicted in the comics. This creates some FridgeLogic issues, since the entire reason the mouth is covered in the movie is so that Ant-Man's lungs don't burst while he's shrinking.
36	* SoMyKidsCanWatch: Creator/MichaelDouglas' reason for being in this film.
37	-->'''Douglas:''' And most importantly, I did it for my children. They’re so excited. I’ve finally got a picture that they are so excited about. Dad is cool. You have to understand, for most of my career, I’ve done so many R-rated pictures. They can never see any of my movies. Just recently, at 14 and 12, they’re becoming more aware of some of the things that I’ve done. So, this is a lot of fun.
38	* StarMakingRole:
39	** Although Creator/PaulRudd was already a recognizable name, this was the film that showed that he had the chops to headline a tent-pole feature that could succeed at the box office.
40	** After starring as Kurt in this film and its sequel, Creator/DavidDastmalchian started getting much beefier roles going forward, most notably Polka-Dot Man in ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'', and Piter De Vries in ''Film/{{Dune\|2021}}.''
41	* ThrowItIn:
42	** ComicBook/TheFalcon's role in the plot came about after Adam [=McKay=] and Paul Rudd went to see ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' and fell in love with the character. They casually suggested working him into the plot, and Creator/KevinFeige informed them that it'd actually make perfect sense since Falcon was now living at the New Avengers compound after the events of ''Age of Ultron''.
43	** Likewise, TheStinger scene tying into ''Civil War'' only came about because Kevin Feige was watching some of the footage from that film while it was still shooting, and decided that having Falcon call Scott for help would be a neat ContinuityNod. "I know a guy" also served as the perfect IronicEcho.
44	** According to Creator/KevinFeige, Creator/PaulRudd was the one who suggested Scott going subatomic and giving a teaser to what the Quantum Realm looks like, long before it would become a plot point in future movies.
45	* TrollingCreator: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQjhJf1R4k4 preview for the first teaser]] was ant-sized ... which is to say that it's almost completely impossible to tell what's going on in it. Luckily, a human-sized trailer went up the next day.
46	* TroubledProduction: If only the pre-production is counted, the movie was locked in DevelopmentHell for the longest time and just as it looked as if the film was ''finally'' going to move into principal photography, Creator/EdgarWright announced that he was leaving the project due to creative differences with Marvel, launching a search for a new director who'd be willing to step in and rush into shooting such a major film. Then Marvel announced that the script was also going to be going through some significant rewrites in the mean time. Fans were concerned, to say the least. But the announcement that Adam [=McKay=] is a creative supervisor while Peyton Reed directs, with the two doing the rewrites with Paul Rudd, assuaged most fears. And filming went smoothly despite a somewhat constrictive deadline (the only real grumbling that came out about the production was Bobby Cannavale complaining about how every scene involved at least some green screen).
47	* UncreditedRole:
48	** Creator/TheRussoBrothers directed the post-credits scene as it is taken from ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar''.
49	** Creator/ChrisEvans and Creator/SebastianStan are uncredited for their cameos as Captain America and Bucky Barnes in the post-credits scene.
50	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
51	** Creator/JosephGordonLevitt met with Creator/MarvelStudios for the part of [[ComicBook/AntMan Scott Lang]] before Creator/PaulRudd was cast. Gordon-Levitt was previously approached for [[ComicBook/StarLord Peter Quill]] in ''Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy\|2014}}''.
52	*** Creator/EwanMcGregor, Creator/AdrienBrody and Creator/SimonPegg were also considered for the role of Scott Lang before the casting of Rudd. [=McGregor=] was later considered for [[ComicBook/DoctorStrange Stephen Strange]] in ''Film/{{Doctor Strange\|2016}}''.
53	** Creator/SteveBuscemi was the first choice for the part of [[ComicBook/AntMan Hank Pym]] before the casting of Creator/MichaelDouglas, but turned down the offer due to scheduling conflicts with ''WesternAnimation/HotelTransylvania2''.
54	*** Creator/PierceBrosnan, Creator/GaryOldman and Creator/SeanBean were considered for Hank Pym as well before the casting of Douglas.
55	** Creator/JessicaChastain was originally offered the role of [[ComicBook/TheWasp Hope Van Dyne]] before Creator/EvangelineLilly was cast, but turned it down due to CreativeDifferences over the script and scheduling conflicts. Chastain would later play [[BigBad Vuk]] in ''Film/DarkPhoenix''.
56	*** Creator/RashidaJones, Creator/BryceDallasHoward and Creator/EmmaStone were also considered for the part of Hope Van Dyne before the casting of Lilly. Howard and Stone previously portrayed Gwen Stacy in the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'' and ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries'' respectively.
57	** Creator/PatrickWilson and Creator/JordanPeele were initially cast as Paxton and a member of Scott's gang, but dropped out of the project due to scheduling commitments and the departure of Creator/EdgarWright.
