Will the Ten Rings Have a Presence in Ant-Man?

Every Marvel fan has their eyes fixed on their next blockbuster Avengers: Age of Ultron which has left July's Ant-Man taking a backseat in every aspect. The movie will focus on Marvel's smallest Avenger and take place at a simultaneous time with Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Ant-Man has been highly scrutinized since the departure of Edgar Wright. The trailer also got mixed reactions online with fans wanting a better tone and have been afraid how this new property will connect to the rest of the MCU.

It seems the connections will take place largely with the use of flashbacks and scenes involving a young Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), Howard Stark (John Slattery), and Hank Pym, which could make for a good mini series in its own right.

There was also the above photo that revealed an easter egg connecting the film to The Incredible Hulk and Bruce Banner's former job. The official Ant-Man IMDB page has revealed another possible connection to the MCU.

Rod Hallett is credited as playing a member of the Ten Rings organization, which first appeared in Iron Man and was responsible for the kidnapping and origin story for Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr). The organization was idle for a few years in the MCU before returning in All Hail the King and giving Ant-Man the stage to possibly tease the real Mandarin would certainly be a surprise.

Connecting Ant-Man and possibly Pym Technologies to the Ten Rings would be very interesting and give the movie another tie to please fans. Marvel needs a really good second trailer and promotional materials to get movie fans of all kinds excited for this movie. Paul Rudd's Ant-Man figures to be more than just a one movie wonder so fans need to get on board right away.

Any way that Marvel can show Marvel fanatics and casual moviegoers alike that this movie is connected to the MCU needs to be used.

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Ant-Man Teaser Trailer Debuts- What We Learned

Along with the premiere of Agent Carter, Marvel finally released the first teaser trailer for the final film in Phase 2, Ant-Man. After a directing change thanks to the departure of Edgar Wright, Peyton Reed was brought on board to direct the movie about Marvel's smallest Avenger.

Paul Rudd will star in the movie as Scott Lang who will become the tiny hero after being mentored by Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Lang will be tasked with stopping Darren Cross aka Yellowjacket (Corey Stoll) and may have the help of Pym's daughter Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) who may just become the Wasp.

Check out screenshots from the teaser trailer below as well as some analysis on what they might mean.

The above image shows what appears to be the initial arrest of Scott Lang (Paul Rudd). What Lang is being arrested for as of this moment is a mystery but he does have a history as a criminal when the movie begins. This is likely the incident that gets him taken to prison. Many are speculating that it will be Seagate Prison, but that cannot be confirmed.

One thing that many were waiting for in the teaser was the debut of the Ant-Man suit worn by Lang and the suit and its powers in action. This shot above is likely the first time Lang sees the suit. The two images below feature Lang in the suit at his normal size and then at the small size.

This shot below is one of the first things we see in the trailer. With a voice over by Michael Douglas, we see his character, Hank Pym, monitoring many screens. He says he has been watching Lang for a while and it appears he is watching his arrest on a few of the screens. The side screens and the topmost screen are incredibly interesting. A few have speculated that these could be Pym Particles and does seem plausible.

We knew that Hank Pym would recruit Lang into becoming the Ant-Man but the screen below seems to indicate the Pym is the reason he gets released from prison. It would make sense as to why Lang, a known criminal, would all of a sudden feel compelled to listen to Pym.

This is just the first of many sequences that will appear in the movie where Ant-Man will utilize the ability to control ants. While this exact shot may be concept footage over a year old, the style and content will be replicated.

This shot gives us our close up look at the Ant-Man suit and Paul Rudd in it. 

When Evangeline Lilly joined the cast of Ant-Man as Hope Van Dyne many hoped she would eventually become the Wasp. While that is not clear in the teaser, what kind of role she will have is also a mystery. This shot shows her with a gun in a building with mostly glass walls. Who she is pointing the gun at? Well that might be answered if you keep reading.

During the teaser we get a shot of Hope working on her fighting skills and delivering a kick in the side to a male sparring partner. Based on the setting and where Lang is treating an injury, that sparring partner is him. Is he training her or is the daughter of Hank Pym helping train her father's predecessor?

