Watch The First Full Teaser For Marvel's 'Ant-Man', Starring Paul Rudd

Marvel Studios has unveiled the first official teaser for its forthcoming Ant-Man movie, uploading the two-minute trailer to YouTube after its initial airing on US television during the premiere of new series Agent Carter.

The film stars Paul Rudd as conman/petty thief Scott Lang, who is called upon by ageing scientist Dr Hank Pym (Michael Douglas, or possibly someone wearing an ill-fitting Michael Douglas suit) — the "classic" holder of the Ant-Man mantle, as well as some less-appealing attributes — to step into his tiny, tiny shoes in order to protect his incredible-shrinking-man technology from a grave threat as the pair plan an ambitious heist to save the world. Don't brush this aside with a roll of the eyes, though — done right, the film has the same potential to shake up the superhero status quo the way unexpected runaway success Guardians Of The Galaxy did last year.

Easy to dismiss at face value, Pym's Ant-Man is actually a founding Avenger in the comics, though he's also an amoral, erratic and jealous man who should provide interesting mentor material given he is almost impossible to root for as a protagonist. Lang is no less an amoral figure, but is eminently more likeable, so it makes sense for the film to focus on the modern take while acknowledging the character's roots.

Fellow long-standing Avenger Janet Van Dyne, aka Wasp, has passed away by the time Ant-Man picks up, though it looks like we'll get a modern surrogate via Evangeline Lilly's Hope Van Dyne, the daughter of Jan and Hank. Iron Man 2's Howard Stark, John Slattery, also returns for the film, suggesting we will likely see some retro flashback footage of S.H.I.E.L.D. in its developmental years, post-Agent Carter infancy but obviously before the rack and ruin it has unwittingly wrought in the modern age of the main cinematic universe.

Ant-Man is due for release internationally on 17 July this year.