The following contains minor spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp.

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe has seen success after success in its 10-year history thanks to the “Marvel formula,” but in the case of Ant-Man and the Wasp, the formula is what made the sequel one of the MCU’s worst movies.

Following in the action comedy footsteps established by the early Phase 1 installments, particularly Iron Man, the MCU quickly earned itself a consistent look and feel referred to by many as the “Marvel formula.” Maintaining a similar tone and aesthetic across the franchise didn’t only help maintain audience expectations about what they’d get when sitting down for a Marvel movie, but ensured that regular crossovers could easily be achieved across multiple sub-franchises.

It’s hard to argue with the MCU’s success, both critical and financial, but the Marvel formula often comes under fire from detractors for valuing “fun” of drama or more serious stakes. The likes of Thor: Ragnarok certainly could have been a darker apocalyptic fantasy epic, yet Taika Waititi’s more comedic direction provided a film many see as one of the franchises best.

Ironically, the case with Ant-Man and the Wasp is the exact opposite. Where the Marvel formula usually causes drama to be substituted for humor, Ant-Man and the Wasp actually felt like it wasn’t as funny as it should have been, with the Marvel formula forcing a movie that works better as a straight-up comedy into the more serious action comedy (an action movie with jokes, not a comedy with action) trappings of the MCU.

  • This Page: Ant-Man and the Wasp Has The MCU’s Worst Villain Page 2: Ant-Man and the Wasp’s Marvel Tone Actually Hurt the Comedy

Ant-Man and the Wasp Has The MCU’s Worst Villain

 

The MCU is frequently derided for its subpar villains. More recent installments, particularly Avengers: Infinity War, have gone a long way to improve on this point, but, unfortunately, Ant-Man and the Wasp takes two giant steps back, introducing a collection of villains that just might be the MCU’s worst.

That doesn’t mean there’s no potential there. Walton Goggins’s Sonny Burch (and his mysterious boss) was more than enough of a threat for a traditional comedy, and his confrontation with Luis and the rest of the X-Con Security Consultants is likely the funniest scene in the whole movie, but the addition of Ghost and Dr. Bill Foster distract from that by adding an unnecessarily shallow comic book villain to the fold.

While Ghost’s backstory could have provided the depth lacking in most MCU villains, her darker backstory clashed with the rest of the film’s comedy - a tone Sonny Burch fit much better - and the crowded villain space didn’t even leave enough time to develop her backstory anyway, leaving fans to infer the rest of her history from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..

Removing Ghost from the story clearly deprives the movie of some of its action, but the best action scenes were during the car chase in the 3rd act anyway, proving a supernatural foe isn’t necessary to present an exciting challenge to the size changing superheroes. Or, if that is an element Marvel wants to retain, simply give the phasing ability to some of Burch’s henchmen, eliminating the need for a convoluted backstory.

Page 2 of 2: Ant-Man and the Wasp’s Marvel Tone Actually Hurt the Comedy

The Marvel Tone Actually Hurt the Comedy

While criticism of the Marvel formula usually cites the added comedy of “fun” as a hindrance to the potential drama, in the case of Ant-Man and the Wasp, the action-comedy genre actually prevented the movie from reaching its comedic potential. It’s abundantly clear that a number of scenes were filmed with a much more improvisational approach on set, but when those scenes are edited in a more straightforward fashion, it leads to jokes falling flat and exposition (that could have been interesting due to fun banter) simply dragging. Remembering that Edgar Wright was originally supposed to make the first Ant-Man only makes that a more difficult pill to swallow.

And it’s not an insult to the cast or crew. The actors are all very talented and funny, and Peyton Reed has the comedy chops to make it all work, but the adherence to the Marel style prevents it from going full tilt comedy where all its assets could truly shine. Unfortunately, while a more comedic Ant-Man and the Wasp might be the better version of the film, some could see it as a barrier to true crossover come Avengers 4. If the last we saw of Scott Lang and company was a movie that fully embraced the comedy genre, would it really feel right for him to stand shoulder to shoulder with other Avengers who just fought Thanos the Mad Titan in Wakanda.

Shared Universes vs Stand-Alone Movies

Given the scale and expectations of Avengers 4, it makes sense that Marvel Studios would prioritize its tone and story to match crossovers over the smaller spin-off, especially when Ant-Man and the Wasp establish a number of story elements that could ultimately play a major role in Thanos’ defeat.

As we saw with Avengers: Infinity War, the shared universe format can build up to some epic stories, but there have always been concerns that it could compromise some smaller entries for the sake of the larger universe and major crossovers. Ant-Man and the Wasp is one such casualty.

After most comic-book franchises tried to adapt to the shared universe model, several are now moving away. The X-Men franchise basically stopped trying to maintain continuity and DC is introducing a non-DCEU continuity called DC Dark or DC Black through the Joaquin Phoenix Joker movie. Marvel continuity has always been more fractured, but the characters owned by Marvel Studios aren’t likely to see that kind of experimentation any time soon, even if some Marvel characters, like Venom, are getting more diverse under the Sony banner.

While some fans would have preferred to see a darker Tony Stark that depicts his struggles with alcohol in Iron Man 2  or Iron Man 3, an Edgar Wright-directed Ant-Man, or a more serious Thor: Ragnarok, the Marvel formula forces all movies under its umbrella to meet closer to the middle. Sometimes that formula works brilliantly, other times it hinders the movie, but it’s all in favor of the quality of the larger universe and crossovers.

So, while Ant-Man and the Wasp didn’t meet its full potential as a stand-alone movie, it does serve as an exciting prelude to Avengers 4, which, if it can meet the expectations set by Avengers: Infinity War, could be one of the biggest blockbusters ever. So long as the franchise continues to pay off for Marvel Studios, don’t expect to see them shake up the formula too much. However, if audiences start to tire of the MCU, maybe Marvel will start to allow movies to experiment a little more.

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