Ant-Man Teaser: What We Learned

So the first official footage dropped from Ant-Man today, giving fans their first, brief looks at most of the key players in the film and the smallest (no pun intended) peek at the Ant-Man armor in action.

And in about 15 seconds, it's difficult to discern too much, but there were some conclusions you could draw and some questions raised by the footage we saw.

Like what? Well...

Scott Lang

At top, you can see Scott Lang being escorted..somewhere...by what looks like state troopers (although I could be wrong on that; I don't recognize the uniforms). At a guess, since he's not in cuffs and has a bag slung over his shoulder, this is his release from prison -- which would track with something we see later, because of that cut over his eye.

Pym Island

Somebody's making their way along the water toward what looks like a manufacturing facility marked -- we think -- EXM.

It's not clear what role this company will play in the film. Is this what Hank Pym's company is called, or has been renamed after Darren Cross takes over?

Edit: Yes, that's apparently just the Pym logo. Blame my eyesight and/or the low resolution.

Some fans have speculated that Hope could actually turn out not to be The Wasp, as Janet Van Dyne was in the comics and as most had assumed, but instead turn out to be a villain -- possibly the Red Queen, the villain Hope Pym (presumably the same character) played during A-Next, an alternate-future story published in the late '90s.

One way or another, she seems to be doing some creeping around here. Whether she's doing it on her own behalf or working with the good guys is another question altogether, and this is certainly far too little time to get a good sense for her deal.

The fact that she goes by Van Dyne is interesting, too; if she's really the daughter of Hank Pym, why not use his name? It could just be a personal choice, or to honor Janet, but it could be ammunition for those speculating that Hank Pym's spousal abuse story will play a role in why Janet is gone in the film.

It might even be a double-twist. If Hope is ostensibly evil because she's plotting against Pym, and then Pym is (as many have speculated) secretly the bad guy? Well, suddenly we could have Hope switching sides.

Hank Pym

We got a brief peek inside of Hank Pym's laboratory, too. Or at least one of them. It looks very analog for the CEO of a big company, so...could this be his home lab, or an old one he's going back to for some reason? 

In any event, it's safe to assume that's Pym entering. We only see him from the back, but we've seen Douglas in that vest/shirt combination or one just like it on set.

Darren Cross

This is our film's villain...and at least for now, we haven't seen him in his Yellowjacket duds.

That blue lighting seems to imply that he's probably in the same building as Hope Van Dyne, and the army of guys behind him seems...aggressive. Is this a stockholders' meeting seeking out Pym to fire him? That might go with the two guys with nametags walking ahead of everyone except Cross, if they're the security to escort somebody out.

CDCR Prison

Man, Marvel does like their prison fights, don't they? Hot off a couple in Guardians of the Galaxy, we get another one here, which involves Scott Lang. This is why I said perhaps he's going out of, not into, jail when he's seen with the troopers above; the cut over his eye could come from this skirmish.

Of course, it takes place in a prison, so let fly the speculation that we'll see Ben Kingsley or Mike Colter or somebody else in there.

Above, it was hard to tell whether Hope is a good guy or a bad guy because it looked like she was worried about getting caught, but there was little context to tell by whom or while doing what.

Same thing here, a bit. She's clearly sparring with this person and handing him his butt...but is that Paul Rudd? Corey Stoll? Somebody else? If either of those, it looks like Rudd. That said, it's far from a guarantee. 

And is she training, or is she training someone? It could go either way, with her being the hardass "you have to do better" trainer, or being the trainee, and this is her crowning moment of awesome when she's ready to go into the fight.

Hair flip

They're certainly doing their best to make her "pretty," either way. You don't generally see guys kick the snot out of someone and then flip their hair back like this.

Except maybe Thor.

Is she Ant-Man's love interest, making the Ant-Man/Van Dyne thing a story point? It wouldn't surprise us, even if she does turn out to be evil or at least hiding something.

Ant-Man!

And, yes, the first look at what appears to be Ant-Man's armor. It's only a very small portion of the costume, but it certainly looks like the Irredeemable Ant-Man suit, which all the promotional art has somewhat reminded me of.