Instead of finishing the Song of Ice and Fire book series, George R.R. Martin has been spending his time watching Marvel movies and then reviewing them online. Who would have thought that the man who named the main characters in his life’s work, Stark, was a Marvel fan? Now, before we storm Martin’s home with pitchforks, for the awful, awful crime of enjoying his free time, we should at least take a look at his review of Ant-Man. The real king of Game of Thrones, opened up about the movie, including Paul Rudd’s performance as the titular character, and his lack of love for Marvel movie villains.
On his official LiveJournal, George R.R. Martin reviewed his experience watching Marvel’s Ant-Man:
“Now, I have to confess, as an old -- VERY old -- Marvel fanboy (I was once a member of the Merry Marvel Marching Society), I was a little disappointed going in when I heard that this would be the Scott Lang Ant-Man and not the original Hank Pym Ant-Man of my youth. Scott Lang came in just about the time when my regular comics reading was falling off, so I did not know the character very well, whereas I knew and loved Hank and Janet, Ant-Man and his winsome Wasp.”
Martin went on to compare his love of Ant-Man with that of the character’s creator and fellow famed author, Stan Lee, adding:
“I was there at the dawn of time when they first started adventuring through the pages of TALES TO ASTONISH, after all. They were never as popular as the other heroes that Stan Lee created back then -- Iron Man, Spider-Man, Thor, and such -- but Lee always seemed to have a soft spot for Ant-Man, and I did too.”
Despite the film’s focus on Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang instead of Michael Douglas’ Hank Pym, Martin went on to praise both Ant-Men:
“Scott Lang is the featured Ant-Man, yes, and Paul Rudd makes him a sympathetic and engaging protagonist, but due honor is done to Hank and his own career as the first Ant-Man as well, with Michael Douglas turning in a fine performance as Pym.”
However, Martin did have few “quibbles,” which he detailed:
“Where was the Wasp? We got a few glimpses, and a set up for the next film. But I wanted more Wasp, and I loved the old original Hank/ Janet dynamic (before they got to the wife-beating stuff). Also, while Yellowjacket makes a decent villain here (in the comics, of course, he was actually one of Hank's later identities, after Giant-Man and Goliath),”
You hear that Marvel writers, even George R.R. Martin has a problem with your fictitious violence against women.
Martin went on to describe his fatigue with Marvel’s “mirror image” villian format, adding:
“I am tired of this Marvel movie trope where the bad guy has the same powers as the hero. The Hulk fought the Abomination, who is just a bad Hulk. Spider-Man fights Venom, who is just a bad Spider-Man. Iron Man fights Ironmonger, a bad Iron Man. Yawn. I want more films where the hero and the villain have wildly different powers. That makes the action much more interesting).”
Geeze Martin, if you hate Marvel villians so much, why don't you just marry them?
However, that didn’t stop Martin from loving the film as a whole, as he clearly states:
“Overall, I had a swell time. For a few hours I was thirteen years old again.”
That is high praise coming from one of today’s greatest writers.
You can read Martin’s full review of his experience, here.
What did you think of Ant-Man? What do you think about Martin’s comments? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
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