Ant-Man and the Wasp Trailer Breakdown: Walton Goggins, Ghost

As much fun as it was to watch the first trailer for Marvel's Ant-Man and the Wasp, it's even more fun to zoom in on this first look in a frame-by-frame analysis. So with apologies to director Peyton Reed, we've pulled out the obvious along with the "blink and you'll miss it" elements of this first trailer to put them all on display for you. On a general level, this trailer was super fun and suggests a couple of big action set pieces, a lot of size-changing chicanery, and excellent on-screen chemistry between Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly's title characters. On a deeper level, it also reveals some interesting plot points and offers brief glimpses of Marvel Comics characters.

Written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, Rudd, Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, the film also stars Michael Peña, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Tip “T.I.” Harris, David Dastmalchian, Hannah John Kamen, Abby Ryder-Fortson, and Randall Park, with Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, and Michael Douglas. Ant-Man and the Wasp opens in theaters on July 6th. Make sure you give the trailer a(nother) watch before diving into our breakdown.

So let's get the big, obvious stuff out of the way first, yeah? We start out with a nod to Ant-Man's adventurous heroics in Captain America: Civil War, which offers an explanation for Wasp's absence as well as some very cute insight into their relationship:

"When Cap needed help, if I had asked you, would you have come?"

"I guess we'll never know. But if you had, you'd have never been caught."

ant-man-and-the-wasp-trailer-breakdown — Image via Marvel Studios

After that, we get the necessary emotional attachment in the film: Lang's actions have not only landed him in hot water, but everyone around him as well. While his family may be under surveillance by the FBI, their eyes--and guns--are now trained on the Pyms. That sends Hank, Hope, and Scott on the run where they seem to be pursued by not only the FBI, but also a very stylish group of Cadillac-drivers, motorcycle-riders, and machine-gun enthusiasts. But they're no match for a giant-sized Hello Kitty Pez dispenser!

What follows is a brief glimpse at what appears to be a very fun chase sequence through the hilly streets of San Francisco in which the size-changing ability of the Pyms' van is used to great effect.

A quick cut to Ant-Man in Giant Mode reveals him rising out of, presumably, San Francisco Bay. Now he's not just scaring the normals here; he seems to be after Walton Goggins' character Sonny Burch, who appears to have stolen Pym's laboratory in its shrunken, portable state. Here's a look at the before and after of Pym's new facility (spoiler: remember that the previous one blew up in the last movie) and a quick shot of Goggins. Look closely!

ant-man-and-the-wasp-giant-man — Image via Marvel Studios

In the comics, Burch was a weapons contractor who may not have had any superpowers but was gifted with a cunning sense of legalese. He crossed paths with Tony Stark from time to time but was also involved with Cross Technologies, a competitor to Pym's own company. Since Darren Cross already featured heavily in the first Ant-Man film, we're assuming Burch will pick up with the corporate espionage where his boss left off, and probably with as much success.

From there, we get a great action sequence featuring Hope van Dyne taking out some thugs in a classic kitchen fight, which seems to be part "heist gone wrong" and part test/display of the Wasp suit's powers since Scott and Hank are watching from a surveillance van. This is also where Scott learns from Hank that his own suit could have had wings and blasters but that Dr. Pym opted not to give them to him; probably for the best.

It's a solid trailer for the summer sequel that will follow up on the epic events of both Black Panther and the sure-to-be-ridiculous Avengers: Infinity War, but there's more to discover in the details!

Shrinking Science

ant-man-and-the-wasp-trailer-images-9 — Image via Marvel Studios

Ant-Man had a lot of fun with size-changing effects and the sequel looks to do more of the same. We've already got a great car chase sequence that uses the technology in novel ways, and we can look forward to more fight scenes in which Ant-Man and Wasp use their shrinking and enlarging powers to take down the bad guys. But much like the previous film featured a trip into the Quantum Realm, the sequel looks like it'll be going on a fantastic voyage on at least a microscopic scale.

A close look at the above image reveals some sort of craft in, presumably, Pym's lab. What's interesting is on the right side of that image where it looks as if a Duracell battery is standing. That strongly suggests that this craft is pretty dang small, though not as small as it will be once it starts swimming alongside tardigrades!

ant-man-and-the-wasp-quantum-realm — Image via Marvel Studios

Oh my God, I don't even care about the rest of the movie right now, I'm just glad it features tardigrades in some small way. I won't go into an explainer for these critters here, but the "water bears" are some of the hardiest creatures in nature; hopefully the shrunken team won't get on the wrong side of them!

Goliath and the Ghost

ant-man-and-the-wasp-laurence-fishburne — Image via Marvel Studios

Hey, it's Laurence Fishburne making his MCU debut! So we get next to nothing about his character Bill Foster here, other than a suggestion that he's about to see some shit in the lab. In the Marvel Comics, however, Foster was a biochemist hired as a lab assistant to Hank Pym while working for Tony Stark. The 60s/70s run of the character had some truly cringe-worthy Blaxploitation-level storylines and descriptors, but eventually Foster would become Goliath, a giant-sized superhero aided by the familiar Pym particles. Will we get to see a giant Laurence Fishburne battling it out? Let's hope so!

Another quick comic book character shot goes to Ghost, as played by Hannah John-Kamen, though you wouldn't know it. Originally a male character that antagonized Iron Man, Ghost later morphed into a sort of anti-capitalist anti-hero. The former IT researcher with a penchant for destroying any institutions with oppressive policies uses his/her creation, "Ghost Tech"--a material which can change physical form depending on its environment and can become intangible--to power a battle-suit. The suit allows its wearer or any object it touches to become intangible, while also granting hacking abilities and the ability to interfere with anything producing or relying on electromagnetic signals. Oh and you can also expect it to have guns that shoot electricity or concussive blasts, and probably some explosives, as you do.

The above images are the only things I'm not quite sure about in the trailer. They're edited together in such a way to make it seems like Ghost is perhaps testing her suit, possibly in the lab (or at least the company) of Bill Foster. Could these two be in cahoots? Is that indeed Ghost in this image? Or is it perhaps a glimpse of someone stuck in the Quantum Realm attempting to get out? I'm banking on the former, but you never know!

Did we miss anything? Be sure to let us know in the comments!

In the meantime, check out some of our earlier write-ups for Ant-Man and the Wasp!