Will Ant-Man prove a Sleeper?

If you spent the last few months in a cave, allow me to inform you that the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) announced last fall their “Phase Three” line up for the next few years.

 Phase One refers to the first six movies that Marvel released, to include Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2 (the only disappointment so far), Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers.

Phase Two, in which we currently sit, includes Iron Man 3 (the best one so far), Thor: The Dark World, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers 2: Age of Ultron, and Ant-Man.

(You could argue that the television shows Agents of S.H.E.L.D. and Agent Carter fit into this lineup and will likely continue to do so in Phase Three.)

Note that the last two movies on the Phase Two list (Ultron and Ant-Man) will hit theaters this summer. These two films serve as the main focus of this post, but let’s return to them after a peek at Phase Three, which includes:

Captain America: Civil War—May 6^th 2016

Doctor Strange------------------November 4^th 2016

Guardians of the Galaxy 2-----May 5^th 2017

Thor: Ragnarok-----------------July 28^th 2017

Black Panther------------------November 3^rd 2017

Avengers: Infinity War Part One—May 4^th 2018

Captain Marvel (first female lead) July 6^th 2018

Inhumans------------------------November 2^nd 2018

Avengers: Infinity War Part Two—May 3^rd 2018

MCU also recently reacquired the cinematic rights to Spider-Man, who will appear in Civil War before he gets his own movie, expected in 2017.

Let’s look at Ant-Man and why I suspect it’ll turn out a sleeper movie.

I don’t mean to suggest a “sleeper” as in “in will put the audience to sleep,” but rather an incredible movie that fails to promote itself so it can surprise its audience.

Think of those “sleeper cars” that look as if they won’t make it to the end of the block—until their drivers challenge you to a race. Only then do you discover the super cars cunningly hidden under those rusty hoods.

Why would a production company deliberately downplay its film? Wouldn’t the producers want to fill as many theater seats as possible come opening night?

Of course, but Marvel managed to earn enough respect that people will go see Ant-Man even if Marvel never breathes a word beyond Ant-Man’s release date. They can afford to play coy.

MCU seems to direct everyone’s attention towards Avengers: Age of Ultron and . . . perhaps not “away” from Ant-Man so much as “towards it but with a moderate level of enthusiasm.”

This makes a certain amount of sense. Fans expect Ultron to provide Phase Two’s biggest bang for their buck. The question that nags at me remains: Why wouldn’t MCU end Phase Two with Ultron, end on a high note?

MCU ended Phase One with the first Avengers movie. Why wouldn’t they end Phase Two with their second Avengers movie?

Ultron and Ant-Man will hit theaters in fewer than two months from each other. It seems unlikely, in light of those release dates, that MCU experienced any problems that forced them to release Ultron first and Ant-Man second.

Furthermore, in most of Marvel’s storylines, Ultron’s villain rises from Ant-Man’s actions. This means that Marvel either introduces Ant-Man in Ultron only to give him his own movie afterwards or that MCU deliberately changed their storyline.

They wouldn’t change the storyline without a reason. Something seems to brew here.

My guess, fueled, admittedly, by hopeful thoughts, leans towards the idea that MCU plans to end Phase Two with a surprise, that Ant-Man stands Phase Two’s greatest achievement (and who would expect that?).

I predict that while moviegoers recover from Ultron, MCU will sucker punch them with this unexpected success.

Prove me right, Marvel.

Thanks for reading.

Daughters of Darkwana received a sweet, succinct review, which you can read here, http://www.thebookeaters.co.uk/daughters-of-darkwana-by-martin-wolt-jr/

         Also, the third book in my series, Diaries of Darkwana, will hit Kindle just as soon as I find a new cover artist. I have a few candidates already, thank goodness.

I publish my blogs as follows:

Sundays: Movie reviews at moviesmartinwolt.blogspot.com

Mondays: Short stories at martinwolt.blogspot.com

Tuesdays: A look at the politics of the entertainment world at EntertainmentMicroscope.blogspot.com.

Wednesdays: An inside look at my novels (such as Daughters of Darkwana, which you can now find on Kindle) at Darkwana.blogspot.com

Thursdays: Tips to improve your fiction at FictionFormula.blogspot.com