Paul Rudd is the Only Reason Some Fans Like the ‘Ant-Man’ Movies

Nobody doesn’t like Paul Rudd. It may come as a surprise to some people that even with Rudd in them, the Ant-Man movies aren’t among the favorites. 

The first Ant-Man came five years ago this month, and it’s like the (relatively) little Marvel Cinematic Universe movie that could. The idea of it struck some fans as implausible for the movies, but it won most fans over, and that was considered a victory after a difficult birth.

Still, there are some fans who feel that Rudd aside, Ant-Man is not Marvel at its best.

How did the ‘Ant-Man’ movies do? 

Paul Rudd | Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images

The idea of an Ant-Man movie struck even some Marvel devotees as silly. A silly character like that may be fine for the comics. After all, there was Howard the Duck. But an Ant-Man movie? That will never fly, some people that. After all, there was Howard the Duck, one of the most notorious flops of the 1980s. 

Then came word that Edgar Wright, the acclaimed director of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, was going to make the movie. His energetic, quirky style seemed ideally suited to an oddball character like Ant-Man, so if anyone could make the movie work, it was Wright, whose distinct style would have been a breath of fresh air for Marvel

Then, Wright departed the project, citing “creative differences” with Marvel. The studio soldiered on, and the movie they made with director Peyton Reed surprised and delighted many people 

It made $180 million according to The Numbers, which is on the low end for Marvel, but it was better than many expected. The sequel, 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp, did better, if not significantly so, making $216 million. 

Why do some fans not care for ‘Ant-Man?’ 

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Although the Ant-Man movies have been generally well-liked, they don’t tend to fall at or near the top of most MCU rankings. A Reddit forum commemorating the release of the first movie saw a lot of “thanks but no thanks” kind of feedback. 

“I think it’s a decent movie. It’s nothing to write home about. There’s some funny jokes and interesting action scenes, but the story is nothing new and the directing is bland. It would’ve been a billion times better if they kept Wright,” one fan wrote. 

Another fan cited Rudd as the movies’ saving grace, saying, “I originally loved this movie but with time I realized it was just because of Paul Rudd. Both ant man movies have been lacking. I really hope the rumors about ant man 3 being a big movie and setting up young avengers is true because it could be a movie that has real impact and not just filler movies.”

Will there be ‘Ant Man 3?’

As that fan mentioned, there will be an Ant-Man 3 at some point. Although Ant-Man ended up playing a pivotal role in Avengers: Endgame, the massive success of that movie seemed to drown Ant-Man talk  out. There was speculation that even if a third Ant-Man movie got made, it would end up on Disney+ to start. 

IMDB lists Ant-Man 3 as having a 2022 release date, and that seems far enough off that the pandemic might not delay it, although the entire Disney schedule should be considered fluid. That said,  According to Screen Rant, Michael Douglas promised that there would be an update on the movie in the near future, so  the project is a go. 

If that doesn’t strike some Marvel fans as great news, there’s always Paul Rudd. The ongoing joke about him is that he never ages, so even if some fans think Ant-Man is old news, Paul Rudd seemingly never will be.