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Marvel’s Ant-Man film brought the adventures of the world's smallest superhero to a mainstream audience. While it covered two eras of miniature heroism, many aspects of the character remain shrouded in mystery.
10. He’s Not All There
One could argue that anyone daring to face bullets, lasers, and deadly traps while dressed in nothing but spandex might be considered somewhat crazy, regardless of their powers. However, the original Ant-Man, Hank Pym, is an exceptionally unstable character in Marvel comics. It all began in his lab when a distracted Hank accidentally dropped vials of various gases. Instead of gaining blue fur or radioactive strength, like some other Marvel characters, these gases granted Hank Pym a unique superpower: schizophrenia.
Hank Pym reinvented himself as Yellowjacket, claiming to have killed his former identity. He kidnapped the Wasp and proposed to her; though she recognized him as Hank, she accepted. At their wedding, a supervillain assault brought Hank back to his senses. Yet, a mental breakdown later led him to create a robot designed to attack the Avengers, even as he stood trial for his own negligence during a battle. Hank later contemplated suicide but regained his purpose by defeating Kang the Conqueror and aiding in the Avengers’ return to the present day after a series of time-travel adventures.
9. The Significance of Size
One reason Hank Pym is such a perplexing hero is because he takes on so many different identities. He’s Ant-Man, then Giant-Man, then Yellowjacket, and even Goliath at times. On one occasion, he simply fought crime under his real name, without a codename, unless you count the cool title 'Scientific Adventurer' he gave himself. So, what’s behind all these transformations? Well, it turns out that size really does matter.
In the comics, Ant-Man was one of the founding Avengers, but he always appeared much weaker compared to teammates like Thor, Iron Man, and the Incredible Hulk. Hank himself felt that way and later modified the Pym Particles formula, which originally allowed him to shrink, so that he could grow into Giant-Man and stand tall among the Avengers. However, his feelings of inadequacy continued, especially after realizing that discovering the Pym Particles as a young man was his greatest scientific achievement—aside from creating Ultron, the murderous robot who may be villainous due to Hank’s own troubled mind.
Hank’s ego took a major hit when he compared his limited scientific accomplishments to his millionaire wife’s success as a fashion designer. This triggered verbal abuse toward her, and things eventually escalated into something much worse.
8. Three Different Ant-Men Have Existed
As fans of Marvel’s Ant-Man film know, the mantle of Ant-Man has been worn by more than one individual. The first and most iconic is Hank Pym, the Avengers’ founding member. The second is Scott Lang, portrayed in the movie as an electronics whiz who turns to crime to care for his family. After breaking into Hank’s home and stealing the Ant-Man suit, Scott uses it to stop a villain who has kidnapped the only doctor capable of saving his daughter, Cassie. Recognizing Scott’s good intentions, Hank allows him to keep the suit.
The third incarnation of Ant-Man comes from a much darker place. Eric O’Grady, a low-level SHIELD agent, steals Pym’s suit and ends up stuck in its miniature form for a time. Though he fights crime and dreams of being a hero, much of Eric’s time in the suit is spent spying on female heroes in compromising situations. He even gets his girlfriend pregnant before abandoning her. After a brief period of misconduct, Eric eventually redeems himself by sacrificing his life in a battle with villains to save a child.
7. Earth’s Greatest Scientist
The Marvel comics universe is overflowing with brilliant minds. Characters like Mr. Fantastic, Iron Man, and Spider-Man are as skilled at saving the world through their scientific expertise as they are in their superhero roles. What makes Ant-Man unique is that he has been recognized as Earth’s greatest scientist by Eternity, a cosmic entity representing the collective consciousness of all living beings in the universe. Eternity embodies time itself and governs all individuals across all planes of existence. Out of the billions on Earth, this force selected Ant-Man to be the ‘Scientist Supreme’ of the planet.
It’s unclear whether Ant-Man earned this title due to his persistent (and at times, reckless) pursuit of science, or his broad intellect. However, his expertise spans multiple fields: physics, cybernetics, robotics, medicine, entomology, optics, and programming. Despite personal turmoil, including struggles with his marriage and career, Ant-Man continuously returns to his scientific endeavors.
6. He’s A Member Of The Illuminati
From dollar bills to parodies by Weird Al to hip-hop lyrics, references to the Illuminati conspiracy theory are ubiquitous. Allegedly, this secret society of influential figures manipulates the world according to their desires. Within the Marvel universe, not only is this shadow organization real, but its members are heroes!
The Illuminati was formed after the Kree-Skrull War, following Iron Man’s realization that the conflict could have been avoided if those with crucial knowledge about these alien races had communicated effectively. Not everyone supports the creation of this clandestine group, and Captain America even attempts to have its members arrested. Ant-Man is brought in to assist the Illuminati in their efforts against the Avengers, who are working to dismantle the group while the Illuminati strives to prevent reality incursions. Ant-Man plays a key role in identifying the cosmic force behind these incursions, ultimately helping to save the entire world.
