Post by auntym on Jul 21, 2015 13:08:28 GMT -6
www.space.com/29997-marvel-universe-space-references-ant-man.html?cmpid=514648
The Space Age Invades Marvel's Cinematic Universe
by Sarah Lewin, Staff Writer / www.space.com/contact_author.php?a=VTJGeVlXZ2dUR1YzYVc0cWMyeGxkMmx1S2pFPQ==
July 21, 2015
Marvel's 'Ant-Man'
Although space references in "Ant-Man" were ant-size — at one point, someone briefly rides an intercontinental ballistic missile — Marvel movies have always included hints of the space industry and a broader galactic scale.
Credit: Marvel Entertainment/Disney via
Marvel's newest movie may have only an ant-size relation to space, but overall, the Marvel Cinematic Universe's space-based plot points are quickly going galactic.
"Ant-Man," which opened in theaters last week, takes a relatively small scale: The former criminal Scott Lang, played by Paul Rudd, is drawn into service as a shrinking-and-growing superhero by Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), a scientist trying to stop the company he founded, and retired from, from releasing similar technology to the evildoers of the world.
The movie has endless references to the broader Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) — Pym, the scientist, quit the organization S.H.I.E.L.D. to protect his formula from mass production — but mostly stays self-contained and very much Earth-bound. (However, there is discussion of, and a brief excursion into, quantum-mechanics-scale realms. Also, there's a weightless battle while characters are falling.)
Space travel only really comes up in a flashback, where characters are required to disable an intercontinental ballistic missile racing toward the United States. Such missiles take suborbital routes through space to reach (and bomb) their distant targets, and they were used as a basis to launch early rockets to space as well. [Superheroes in Space: Top Cosmic Comic Adventures] www.space.com/18729-space-superheroes-adventures.html
But although "Ant-Man" stayed ground-level for the most part, other Marvel movies have shown a swiftly ascending focus on the vastness and strangeness of outer space. The MCU has been ramping up in scale, revealing ultrapowerful galaxy-level heroes and the villains to match them. But beyond those grand machinations, Marvel's movies have always had little cinematic winks to NASA and the space industry.
Two other Marvel movies — "Iron Man" (2008) and "The Incredible Hulk" (2008) — stayed Earth-focused, but an appearance by Stark in Hulk's movie began to weave together the Marvel universe into a greater whole, including many alien entities.
MORE PHOTOS & CONTINUE READING: www.space.com/29997-marvel-universe-space-references-ant-man.html?cmpid=514648
The Space Age Invades Marvel's Cinematic Universe
by Sarah Lewin, Staff Writer / www.space.com/contact_author.php?a=VTJGeVlXZ2dUR1YzYVc0cWMyeGxkMmx1S2pFPQ==
July 21, 2015
Marvel's 'Ant-Man'
Although space references in "Ant-Man" were ant-size — at one point, someone briefly rides an intercontinental ballistic missile — Marvel movies have always included hints of the space industry and a broader galactic scale.
Credit: Marvel Entertainment/Disney via
Marvel's newest movie may have only an ant-size relation to space, but overall, the Marvel Cinematic Universe's space-based plot points are quickly going galactic.
"Ant-Man," which opened in theaters last week, takes a relatively small scale: The former criminal Scott Lang, played by Paul Rudd, is drawn into service as a shrinking-and-growing superhero by Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), a scientist trying to stop the company he founded, and retired from, from releasing similar technology to the evildoers of the world.
The movie has endless references to the broader Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) — Pym, the scientist, quit the organization S.H.I.E.L.D. to protect his formula from mass production — but mostly stays self-contained and very much Earth-bound. (However, there is discussion of, and a brief excursion into, quantum-mechanics-scale realms. Also, there's a weightless battle while characters are falling.)
Space travel only really comes up in a flashback, where characters are required to disable an intercontinental ballistic missile racing toward the United States. Such missiles take suborbital routes through space to reach (and bomb) their distant targets, and they were used as a basis to launch early rockets to space as well. [Superheroes in Space: Top Cosmic Comic Adventures] www.space.com/18729-space-superheroes-adventures.html
But although "Ant-Man" stayed ground-level for the most part, other Marvel movies have shown a swiftly ascending focus on the vastness and strangeness of outer space. The MCU has been ramping up in scale, revealing ultrapowerful galaxy-level heroes and the villains to match them. But beyond those grand machinations, Marvel's movies have always had little cinematic winks to NASA and the space industry.
Two other Marvel movies — "Iron Man" (2008) and "The Incredible Hulk" (2008) — stayed Earth-focused, but an appearance by Stark in Hulk's movie began to weave together the Marvel universe into a greater whole, including many alien entities.
MORE PHOTOS & CONTINUE READING: www.space.com/29997-marvel-universe-space-references-ant-man.html?cmpid=514648