This shot below featuring Corey Stoll as Darren Cross is where the previous shot of Hope with a gun may come into play. Cross appears to be trapped in a room with glass walls. Did Hope trap him in there in an effort to help Lang steal the Ant-Man suit? We will have to wait and see.

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Marvel Weekly News #12

This week's Marvel news was not near as big as the past few weeks. We got news that one of the Ant-Man cast members have finished filming, a new episode of Agents of SHIELD that answered a few questions, and a new villain in Captain America: Civil War and possibly Doctor Strange.

Michael Douglas Done Filming

Michael Douglas, who is playing Hank Pym, revealed on his Facebook page that he has finished filming his part in Ant-Man. Ant-Man began filming in August which means Douglas filmed his entire part in around three months. It is possible he might have to come back to do some re-shoots but for now it looks like Michael Douglas is done filming.

Agents of SHIELD EP 7

"The Writing on the Wall" premiered this past Tuesday and it was arguably the best episode yet. The episode got us closer to the answer of what the mysterious markings are. Read our full review of the episode here.

Villain Cast in Civil War and Doctor Strange

The last bit of news this week was Marvel announcing that Daniel Bruhl has been cast in Captain America: Civil War. They did not reveal his role but other news outlets have gotten bits and pieces. Deadline revealed that Bruhl will playing a villain in film. Variety reported that Bruhl's character will not be the main villain in Captain America: Civil War but that he could potentially be the main villain in Doctor Strange. 

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Marvel Weekly News #6

This was a busy week for Marvel news. We got new casting news for Agent Carter and Agents of SHIELD. There were also casting rumors for Luke Cage and Doctor Strange. We also got news about some possible cameos in Agents of SHIELD, Mockingbird being promoted, and a look at Hank Pym's company.

Agent Carter Now Filming

The highly anticipated eight episode Agent Carter series started filming early this week. Hayley Atwell will star in the series but we also got news of another familiar face returning to the show. Marvel announced that Dominic Cooper will reprise his role as Howard Stark in the Agent Carter television series.

New Characters Coming to Agent of SHIELD?

Marvel is trying to drive up viewership for Agents of SHIELD and one of the best ways to do it is to incorporate more Marvel characters. This week speculation that characters like Speedball and Hercules could make an appearance in the show. Fran Kranz, who has worked with Whedon on many projects, tweeted (and then deleted) this week that Robbie Baldwin is coming to Agents of SHIELD. Marvel has also added Maya Stojan as Agent 33 in the show. In the comics Agent 33 is the one who recruits Hercules to join the Avengers.

Ant-Man has Lots of Grey

An interview done by Corey Stoll became popular this week in which he talked about the grey areas of Ant-Man. Stoll told Clevver Movies that everyone in the movie is in shades of grey. He also said that Yellowjacket is not the traditional villain and that he does not really know that he is a villain. Could this mean that Yellowjacket could turn into a hero down the road?

Pym Technologies Logo

This week an extra on Ant-Man decided to post a picture of him in costume on Instagram. Unfortunately for him, he has been fired. The picture was a bit revealing. As you can see, the picture revealed the name and logo of Hank Pym's company, Pym Technologies. This is the first look we have gotten for anything from the set of Ant-Man.

Episode 2 of Agents of SHIELD

Agents of SHIELD continues to push forward in its second season. This week gave us "Heavy Is The Head", where we saw the team hunt down the Absorbing Man. You can read our full review of the episode here which also includes a preview for next week's episode.

Tim DeKay Joins Agents of SHIELD

Marvel continues to add to the Agents of SHIELD season 2 cast this week by adding the brother of ex-HYDRA agent Grant Ward. Tim DeKay will join the show in episode 6 as Senator Christian Ward. Do you think he will be a friend or foe of SHIELD?

Mockingbird Moving to Big Screen?

Adrianne Palicki's Agents of SHIELD debut is quickly approaching. She has been asked many questions about what exactly her role will be and while we know she will start off as a member of HYDRA, many of us want the folks at Marvel to move her to the big screen. According to Palicki, that has been discussed and continues to be discussed. I would love Palicki to be in Avengers: Age of Ultron or Captain America 3, what would you like?