5. His Daughter Is A Hero
In the Ant-Man film, the second Ant-Man, Scott Lang, has a lovable young daughter whom he strives to protect and provide for. However, considering Scott Lang's debut in 1979, enough time has passed (even in Marvel’s constantly shifting timeline) for the little girl to grow up. She eventually matures into a superhero herself.
Cassie’s early life sets the stage for her heroic journey. She spends her childhood with the Fantastic Four and later forms a close bond with the Avengers and Tony Stark, whom she refers to as 'Uncle.' For years, Cassie experiments with Pym Particles in hopes of gaining powers. Her persistence pays off when the Avengers mansion is attacked by the time-bending villain Kang the Conqueror. Cassie uses her newfound ability to grow and shrink to save the day. Inspired by the memory of Scott Lang, who tragically died in a violent explosion on the Avengers’ lawn, Cassie decides to become a hero.
Despite her youth, Cassie has faced significant challenges. In addition to battling typical villains, she ventures through time to save her father’s life. Tragically, she dies while fighting Dr. Doom. However, when a spell temporarily turns Dr. Doom good, he uses a small portion of Scarlet Witch’s reality-warping mojo to resurrect Cassie.
4. He’s Godfather To His Alien Clone’s Son
In Marvel comics, clones are incredibly common. Whether it’s life model duplicates, Spider-clones, or shape-shifting Skrulls, it seems like everyone has a duplicate somewhere. A Skrull once impersonated Hank and left behind a curious memento of his time on Earth: a son, with the hero Tigra as the mother.
One evening, after another difficult encounter with his ex-wife, the Wasp, Hank sought comfort in the arms of an attractive student. However, she turned out to be a Skrull who, after charming Hank to gather valuable superhero intel, transported him back to their homeworld.
When the real Hank eventually returns, he learns that his alien clone has gotten Tigra pregnant. The Skrull did an excellent job of replicating Hank, leaving no alien DNA—just a bizarre situation where Hank is technically the child’s dad but not the biological father. Hank makes an awkward attempt to discuss this with Tigra, who quickly decides that only if something were to happen to her would she allow the erratic, abusive Hank Pym to raise her child—like a 'break glass in case of emergency' situation for fatherhood.
3. He Can Hop Between Dimensions
Even at its most straightforward, the science behind superhero abilities is puzzling, and Ant-Man is no exception. For example, his shrinking power is explained by his mass being transferred to another dimension. However, how this allows him to retain his full-strength abilities while tiny—essentially the core of much of the action in the Ant-Man film—is never really clarified. An unexpected side effect of this dimension-hopping is that it grants Ant-Man access to other planes of existence.
The Marvel comics universe has featured several “microverses,” which are exactly what they sound like—small parallel dimensions that can be accessed by shrinking with Pym Particles. Ant-Man has had his fair share of adventures within these microverses, including a notable one where he saved the Fantastic Four from being sold into slavery by Dr. Doom to serve alien lizard people. After encountering strange scenarios like this, the confusion about the science doesn’t seem so overwhelming!
2. He Wants To Destroy The World
Much like Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hank Pym spends a significant amount of time trying to convince others that Ultron's evil is not his fault. He argues that the robot is the result of good intentions gone wrong, and that he never predicted the havoc Ultron would cause. However, according to the Rage of Ultron comic event, this is far from the truth.
When Hank confronts Ultron as a distraction, the villainous robot reveals that it found Hank's memories within its own system, memories that shaped its personality. Ultron claims that these memories showed how deeply Hank subconsciously despises the world, making Ultron’s actions and evil a mirror of his creator’s repressed desires. Before Hank can reflect on this revelation, he is merged with Ultron. After an inevitable battle with the Avengers, Hank ultimately flees into space.
1. The World Goes To Hell If He Dies
Marvel’s major comic event The Age of Ultron bears little resemblance to the movie that later adopted the same name. In the comics, time-traveling heroes from a bleak future come back to the past to attempt to set things right. The key twist involves Hank Pym’s death—later reversed through further time manipulation—and the massive consequences his death has on the entire world.
The trouble begins when Wolverine and the Invisible Woman travel to the past with the intent of killing Hank Pym before he can create Ultron, the infamous robot. Upon their return to the future, everything has changed: Latveria and Asgard are at war, the Avengers have disbanded, and technology is so crippled that it can no longer oppose the dark sorcery of Morgana Le Fey. Iron Man now exists as a twisted version of himself, ruling over the remnants of the shattered world. While the narrative never fully explains why Hank Pym is so crucial, it’s clear that his existence is the key to preventing entire kingdoms from crumbling.
