Even if you haven't seen the Ant-Man movies, you probably heard about his relationship to Thanos and all the hilarious memes that followed. Though most of them were made just for the laughs, some theories were actually logical.
Ant-Man has brought many funny and sad moments into the MCU, but the two movies about the characters had their differences. Here are the reasons why we think each film is the superior one.
Second: Action
Both the first and second movies have amazing action sequences. Every time Scott becomes bigger or smaller, you get instantly engaged in the events unfolding right in front of you because of the unusual nature of such action sequences.
That being said, the sequel does have more major action scenes. For example, you will notice that the chase scenes are more impressive than anything in the first movie. The sequel is undoubtedly better than the original in terms of action.
First: Scott-Hope Relationship
What's more interesting in the first movie is the relationship between Scott and Hope. Though their romance develops further in the sequel, Hope mostly just drags Scott around while they are generally more autonomous in the first one.
It's curious to see Hope slowly open up to Scott. She is clearly very careful with everyone she meets and doesn't like letting anyone see her soft side. Scott, on the other hand, mostly worries about his daughter and doesn't seem to have any romantic feelings towards his ex-wife anymore.
Second: Father-Daughter Relationship
In the first movie, we get introduced to Scott's daughter Cassie. But the second movie is the one where we really see their father-daughter relationship unfold and we realize how much they both care about each other and love each other unconditionally.
Scott and Cassie love spending time with each other. She trusts him and thinks of him as the best person in the world (or rather, "the best grandma"). He constantly feels like he can't give her everything he wants to give her, but he still tries to do the best he can do.
First: Cassie's Introduction
That being said, even with such an interesting father-daughter relationship being explored in the sequel, we wouldn't even have it if Cassie wasn't introduced in the original. She is one of the few kids in the MCU - and she's adorable too, so there is literally nothing bad about her character.
We don't get to see her often, but every interaction she has with Scott is priceless. Cassie is also Scott's main motivation in life to become a better person, so she is crucial to the story. As for her future, she might become a superhero at some point considering that she is already grown up after the snap in Endgame.
Second: Ghost
In both Ant-Man movies, the villains were closely connected to Scott or the people around him. In the second movie, it was Ava Starr who is also known as Ghost. In the end, she does seem to get a good solution to her problem, but what is more interesting is her backstory.
Ava's past is a bit similar to that of Black Widow's and Winter Soldier's - all three were used as weapons by powerful organizations. Both Ava and Natasha were trained to be used as weapons from a young age, though Ava gained superpowers as a result of an accident.
First: Yellowjacket
The villain in the first movie is more closely related to Scott: Ava's life changed because of quantum technologies, but Darren Cross was connected to Pym directly and was Hank's protege. Eventually, Cross usurped his mentor and took over Pym Technologies.
What's more, Cross still wanted to make Pym respect him and was jealous of Scott for getting to wear the Ant-Man suit - something Cross hoped to do himself at one point or another. However, Cross's mistake is that he underestimates Scott.
Second: Quantum Realm
The Quantum Realm and quantum technologies have been central to the Infinity Saga more than we could originally expect back in 2015 when the first Ant-Man film was released. This is why, every time we found out more and the Quantum Realm, it took us closer to what would happen in Endgame.
The second movie explores the Quantum Realm and everything related to it way more than the first one. We get to see Scott travel more freely in the Realm and get to know more about it with the help of the tunnel they build to get to the Realm.
First: Comedy
Just like with action, comedy is great in both movies. However, the humor was more fresh in the original than in the sequel, even if it was good in both of them.
Just think about the way Luis told his story to Scott about "the old man's house." Or that time Luis came to get Scott from jail and told him about all the bad things that happened to him while still being happy about his new van. Or that time Scott said he would be able to find a good job after prison because he has a good degree. All of those are absolutely genius!
Second: The Wasp
What could be the best thing about Ant-Man and the Wasp other than the Wasp herself? Hope became the first superheroine in the MCU to have her name in the title of the movie. Besides, she is also one of the heroines who was a badass even before she got the suit and became a superhero officially.
Though it was nice seeing Hope in the original, it was even more interesting seeing her in action while wearing the Wasp's suit and continue her mother's work. Hopefully, she will become an important part of the MCU in the future and maybe even join the Avengers as an official member.
First: Origin Story
Nothing can compete with a good origin story, and the first Ant-Man movie seems to be great in this sense. It sets up the character as a regular guy just trying to live his life and get back on track after prison. He is smart, but he makes mistakes as anyone would.
In addition to his flaws, Scott has an affectionate sense of humor and reacts with surprise to almost everything happening to him, which would probably be the reaction any viewer would have if they happened to be on Scott's place. When you put that all together, Scott becomes a very relatable character.