When Ant-Man was first announced, I was excited at the thought that we’d
finally get to see Hank Pym and Jan van Dyne on the big screen. Two characters that
I’ve been saying should be in these movies from the get go. You can probably
imagine my disappointment when they revealed that Scott Lang was going to be
the focus of this movie, and Jan van Dyne wouldn’t be shown at all. Dang it.
But, since then I’ve warmed up to the idea of Scott Lang getting the spot
light. An ex-con turned Superhero, Marvel’s Movie-verse can use someone with
that background. You know, other than the Guardians of the Galaxy. I’m getting
off task, time to focus on our character of the day. Let’s get to it.
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| His costume is a bit creepier than Pym's original design. Just saying. |
Scott Lang was born in Coral
Gables, Florida, where he lived for most of his life. He was a skilled electrical
engineer who fell onto some hard times. He wasn’t making enough money to
support himself and family. Instead of doing the smart thing like, oh, I don’t
know, look for a better paying job, seek a promotion, or take on another job,
he turned to burglary. Sigh. Why is it that smart people make such stupid
decisions? Anyway, he was able to supplement his income with his ill-gotten
gains until he was inevitably caught and arrested. He served three years before
being released on good behavior. While in prison he spent his time studying
electronics, increasing his skill set considerably. After he was released he
was actually hired by Stark International. Tony is big on second chances,
shocking, right? He impressed Tony with his skills so much that Scott got to
assist upgrading the Avengers Mansion security system. So yeah, things started
looking up for Scott. And, as per usual, that’s when it hits the fan.
Scott’s daughter, Cassie, was diagnosed
with a congenital heart condition. Scott needed a lot of money, fast. Rather
than say, going to Tony Stark and begging for his help, (Tony would totally
help out a child in need) he went back to burglary. But this time he decided to
upgrade a little. He broke into Dr. Hank Pym’s home and stole Hank’s Ant-Man
equipment. He got into costume and planned to steal enough money, or tech to
sell to get money, he needed to save his kid. And, honestly, can’t fault his
logic, Ant-Man’s suit is great for stealth, he can disable any security cameras
and such without being seen, and he can haul out a lot of swag without being
seen. It sounds like the perfect plan, let’s throw a monkey wrench into that
plan. The first place he broke into was called Cross Technological Enterprises.
Before he could get his hands on any equipment, he discovered that the owner
Darren Cross was holding a Dr. Erica Sondheim hostage. Coincidentally, Dr.
Sondheim was also an expert on Cassie’s heart condition and Cassie’s best
chance for survival. What are the odds? Scott saved Dr. Sondheim, who then was
able to save Cassie’s life. After things had calmed down, Scott brought the
costume back to Hank and intended to turn himself in for stealing the costume.
Hank, being a surprisingly awesome guy, let Scott keep the costume and take up
the Ant-Man mantel.
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| When Daddy saves daughter. |
The new Ant-Man started from the
ground up. His first few adventures involved assisting Iron Man and the
Avengers. He also helped out his predecessor Hank Pym, now going by
Yellowjacket, to save his partner Wasp from the evil Dr. Parnell Solomon. He
also tangled with a few of the most dangerous foes of the Marvel-verse, like
Taskmaster. He had a leg up on Taskmaster, as the supervillain relies on
copying his opponent’s moves. Taskmaster believed he was fighting Hank Pym,
which kept him off balance long enough to do something Taskmaster wouldn’t expect,
namely exposing an ant to the Pym Particles, supersizing it. Imagine how
terrifying an ant the size of car would be. Shutter. His biggest break was
helping Tony track down the various villains that had gotten their hands on
copies of his technology. He also helped out the Fantastic Four on a number of occasions,
even forming a temporary team with Human Torch, She-Hulk, and Namorita. For
those who don’t know, Namorita is a female clone of Namor. And for those who
don’t know, Namor is basically Marvel’s Aquaman.
A while later, his ex-wife Peggy
gained custody of Cassie. Now finding himself with a lot more free time, he
took up Tony on an offer to join the Avengers to become a full time member. He
served as a loyal member for several years. He clashed with another Avenger,
Jack of Hearts, for a while. That is until Jack sacrificed himself to save
Cassie from a child murderer. It’s hard to hate a guy after he saved your kid.
