This review is part of an ongoing series as Marvel re-release art books for each of the Marvel Universe movies. This is the 11th book so far.
This time around it is the movie Ant-Man. Released in 2015, it was the 12th movie in the series, and was the last movie in the so-called Phase Two of the Cinematic Universe movies. It was after Avengers: Age of Ultron (also 2015) but before Captain America: Civil War (2016).
Generally, the movie is seen as a minor spin-off from the main Avengers movies. It is also less dark in tone than the Avenger movies, with Scott Lang, the main character, being portrayed by comedian Paul Rudd, who brings a lighter comedic touch to the role (although it is not a comedy!)
Although this is often unfairly seen as one of the lesser movies – less important to the main Avengers plot and with a smaller budget (a mere $130 million compared with Ultron’s budget of $440 million), there is a lot here to like in this book. There’s a nice introductory chapter about the origins of the character in the comics before getting to grips with the movie itself.
In Chapter 1 we are shown Ant-Man concept art, mainly by artist Andy Park.
Chapter 2 looks at the Pym residence, the process of filming Scott’s first shrink and the process of scaling Ant-Man up and down.
Chapter 3 looks at the Pymtech factory, the bad guy Darren Cross and the Yellowjacket concept art.
Chapter 4 looks at Hope van Dyne and lots of different kinds of ants, as well as their equipment.
Chapter 5 looks at Scott’s escape from Pymtech in a complex storyboard sequence.
Chapter 6 looks at the famous train crash sequence as well as images as the characters go into the quantum realm.
The last chapter, Chapter 7, looks at some of the concept and poster art created for the film.
As with the previous books in this series, you can discover a great deal about the production of the movie and the thinking behind what we eventually see on the screen. The copious images are surrounded by interviews with director Peyton Reed, executive producer Brad Winderbaum, and executive producer Kevin Feige, along with the concept illustrators and storyboard artists such as Andy Park, Rodney Fuentebella and Jackson Sze, who worked on the set and behind the scenes.
Most of these interviews are the usual type of comments, mainly pointing out how Ant-Man provided a list of new challenges to make – mainly in the changing size of Ant-Man and the evolution of the quantum realm.
Whilst you’re never going to get the gossipy details of any controversy in the making of the movie – Ant-Man had a change of director due to “creative differences” along the way, for example – the book is a useful aide memoire of the sort of ‘easter-egg’ detail any fan might expect.
As the 11th book, it does show us how the preparation for these MARVEL movies has changed over time. Comparing this book with the first book in the series (The Art of Avengers: Assemble, reviewed HERE) it is clear that the use of computer graphics has now become more important as ever, allowing detailed scenarios to be mapped out at a cheaper value. Concept art, although still part of the process, has now been supplemented by keyframes.
This leads to my only negative about the book, in that whilst many of the images can be spectacular, many of these keyframes seem to be little more than washes of colour and blurry movement, and compared with some of the other books I have seen in the series, seem a little – dare I say it – dull.
Nevertheless, The Art of Ant-Man is a worthy addition to the series, and as such is for anyone wanting to add to their collection.
© 2025 Mark Yon
All images © 2025 MARVEL
Hardback | Titan Books
Marvel Studios’ The Infinity Saga – Ant-Man: The Art of the Movie by Jacob Johnston
April 2025 | 256 pages
ISBN: 978 180 3367 873
Review copy courtesy of the publisher, Titan Books
