Marvel seems to have another solid hit in the making with Ant-Man, coming off a generally successful premiere night. With this improbable movie project finally checked off Marvel’s backlog, early reception indicates that film’s showcased tonal chemistry found balance between action and humor that wider weekend audiences should find agreeable. However, it seems that one particular sequence cut from the film took said humor a bit too far.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Dan Lebental, a veteran film editor whose cutting room extractions were made on a number of previous Marvel movies, discusses one particular scene in Ant-Man that looked to take the size-shaping technology utilized by Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang and turn it into an allegedly juvenile montage of mischief. As Lebental explains:
There had been a sequence in the movie that was shot and removed, a kind of wish-fulfillment sequence. At one point, he could walk into the casino and change the dice or he could walk into a girls’ locker room. We decided it was a little silly but it led to a lot of laughter in the editing room.
Based on the way Lebental describes this so-called "wish-fulfillment" scene, it seems to be one of those moments in light-hearted films when the protagonist deviates from the goal and gives in to more immediate, superficial desires, taking advantage of whatever fantastical ability or privilege he or she has been given. It’s typically showcased in an empowering montage with multiple, usually humorous instances. A cathartic process for the character, it’s also typically a mid-movie character-driven diversion from the primary plot before the character realizes that there are greater things at stake. Considering Ant-Man’s adherence to humor, one might be inclined to think, at least, at first glance, that such a scene would be a perfect step in his process of accepting his new tech-enabled abilities.
However, Ant-Man is ultimately a tale of redemption for Rudd’s eponymous proportionally protean hero, Scott Lang, whose main motive is to simply straighten out his criminal life to achieve visitation rights to his estranged young daughter. However, in falling off the proverbial larcenous wagon, fate would serendipitously lead him to an amazing opportunity for heroism provided by Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), an ex-member of S.H.I.E.L.D., who lends Scott his own developed technology in the form of the size-shrinking Ant-Man suit. Thus, a scene taking place AFTER Scott went into full Ant-Man mode with the suit would have been counterproductive to the necessary momentum of his character arc. Besides, while the casino angle sounds like it might have been up his alley, an intrusive Porky’s-esque girl’s locker/shower scene, despite the humorous context, might have added an unwelcome perverted aura to Scott.
You can catch Ant-Man at theaters now, which should definitively prove that our new hero is way too busy setting up his heroic Avengers-destined resume to spend time miniaturizing himself to voyeuristically creep on you in the bathroom.
