On 'Ant-Man' and Other Things

We're smack-dab in the middle of summer, and if you're in the 26-35 age range, you've probably attended a wedding or 10 over the past few weeks. I've had my fair share thus far — lavish affairs that have taught me how to perform "The Wobble" and that I neither want to "Whip" nor "Nay Nay" at any point in my adult life.

Amidst the craziness joyfulness, I somehow happened to catch Ant-Man during its opening weekend, and ever since, I've planned on writing it up. Then Batman: Arkham Knight happened. And now we're here, two weeks later, and you've probably already seen it. So it goes.

Perhaps knowing that it would be a Herculean effort to get me to sit at a computer during my "free time," I posted the following mini-review on Twitter as the credits rolled in the theater:

#AntMan is ridiculous in all of the right ways. If you dug #GuardiansOfTheGalaxy, you're in for a treat.

— James Wortman (@JamesWortman) July 17, 2015

I feel the same way now as I did way back then and, upon further reflection, I've come to appreciate more and more that this is a comparably small-scale (ha!) story compared to the more sweeping narratives of the Avengers films or Guardians of the Galaxy. Paul Rudd is impressive in the same way that Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Pratt were transformed into action heroes as Iron Man and Star-Lord respectively, and the final action sequence between Ant-Man and the villainous Yellowjacket (Corey Stoll) is one of the most surreal action sequences in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Also, even though Rudd's character Scott Lang is the heroic master thief in the film, it's  Michael Peña's Luis who hilariously steals every scene that he's in throughout this movie. A good supporting cast is essential in a Marvel movie. Just ask Agents Coulson and Carter.

Now that Ant-Man has successfully crawled out of the woodwork, here's my revised ranking of Marvel Cinematic Universe films that have been released thus far. Feel free to question my judgment! I do it almost every day.

12) The Incredible Hulk
11) Iron Man 2
10) Thor: The Dark World
9) Iron Man 3
8) The Avengers: Age of Ultron
7) Thor
6) Ant-Man
5) Captain America: The First Avenger
4) Captain America: The Winter Solder
3) Guardians of the Galaxy
2) Iron Man
1) The Avengers

'The Red Capes Are Coming': New 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' Trailer Debuts

I'm not gonna lie: I haven't been impressed by anything we've seen about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice thus far. But then I saw the trailer that premiered at San Diego Comic-Con. I'm sold.

I like that the over-the-top destruction in the final battle of Man of Steel serves as a catalyst for Bruce Wayne's mistrust of Superman, and I actually dig Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor a LOT more than I thought I would. Love it or hate it, but Zack Snyder has just given the geek world much to debate, dissect and possibly even get excited about.

'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' SDCC Footage Might Make You Cry

If you're a lifelong Star Wars geek, it's hard not to get emotional when viewing the behind-the-scenes Star Wars: The Force Awakens footage that debuted at Comic-Con International in San Diego. Maybe it's the fact that J.J. Abrams and his crew clearly value practical effects above digital wizardry, or perhaps it's because it's proof positive that Disney really cares about fleshing out George Lucas' galaxy far, far away. Regardless, I love this footage, and December 18 can't come soon enough.

New 'Ghostbusters' Team Assembles in Cast Photo

#whoyougonnacall pic.twitter.com/hnrSjhCqSl

— Paul Feig (@paulfeig) July 10, 2015

Through social media, Paul Feig has shown us the new suits, the new proton packs and the new Ecto-1. Now, the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot director has tweeted out the first official look at Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kriten Wiig and Kate McKinnon together and suited up to take on some Class 5 Full-Roaming Vapors.

I'm not going to rant about how this reboot somehow ruins the original film — everything 80s is getting remade at this point — but I still don't understand why this couldn't have been linked to the original films in at least a tenuous way. For example, let's say the Ghostbusters were franchised, and after nearly three decades of immense success, there are seemingly no more ghosts to catch and this crew is the last remaining regional branch. A new supernatural threat arises, and they're the only ones left that can deal with it. Boom. Done. I'm instantly more interested.

Still, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least interested in this movie at this point, and I'm actually curious to see what the first trailer looks like. What do you guys think?

Marisa Tomei is the New Aunt May

Imagine you're a mutated spider. You're crawlin' along, you get hungry, you spot a nerdy, little teenager. You put your little spider lips down to his cool, soft skin ... BAM!

Sorry, but the latest Spider-Man casting news required at least one My Cousin Vinny joke on my part. Variety reports that Oscar-winning actress Marisa Tomei will play Aunt May in Marvel Studios and Sony's forthcoming Spider-Man reboot. Tomei will star alongside 19-year-old Tom Holland, who was recently announced as Marvel's new Peter Parker. Obviously, with Tomei just entering her 50s, we're skewing younger all around, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

You can next see Tomei in Amy Schumer's Trainwreck, which hits theaters next week. For the full story on this Spider-Man casting, head over to Variety by clicking here.

'Lego Movie' Directors to Construct Han Solo Spinoff

Everything is awesome ... especially when you're the captain of the Millennium Falcon.

Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, the team behind The Lego Movie and the 21 Jump Street films, will be taking their talents to that galaxy far, far away with a Star Wars Han Solo spinoff film, which will hit theaters on May 25, 2018.

The film, written by Lawrence Kasdan and Jon Kasdan, will focus on a young Solo, and will be under the Star Wars Anthology banner along with Rogue One, which is set for release on Dec. 16, 2016.

For the full story on the Han Solo spinoff, head over to The Hollywood Reporter.