Hey guys!
Welcome back to Top 10 Nerd, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey.
Ant-Man and The Wasp have been out for several days now, and it’s given nerds around the
world enough time to fully absorb it.
It’s been quite well received, people, seem to be enjoying it, but not everyone is able
to notice every single detail and reference found in it.
So let’s go over some of the tiniest details.
I’ll try to avoid points that we already talked about in past videos, although there
may be some overlap.
I’ll also do my best to keep the “Small” puns to a minimum.
No promises.
Finally, of course, this list will contain spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the movie
yet, you might want to pause here.
After throwing us a thumbs up, of course.
But if you’re still here, I’ll assume that you’re ready to rock, which means it’s
time for the Top 10 Tiny Details You Missed in Ant-Man and The Wasp!
Number 10: X-Con Security.
The Ant-Man movie saw Scott trying to make the most of his time on house arrest, by creating
a security company with his ex-con buddies.
Which they called X-Con Security because, with Marvel, everything must always be on-the-nose.
But as it turns out, this idea was first seen in the comics, albeit with a different name
and different employees.
Instead of your everyday, run of the mill ex-con like in the movie, the comics saw Scott
starting Ant-Man Security Solutions with the help of D-list villains, like Machinesmith
and Grizzly.
They wanted a second chance at life, and Scott wanted people to work for him, so it was a
win-win.
At least, until Scott was arrested once again, and the business was shut
Number 9: Who’s the Boss?
At one point, Luis is freaking out, worried that the X-Con Security would fail, and in
order to get his crap together, he repeats to himself “I’m the boss I’m the boss
I’m the boss.”
And ya know when else we heard this little Mantra?
During Civil War, when Scott was trying to psyche himself up to go Giant.
Of course, I can’t say for sure that this was an intentional reference, it could just
be that the writers love that phrase, or really love Tony Danzy, but I’m pretty sure this
was meant as a nod to the Scott Lang line.
Number 8: Similar Openings.
One thing that many may not have noticed is that both Ant-Man movies had pretty similar
openings.
Both times, saw a flashback prologue, that showed a younger version of a character, and
revealed to the audience what the movie would be about.
In the first movie, it was "Hey guys, look at this nifty Pym particles, everybody wants
them, and oh look, Michael Douglas is young!"
And in this one, it was "Oh no, Janet’s gone, wonder if we’ll be finding her later,
and also, Michelle Pfeiffer is young!”
Now, it’s true that this isn’t exactly a unique opening, and it’s a technique used
in all sorts of movies, but it’s an interesting little homage, and a cool way to give a bit
of a consistent feel…
Or, it’s lazy.
Take your pick.
Kind of a glass half full type thing.
Number 7: Cassie Clues.
Fans of the Ant-Man comics will know that Scott Lang’s daughter, Cassie Lang, would
eventually go on to become a superhero herself, taking on the roles of Stature and Stinger.
Well, in the movie, Cassie’s quite young, so unsurprisingly we didn’t see her jumping
into the fray.
However, in a heart to heart scene with her dad, she offered to act as his sidekick.
A nice little nod to her comic book heroics, plus it was just such a cute moment.
She’s adorable.
That scene with the stuffed animal in the first movie made me wish she was my daughter.
Number 6: The Centurion.
In the movie, we were introduced to FBI Agent Geoffrey Ballard and later learned that he
was secretly working for Sonny Burch.
But in the comics, Ballard was a CIA agent who wore a state-of-the-art SHIELD battlesuit.
Which was called The Centurion weapons system, and was created by Sidney "The Gaffer" Levine?
So what did he call himself?
The Centurion.
Nailed it.
The suit was really cool though, powerful enough to fight supers, with a powerful beam
weapon strong enough to affect the Vision.
He even had a similar double agent status in the comics.
While he worked for the CIA, he was also working for The Council, which caused him to tangle
with Carol Danvers alongside Mystique.
Unsuccessfully.
Number 5: Altoids.
In the film, Ant-Man kept a bunch of emergency ants in an Altoid container, just in case
he needed them.
This is, of course, pretty useful, and an Altoid container makes a very practical carrying
case for ants, but it also works on a few levels.
For one, the slogan “Curiously strong mints” works beautifully, with the small mints packing
a surprising minty punch, while the small Ant-Man packs a surprising literal punch.
But it also might be a little reference to an early Marvel ad, which shows Iron Man advertising
for Altoids.
If this was an intentional thing by the filmmakers, then props to them.
But it could well be a coincidence.
Altoids are pretty popular.
Number 4: Clever Girl.
Okay, this one blew my mind.
I don’t even care that it isn’t technically a “Small detail you missed”.
At one point, Janet refers to hope as “Clever Girl”, and every nerd and most non-nerds
immediately thought “Hey, Jurassic Park reference!”
And it’s true that it might have been.
But guys.
You know what I learned?
That’s like, a super common thing to say in movies!
Total Recall.
Jumpin’ Jack flashOliver Another Oliver.
It’s ridiculous!
And I never knew it was such a trope!
Although I gotta say, my personal favorite is definitely from Hercules.
I realize this is barely about Ant-Man and more about movies in general but I had no
idea about this and I needed to tell someone about it.
I hope at least one person was shocked by this, and I’m not just an ignorant mess.
Number 3: The Orb.
In one of the adorable Scott and Cassie scenes, we saw them playing a game of heist.
Which is totally a normal thing to do.
When he asks her to pull out her Special Contact to disable an imaginary security system, she
pretends that a giant paper plate is a contact, thus making it like her entire head was an
eyeball.
Sure, this was pretty cute, but it was also a super subtle reference to The Orb, a Marvel
villain whose head is just a giant eyeball.
He hasn’t really come up against Ant-Man, so it’s a bit of a strange reference and
might just be a coincidence, but I’m pretty sure it was an intentional nod.
Pretty sure.
Number 2: Luis loves Morrissey.
In one scene, we see Luis telling Sonny Birch and co about his grandma, and how she had
a jukebox in her restaurant that only played Morrissey.
For those who don’t know, Morrissey is a singer-songwriter who was the vocalist for
The Smiths, among other things.
Peyton Reed, director of the Ant-Man films, happens to be a big fan of The Smiths; he
even played on a Smiths cover band for a while.
So, he threw his own obsession into the movie and made it part of Luis' character.
But this was not just a one-off joke.
Those who paid close attention will have noticed that when Luis calls Scott, his ringtone is,
you guessed it, a Morrissey Song, Everyday is like Sunday.
The dude loves The Pope of Mope.
Number 1: Quantum realm hints.
While nerds around the world have already been going through the movie with fine-toothed
combs, there are certain hints that just can’t be seen yet.
After watching the first Ant-Man movie, many fans could have sworn that they saw Janet
trapped in the quantum realm when Scott went subatomic, but it took a frame by frame analysis
to confirm that she was, indeed, hinted at in the scene.
It has since been confirmed that there are other hints in the quantum realm scenes of
Ant-Man and the Wasp, which means there are a few secrets hidden away in single frames.
We'll have to wait for the movie to come out so we can go frame by frame, so it’s not
really your fault for missing this detail, but hopefully, we’ll find out soon!
That’s it for today!
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10 Nerd for more videos!
Let me know in the comments what YOU thought of Ant-Man and the Wasp!
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check out our Versus playlist on the channel!
Until next time, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey with Top 10 nerd.
Later nerds!