58	** Creator/AdamMcKay, Creator/RubenFleischer, Creator/RawsonMarshallThurber, Creator/NicholasStoller, [[Film/TheFWord Michael Dowse]] and [[Film/WetHotAmericanSummer David Wain]] were considered as replacements to direct the film before Creator/PeytonReed was hired. [=McKay=] would eventually go on to write the screenplay, while Fleischer went on to helm ''Film/{{Venom\|2018}}'' set within Film/SonysSpiderManUniverse.
59	** Creator/RickMoranis was offered a cameo in which Scott, while wearing the suit for the first time, [[Film/HoneyIShrunkTheKids falls into his bowl of Cheerios.]]
60	** The film was originally going to be the beginning of Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it was eventually changed to become the finale of Phase Two, which is surprising considering that it's directly following an ''Avengers'' movie. In the grand scheme of things, this is a relatively minor change.
61	** In Edgar Wright's drafts, Darren Cross' (who back then was called Greydon Clark) alter ego would have been Nano Warrior, instead of Yellowjacket. The drafts also featured a car chase sequence.
62	** Originally the film was meant to focus on Hank Pym. However, the filmmakers deemed Pym as having a too family-unfriendly history, so it was then decided to focus on Scott Lang, with Pym becoming a mentor and supporting character.
63	** According to Creator/EvangelineLilly is that Hope's role was much smaller in Wright's drafts. It was beefed up significantly during rewrites, with Lilly providing some ideas and input.
64	** Wright's drafts did not include the Wasp, save for a mention from Pym. [[spoiler: Presumably, TheStinger idea with Hope becoming the new Wasp wasn't there either.]]
65	** Scott's brief work at Baskin-Robbins was originally going to be at Chipotle, but the company didn't like their negative portrayal. The filmmakers considered Jamba Juice, then settled on Baskin-Robbins after realizing that the bright colors would be a funny contrast to the dark prison opening.
66	** The ending was supposed to have a showdown between Ant-Man and [[spoiler: Carson]], with Ant-Man defeating him and reclaiming the stolen [[spoiler: sample of Pym Particles]]. The ending was changed to [[spoiler: Carson]] escaping and presumably delivering the sample to [[spoiler: HYDRA]] in order to set up future sequels.
67	** Original plans called for the movie to have a 2.40:1 aspect ratio, which would have made the picture look as wide as all of Marvel Studios' other movies save ''Film/{{The Avengers\|2012}}''. However, Peyton Reed decided that the 1.78:1/1.85:1 aspect ratio of ''The Avengers'' would provide more vertical area, for the shrinking scenes.
68	** Concept art revealed that Arnim Zola was set to appear with Creator/TobyJones reprising the role but the appearance was scrapped.
69	** The Wasp was originally going to wear less silver than the final product, and she wouldn't have had the triangular arch on the top of the costume.
70	** There were two alternate fates suggested for Darren Cross at the end of the film; [[PutOnAPrisonBus one where he's arrested by the authorities]], and one where [[KarmicDeath he was liquified in the same way he disposed of his corporate enemies.]] Ultimately, him shrinking and deforming into nothingness was used in order to leave the door open for future appearances...which ultimately would be taken advantage of in ''Film/AntManAndTheWaspQuantumania''.
71	* WrittenByCastMember: Creator/PaulRudd worked on rewrites with Adam [=McKay=]. Creator/MichaelPena and Creator/EvangelineLilly have said in interviews that many of the actors were consulted on their characters during the rewrite, which resulted in expanded roles.
72	* WordOfGod:
73	** Years after the movie came out, director Peyton Reed stated that Darren Cross [[UncertainDoom may not have actually died]] when Scott seemingly imploded him. He suggests it's possible that he could be [[TrappedInAnotherWorld trapped]] in the [[AcidTripDimension Quantum Realm]]. Presumably, this is to leave the door open for some kind of return if they so choose. Though, [[FateWorseThanDeath it's not like this fate is any better]].''Film/AntManAndTheWaspQuantumania'' would later confirm that he indeed survived his apparent death in this film.
74	** On his Twitter, Peyton Reed also stated that when we see Sam talking to someone on his communicator (asking that Steve not learn about his battle with Scott), he is talking to Natasha.
75	* WordOfSaintPaul: When asked by a fan on Twitter, Creator/DavidDastmalchian claimed that Kurt's last name is [[https://twitter.com/dastmalchian/status/1435965114688155651 Goreshter]], which is in reference to an acting friend of his who has the same last name.
76	* WorkingTitle: ''[=BigFoot=]''.
77	* YouSoundFamiliar:
78	** In the Latin American Spanish dub, Hank Pym is voiced by Creator/JoseLuisOrozco, who dubbed Obadiah Stane back in ''Film/IronMan1''.
79	** Coincidentally, the European French dub did something similar given that both characters were voiced by the late Creator/PatrickFloersheim.

Context Trivia / AntMan1