Game Of Thrones George R.R. Martin Loves Ant-Man, But Not Marvel Villains

Martin is a big Marvel fan and admits he was a bit worried they would mess up the movie as it features Scott Lang, and not Hank Pym, as Marvel’s choice of smallest superhero. 

I had a lot of trepidation when this movie was announced. Would they do it right, would they capture the original Ant-Man from TALES TO ASTONISH and AVENGERS #1, the character I’d loved… or would they f— it up?? I was eager for the film, but apprehensive about it as well, especially when I heard it would be about Scott Lang, not Hank Pym.

Martin continues with mention he actually loved the movie, which is up there as one of his all-time favorite Marvel movies, just shy of Spider-Man 2 (Raimi) and the first Iron Man.

I am relieved and delighted to report that they did it right.

ANT-MAN has a proper balance of story, character, humor, and action, I think. A couple reviewers are calling it the best Marvel movie ever. I won’t go that far, but it’s right up there, maybe second only to the second Sam Raimi/ Tobey McGuire Spider-Man film, the one with Doc Ock. I’ve liked most of the Marvel movies, to be sure, I’m still a Marvel fanboy at heart (Excelsior!), but I liked this one more than the first AVENGERS and a lot more than the second, more than either THOR, more than the second and third IRON MAN and maybe just a smidge more than the first (though I liked that one a lot too).

Oh, and I loved the ants!

While Martin mentions he did love the movie, the Game Of Thrones writer does offer he has few issues with the Marvel movies, which is, namely, that the villains are too similar to the heroes.

…while Yellowjacket makes a decent villain here (in the comics, of course, he was actually one of Hank’s later identities, after Giant-Man and Goliath), I am tired of this Marvel movie trope where the bad guy has the same powers as the hero. The Hulk fought the Abomination, who is just a bad Hulk. Spider-Man fights Venom, who is just a bad Spider-Man. Iron Man fights Ironmonger, a bad Iron Man. Yawn. I want more films where the hero and the villain have wildly different powers. That makes the action much more interesting).