Marvel is currently dominating the box office. Avengers: Infinity War is the biggest domestic and global opening weekend ever, and will undoubtedly accrue a massive box office haul (they will definitely be blamed for some other tent pole blanking this summer, because they hogged all the money or whatever), and Black Panther is still in theaters, still sitting in the TOP FIVE at the box office. Marvel’s domination is total and complete. And they’re not done! The sprinkles on their movie-cake is Ant-Man and the Wasp, which just released a second trailer.
I like the look of this one WAY more than first. The visual gags are GREAT. I like the implication that an Ant-Man without a Wasp is a waste and the whole point is the partnership. I like Evangeline Lilly’s strut as the Wasp. And I really like that this trailer outlines the conflict with the villain, the Ghost, and we get a sense of what Ant-Man and the Wasp are up against. They’re not giving anything away, of course not, but at least this time I can identify the villain. Also, it will for sure be less catastrophic than Infinity War, and it’s a nice reminder that Marvel movies aren’t usually in the business of ruining your day. We have a year until Avengers 4, this is a nice way to break the tension. As usual, Marvel is out here out-strategizing everyone else.
I’m not saying Ant-Man is anyone’s favorite Avenger, or that Ant-Man and the Wasp will top the cultural and thematic highs of Black Panther, or the sheer pop culture bonanza that is Infinity War. But there are a few things to watch with this movie. For one, how big will the Infinity War bounce be? Ant-Man pulled in just over $500 million, and the sequel will definitely do more business than that. They’re going to get a boost from the renewed interest of casual movie-goers, it’s just a matter of how big. Which leads to the follow up—we live in a world where ANT-MAN may well out-earn the Justice League. It was one thing when Thor did it, at least he’s a main Avenger. But Ant-Man? To be beat by f*cking ANT-MAN? Do you ever really recover from that?
