7. Ant-Man
Ant-Man is the Little Engine That Could of the MCU, announced in 2006, dated in 2012 and still in flux when filming began in mid-2014. At that time, the project’s pitchman and director Edgar Wright abruptly departed after nearly a decade of involvement. Another director’s unique vision, swallowed by the Marvel machine? Perhaps, but regardless of Wright’s vision, director Peyton Reed and star Paul Rudd whipped up a quirkier Iron Man.
I’m glad Evangeline Lilly is still getting work and it’s always a good thing to have Michael Douglas around. But it’s Corey Stoll very nearly steals the show as the wounded, unstable and psychotic Darren Cross aka Yellowjacket. Ant-Man, like the other Marvel films, displays an uncanny ability to create niches-within-niches i.e. within the general tone of the MCU, there is a Captain America tone, a Thor tone and, now, an Ant-Man tone. It’s a pleasing indie heist comedy through the blockbuster lens and it more than lives up to its long path to the screen.