‘Ant-Man’ trailer: Paul Rudd shrinks to the occasion in Marvel teaser

The first trailer for Marvel’s “Ant-Man” has arrived, giving moviegoers a look at Paul Rudd in action as Scott Lang, a reformed thief turned shrinking superhero.

The two-minute teaser for the long-in-the-works film opens with Lang getting a shot at redemption from mad scientist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), the original creator of the Ant-Man suit and persona.

“Second chances don’t come around all that often,” Pym says. “I suggest you take a really close look at it. This is your chance to earn that look in your daughter’s eyes -- to become the hero that she already thinks you are.”

If that sounds like boilerplate superhero talk with some heartstring-tugging thrown in, well, it is -- but Lang’s response hints that the film will fold in some winking comedy too: “Huh,” he says rather nonchalantly.

Subsequent shots find him suiting up, shrinking down, saddling up on the back of an insect and throwing a bad guy through a window, so it’s safe to say he accepts Pym’s pitch.

Rudd’s character isn’t the only one with something to prove, incidentally, as a series of production setbacks have prompted some fans and observers to regard “Ant-Man” with skepticism.

Filmmaker Edgar Wright, beloved for genre-subverting movies such as “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” and “Shaun of the Dead,” had been attached to “Ant-Man” since its inception in 2006, and even showed off some test scenes at Comic-Con in 2012. In May, however, he and Marvel abruptly parted ways over creative differences, and “Bring It On” helmer Peyton Reed ultimately stepped in.

Marvel Studios (and parent company Disney) has had a pretty sterling track record since kicking off its shared cinematic universe with “Iron Man” in 2008, but that’s no guarantee that audiences will embrace an arthropod-riding superhero. We’ll find out when “Ant-Man” hits theaters July 17.

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