Dule Hill as Luke Cage?

One of the weirdest rumors of the week came courtesy of a user on ComicBookMovie.com. The user "rageduck" claimed to have inside sources who told him that the star of Psych, Dule Hill, had been cast as Luke Cage for Marvel's upcoming Netflix series. The casting seemed strange at the time and within 12 hours that report was proven to be false. Dule Hill himself tweeted that he has not been cast in the role and the article that started it all was removed from comicbookmovie.com.

Phoenix Out as Strange

Earlier this week, Collider.com reported that Joaquin Phoenix was going to be our Doctor Strange and it was just a matter of time before Marvel made the announcement. A few days later though, Joaquin Phoenix and Marvel decided to part ways after not being able to agree to a deal. Marvel had been looking at Phoenix since Comic-Con but his unwillingness to sign a long-term deal and weariness about doing a movie involving a lot of green screen and special effects ultimately was too much to overcome. Marvel will likely look back to previously rumored actors like Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy, Jared Leto, and more to fill the role.

Daredevil Logo

Marvel announced a while back that the Daredevil cast would be present at New York Comic Con. They revealed this week that the cast will be doing a meet and great and signing autographs when the convention kicks off next week. With that announcement, they revealed the official logo for the Daredevil Netflix series, which you can see on the left.

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Marvel Comic-Con 2014 News Wrap Up

Today is the last day of the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con. Marvel has wrapped up all of its major panels so far. They have 4 small panels going on later today but those should not give us any new and surprising news.

Marvel was expected to announce a few things about Agents of SHIELD, Agent Carter, Ant-Man, and Avengers: Age of Ultron. We have already written a post breaking down what they announced for Agents of SHIELD (you can read that here). They did not make any big announcements of Agent Carter unfortunately. The biggest thing announced was that the Russo brothers, who directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, will direct episodes 2 and 3.

Marvel did make some noise with Ant-Man. They brought Paul Rudd (Scott Lang) and Michael Douglas (Hank Pym) out to talk about their roles. Both are very excited with the new script and what the future holds. Marvel also brought out and confirmed that Corey Stoll and Evangeline Lilly will be in the movie and announced their roles. Corey Stoll will be playing Darren Cross. He will be the main villain in the movie and become Yellowjacket. In the comics Yellowjacket was another hero Hank Pym became. In the movie, Cross is the next in line for Hank Pym's business and when he tries to take it down a different (evil?) path, he gets some Pym particles and a suit.

Evangeline Lilly will play Hope Van Dyne, the daughter of Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne. It seems likely she will be the love interest of Scott Lang and hopefully (possibly) become the Wasp. In the comics she becomes a member of the Revengers under the name Red Queen. It is unknown what path Hope will go down as the new script has just recently been finished.

Robert Downey Jr was the first to come to the stage when the panel turned to Avengers: Age of Ultron. As the poster boy of Marvel he was obviously received with a huge applause. He also served as a sort of hype man during the panel, helping introduce the likes of Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Vision, and Thanos. No real news came from this panel except for a teaser trailer of sorts that won't be made to public for what seems like some time. I'm still hopeful we get a glimpse after Guardians of the Galaxy or even the full clip when Captain America: The Winter Soldier comes out on DVD. Many other sites have listed the description of the footage so I won't delve into that here.

Marvel ended their panel with a short video featuring James Gunn and Chris Pratt. The announcement? Guardians of the Galaxy 2 will hit theaters July 28th, 2017! That's right. Even before Guardians of the Galaxy makes its US debut, Marvel has green lit a sequel for this space adventure franchise. What storyline it will take and who will be in it will become more clear later this week after everyone gets a chance to see Guardians of the Galaxy.

This year's Comic-Con would be deemed as a slight disappointment by most Marvel fans. We didn't get any announcements about Captain America 3 or a possible Doctor Strange movie. It seems Marvel is going to be releasing their info slowly for Phase 3 to keep fans on the edge. Instead of announcing all their titles till 2019, they are holding their cards close to their chests to get fans even more excited and for the speculation and buzz to continue to grow. We will hopefully get a steady flow of announcements on titles and casting in a few weeks.

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