To Market An Ant-Man

To Market An Ant-Man

With the recent success of Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel Studios will now have to figure out how to market the upcoming Ant-Man film. Can it be a similar success or will it prove to be their first flop? More on the matter after the jump.

Editorial Opinion
By TheArchivist - Sep 01, 2014 03:09 PM EST
Filed Under: Ant-Man
Source: The Archive
 photo 101-ToMarketAnAnt-Man_zps4d76b5dc.jpg


To Market An Ant-Man
With the recent success of Guardians of the Galaxy, one must wonder what this could mean for Marvel Studio’s next big gamble, Ant-Man. While one would assume that Marvel Studio as a brand has evolved to prove enough boost for any film franchise they will release, there is still a level of uncertainty due to the character. How do you sell or market Ant-Man? The original Ant-Man, Hank Pym invented a particle, which allows him to change his size at will and a helmet that allows him to communicate with ants. Not only will a few people be questioning the effectiveness of such a character when his future teammates consist of a super soldier, the strongest there is, a god and a man in a heavily armored suit,. but how will this character work on screen? Due to Honey, I Shrunk The Kids being a hit in theaters over two decades ago, we can believe that a person can change size and be effectively displayed on screen. But how will it work for a superhero? In a strange way, Marvel Studios and Edgar Wright already proved that it was possible due to test footage released not too long ago, as he stated he was waiting for technology to reach this exact point.


 photo Picture1_zps65d821da.png

Then Wright left the project in May 2014 due to artistic differences with the company. It took them over a month to find a suitable replacement in time with Peyton Reed. While also having Adam McKay rewrite the script. This was a tough blow towards Marvel Studios as the only reason this film exists is due to Wrights ideas. As outsiders, we might never know the exact details of what transpired, it still is a huge loss on both accounts. Yet the film is still slated for July 17th, 2015 with Paul Rudd starring as Scott Lang, Michael Douglas as Dr. Henry Pym and Evangeline Lilly as his daughter, Hope Van Dyne. The villain for the film will be Darren Cross, who will be portrayed by Corey Stoll, who will also be an amalgam of the character in the comics and Yellowjacket, a persona of Henry Pym after he lost his mind.
 

 photo Picture3_zps77ee794e.png

An important thing to note is that the film will be released on July 17th, which is slightly more than a month after Avengers: Age of Ultron. This is the closest two Marvel Studios films have been released and they might have an interesting reason for doing so. The studio is counting on the success of the Avengers sequel to combat that of the first, so by adding an after-credit sequence that promotes Ant-Man would likely be an effective promotion of the film. Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier each had the first after-credit sequence to promote the second film that would follow after its release. The Dark World gave us a sneak peak at the Collector, while Captain America showed the twins from Age of Ultron. Strangely enough, Guardians of the Galaxy had none that marketed future films. This may be the result that Ant-Man had yet to start production and there was no footage yet to use. Still, if they aim to successfully market Ant-Man to a wider audience, there is no better place than an Avengers sequel.
 

 photo Picture2_zps9340993f.jpg

It could be marketed in a similar way to Guardians, as the trailers made fun of the fact that no one really knew who Star-Lord was. Ant-Man is a comedic concept and playing with that element could help the film. In addition, it keeps up with the trend of trying to establish each franchise as something more than a simple superhero film. With Scott Lang being a con man, it probably would sell as a very interesting interpretation of a heist film. Make people believe that a man can shrink to an ant and break into any place he desires. Furthermore, Lang is a family man, or to be exact, a single father. That aspect is intriguing, as up until this point all superheroes had no true family at stake. Stark’s father already passed away before the film began, we never met Rogers family or that of Bruce Banner. It is a different dynamic similar to how people were fascinated by the brotherhood between Thor and Loki. How would this kind of man affect his life with this daughter? Looking at the diversity the character of Scott Lang offers, it seems a natural fit to make him the central character. As has filming just recently begun, it is unclear what is heading our way or what plans Marvel Studios has prepared, but who knows how this project will develop from this point on.

After a longer hiatus than planned I am glad to be back writing! - The Archivist

What is your opinion on the matter? What do you believe they will do to market the film? Any thoughts on Ant-Man? Will the depature of Edgar Wright affect the film's success in any way? Leave a comment below!
ANT-MAN Star Evangeline Lilly Says She Has No Contractual Obligations Following Decision To Quit Acting
Related:

ANT-MAN Star Evangeline Lilly Says She Has No "Contractual Obligations" Following Decision To Quit Acting

ANT-MAN Star Evangeline Lilly Confirms She's Stepping Away From Acting - What Does This Mean For The Wasp?
Recommended For You:

ANT-MAN Star Evangeline Lilly Confirms She's Stepping Away From Acting - What Does This Mean For The Wasp?

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.

This post was submitted by a user who has agreed to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. ComicBookMovie.com will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. Please CONTACT US for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content. CLICK HERE to learn more about our copyright and trademark policies.

Note that ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

Dingbat
Dingbat - 9/1/2014, 3:47 PM
Nothing out of the ordinary is required. People will probably flock to see it regardless of quality because it has Marvel above the title. They've made it a known brand so people will see it out of recognition.

Nobody knew who the Guardians of the Galaxy were but that didn't matter. Market Ant-man the same way.
Dingbat
Dingbat - 9/1/2014, 3:48 PM
Also, it has well known actors.
batz11
batz11 - 9/1/2014, 4:04 PM
Great points, enjoyed the read...
GiantNerd
GiantNerd - 9/1/2014, 8:48 PM


Just put this in the trailer and you're golden. Marvel Studios is the standard.
ScottMontgomery
ScottMontgomery - 9/1/2014, 9:58 PM
It's always nice when there are comments longer than the actual article ^
Dingbat
Dingbat - 9/1/2014, 10:08 PM
@dethpillow

Good word of mouth always helps too. That's why Spider-man didn't make as much as he could have but make no mistake, $700 million is a very good haul. A big reason why TASM2 made this much money even though it wasn't great was because Spider-man is recognizable. I don't know if Ant-man will be as big a hit as guardians but it will be profitable for the studio. It's budget is probable between $100 million and $200 million, with an advertising cost of around $75 million to $100 million. A Marvel Studios film Starring Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas will easily make that back and then some.
staypuffed
staypuffed - 9/1/2014, 11:09 PM
@ScottMontgomery
That's dethpillow for you.
tonytony
tonytony - 9/1/2014, 11:34 PM
if gotg can be hyped into a hit then so can ant man
Snotzo
Snotzo - 9/2/2014, 12:22 AM
Heist/caper movies are hardly ever blockbusters, the few exceptions are Fast 5 and Inception. Marvel has its work cut out for them. I hope they pull it off. But soar or sink, I'll be there opening weekend.
MightyZeus
MightyZeus - 9/2/2014, 1:36 AM
I'm sure people will have more interest in this if there's a trailer and when people see the "Marvel Studios" logo attached to it.

Also, word of mouth after seeing the film will get people excited for Ant-Man.
marvel72
marvel72 - 9/2/2014, 3:23 AM
if marvel can sell guardians of the galaxy to the masses,ant-man won't be a problem.
DEVLIN712
DEVLIN712 - 9/2/2014, 5:32 AM
Title alone was worthy of a thumbs up, great reference. The film will be marketed heavily along with the Avengers, especially with it only being a month after Age of Ultron.
DEVLIN712
DEVLIN712 - 9/2/2014, 5:32 AM
Great article @TheArchivist!
View Recorder