Not every character is going to make the cut. I dont see what the big deal is.
Okay, so Iâm tired and have a headache so Iâm not going to respond to this as in depth as I should, but letâs look at some facts:
There were 5 founding Avengers: Tony Stark, Thor, Bruce Banner (Hulk), Hank Pym, and Janet van Dyne (Cap wasnât one of them, he didnât show up until issue 4!). Of those 5 founding members, we have Tony Stark: 5 movies, 3 solos; Thor: 4 movies, 2 solos; Bruce Banner: 4 movies, 2 solos; and Hank Pym, 1 movie. Out of those 5 founding members, 1 of them is female. Out of those 5 founding members, 1 of them isnât getting into a movie at all, much less their own movie.
OH WHOA THOSE TWO OVERLAP FOR SOME REASON?????????
Okay, so, whatever. Not everyone gets their own movie, right? Nevermind that Jan found Captain America, named the Avengers, is the reason Jocasta EXISTS, chairpersoned the team more times than I can honestly remember right now but at least 3 times, is #5 on the most important Marvel heroes list of all time (and would be number 1 if the Avengers voted on it, according to the list makersâ own admission). (Beating out, for the record: Hank Pym (7), Black Widow (10), Vision (6), Luke Cage (12), Beast (13), Quicksilver (14), Falcon (15), Hulk (18), Spider-Man (25), Iron Patriot (31), Havok (36), Ant Man (Scott Long, 46), Iron Fist (46), and Jessica Jones (49) ALL OF WHOM are getting big or small screen treatment before she is. Never mind ALL OF THAT.
Theyâre making an Ant Man movie, right? So okay, cool, obviously Ant Man is going to be in it. But which one? Thereâs two! Hank and Scott. Oh, turns out, theyâre gonna do both.
So they didnât cut either Ant Man, theyâre shoehorning BOTH of them into one movie. Huh, okay, cool! Both of them made the cut, I guess. Biggest bang for their buck.Â
Did you know Cassie Lang is the entire reason Scott Lang (Ant Man #2) became a superhero (criminal at first) in the first place? Like itâs literally his entire origin story.
You know who isnât making it into the movie at all? Well thatâs kinda⌠weird. I mean, it seems relevant, you know? But hey, I guess not everybody is going to make the cut!
And Jan, right? She doesnât matter. Itâs not like she literally carried Hank through at least 5 breakdowns. Itâs not like SHEâS the one who wanted to be a superhero in the first place and encouraged him to use his research for that. Itâs not like SHE defeated Ultron HERSELF MULTIPLE TIMES. Sheâs definitely not relevant at all to Hankâs story. Oh, and even BETTER. Letâs just COMBINE these two women into one woman! Rather than give Hank a wife and partner who can support him, weâll give him a daughter who⌠something. And rather than give Scott a daughter who will be his entire origin story, weâll give him⌠Hankâs daughter?
Put all of that aside, seriously. Take EVERYTHING I just said and completely disregard it. You know why itâs bullshit Jan got cut? Because sheâs a woman who is feminine and also kick butt. Sheâs a woman who can be ditzy and brilliantly cunning. Sheâs flighty and carefree while being a strong, commanding leader who wins the respect of everyone who works under her. She loves fashion AND punching bad guys in the face. She thinks being a hero is all fun and games until she learns responsibility and severity, but even then keeps her compassion and empathy. Jan is an important, DIFFERENT role model for men and women alike that the MCU HASNâT SEEN BEFORE. Hank and Scott, sorry to say, are characters WE HAVE SEEN BEFORE. Hank is a scientist who is tortured by his genius but feels the responsibility to do good with it. Been there, done that, bought the neck brace. Scott is a guy down on his luck just trying to hold it together for his family and gets sucked into a life of crime. Pretty sure I just summarized every show that has ever aired on AMC. But you know what Jan is? Jan is a female action star who isnât either 1.) a prodigy child confused by her own powers, or 2.) a stone-cold ultra killer with the toughness of steel. Not that thereâs anything WRONG with those archetypes: whatâs wrong is thatâs the ONLY TWO you see women satisfying in action movies (besides love interest, of course).Â
Full disclosure: out of all the Marvel characters, Iâm probably the most like Carol Danvers. But I LOVE JAN because sheâs DIFFERENT. I think Jan might even be more important than Carol to get onto the big screen because  sheâs not just like one of the guys. Sheâs not tough in a masculine way. She has a pixie haircut and designs costumes and tries not to break a nail. But she does it while being a BRILLIANT leader and a FIERCE warrior. Itâs something we NEED to show on screen. Itâs something little girls and little boys NEED to know is possible. I sure would have benefited from it as a kid, at least.Â
Thatâs why you canât just accept that Jan didnât make the cut.