Although last summer's Marvel Cinematic Universe entry, Guardians of the Galaxy, seemed to be a hard sell and a box office risk, once it premiered in theaters it became one of Marvel Studios' biggest successes. Like Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel's upcoming release, Ant-Man, doesn't have the direct backing of The Avengers to guarantee another hit. So, while Marvel focused on the quirkiness of Guardians of the Galaxy's characters to sell that film, the studio is honing in on Ant-Man's own unique quality: the hero's ability to shrink.

Since the first poster for Ant-Man was released at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, the majority of the marketing for Marvel's next feature has focused on the insect-sized version of the hero. Now, new posters put Scott Lang's Ant-Man at the forefront, while the rest of the cast remain in the background.

Bleeding Cool released seven new character posters for Ant-Man featuring the main cast: Bobby Cannavale (Boardwalk Empire), Corey Stoll (House of Cards), Evangeline Lilly (The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies), Michael Douglas (Last Vegas), Michael Peña (Fury), and Paul Rudd (Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp). While the posters prominently advertise Ant-Man, a shrunken version of Yellowjacket also appears in one of Rudd's images.

Check out those Ant-Man posters, below:

Ant-Man Character Poster Bobby Cannavale
Ant-Man Character Poster Corey Stoll
Ant-Man Character Poster Evangeline Lilly
Ant-Man Character Poster Michael Douglas
Ant-Man Character Poster Michael Pena
Ant-Man Character Poster Paul Rudd Yellowjacket
Ant-Man Character Poster Paul Rudd

Although these may have been intended to feature the cast of Ant-Man, it's the main hero's shrinking abilities that seem to be the focus - and it's not necessarily a new concept in the film's marketing. Previously released posters depicted Ant-Man on Iron Man's shoulder, Thor's hammer and Captain America's shield. While those images teased Ant-Man's inclusion in the MCU, these new posters seem to only (literally) pull the focus away from Ant-Man's costars.

The hero's small size may provide some interesting imagery - or even laughs such as with Marvel's ant-sized billboards - but that arguably isn’t the case for these new character posters. Certainly, the insect-sized Ant-Man will be the focus of the film, but hopefully not to the point that his fellow cast members are out of focus.

However, for those that may be underwhelmed by these new Ant-Man posters, artists have created their own one-sheets for the upcoming Marvel feature.

Next: Kevin Feige Explains What Makes ‘Ant-Man’ Different & Important

Marvel’s “Ant-Man” stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang aka Ant-Man, Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne, Corey Stoll as Darren Cross aka Yellowjacket, Bobby Cannavale as Paxton, Michael Peña as Luis, Tip “T.I.” Harris as Dave, Wood Harris as Gale, Judy Greer as Maggie, David Dastmalchian as Kurt, and Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym. Directed by Peyton Reed and produced by Kevin Feige, Marvel’s “Ant-Man” delivers a high-stakes, tension-filled adventure on July 17, 2015.

Ant-Man opens in theaters July 17, 2015; Captain America: Civil War – May 6, 2016; Doctor Strange – November 4, 2016; Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – May 5, 2017; Spider-Man reboot – July 28, 2017; Thor: Ragnarok – November 3, 2017; The Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 – May 4, 2018; Black Panther – July 6, 2018; Captain Marvel – November 2, 2018; The Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 – May 3, 2019; Inhumans – July 12, 2019.

Source: Bleeding Cool