Scott’s time as an Avenger came to a rather abrupt end. Scarlet Witch had been
driven insane after the loss her and the Visions twins, and turned her fury on
the Avengers. She used her reality warping powers to create a zombified clone
of Jack of Hearts. Said clone arrived at Avengers Mansion and blew up in Scott’s
face, apparently killing him. Following Scott’s death, his now teenage daughter
Cassie decided to honor her father’s memory by becoming a superhero. She’d been
exposed to enough Pym Particles to give her size changing powers. She made her
own costume and became Stature.
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| And then daughter saves Daddy. |
Several years later, Cassie became
part of the Young Avengers. It’s a team of teen heroes that either modeled
themselves after or had connection to an Avenger. While helping out teammates Wiccan
and Speed, the reincarnated sons of Scarlet Witch, find their sort-of-Mom she
was given the chance to change things. The Young Avengers are taken back in
time by the team’s former leader, Nathanial Richards aka Iron Lad aka the
future Kang the Conqueror, to the day Scott died. The plan was to help the
amnesia suffering Scarlet Witch regain her memories. Despite Iron Lad’s claims
that their time bubble kept them from interacting with the past, Cassie leaps
out of it, bear hugs her father, and takes him out of Jack of Heart’s blast
radius. Scott is taken to the future by the Young Avengers, and helps the team
protect Scarlet Witch and then fight a hyper-powered Doctor Doom. Scott is
again seemingly killed in the fight, and Cassie, enraged at her father dying
again, tried to kill Doctor Doom. Scott is later found relatively unscathed,
but Cassie unfortunately was killed by Doctor Doom.
Scott joins a new Defenders team,
and then becomes the leader of the Future Foundation after the Fantastic Four
go on a time traveling trip. The death of his daughter weighed heavily on
Scott, who focused the team’s resources on getting vengeance on Doctor Doom. It’s
an understandable desire, if someone hurt my kid I’d kill ‘em in the most
horrific, sadistic way imaginable. Remember, I’m creative. But, come on Scott, its
Doctor freaking Doom. Master of Science and Sorcery, psychotic despot,
destroyer of freedom, and just all around bad man. Chances of success are slim.
But not impossible, apparently. Scott got his vengeance against Doom, actually
beating the dark doctor in a hand to hand confrontation, but as always it was a
hollow victory. A short time later, the AXIS
event occurred. Basically Doctor Doom and Scarlet Witch accidentally shift
the “alignment” of several heroes and villains. Some heroes become darker, and
some villains become more heroic. One is Doctor Doom himself, who convinces
Scarlet Witch to help him atone of his crime against Scott and Cassie. They use
magic to resurrect Cassie, and then send her home. Afterwards, Scott moved back
to Miami to be closer to Cassie, and starts his own business, Ant-Man Security
Solutions. He’s come a long way to get back to where he started. That’s the
life of a superhero for ya.
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| Pretty much every superhero wishes their costume could look this good on the big screen. |
Like his predecessor, Scott Lang
uses Pym Particle gas to shrink and grow. That is until he’s exposed to the
Particles enough to shrink and grow at will, also like his predecessor. Unlike
Hank Pym, he almost solely uses the shrinking powers of the Pym Particles.
Probably because he didn’t get Hank’s blessing to be Giant-Man, too. His
costume, made from unstable molecules, is largely tear and puncture resistant,
shrinks and grows with him, and helps augment his strength and speed while
tiny. He also uses the cybernetic helmet, another gift from Hank, to communicate
and control ants and other insects. He uses his electronics skills to upgrade
the helmet, giving it sound amplifying equipment so he can be heard normally
even when an inch high. He also added a Plexiglas shield to the helmet and a
small air supply, to help him explore less than hospitable places. He’s an
expert in electronics, and has developed a fair amount of engineering skills
over the years.
Scott Lang’s version of Ant-Man has
been used a few times in various Marvel series.
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| SO MANY ANTS! |
He was introduced in the second
season of The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest
Heroes. In it, he is a former electrical engineer who turned to cry to pay
for his daughter’s medical expenses. He gets caught after paying for Cassie’s treatment
and serves a three year sentence. When he got out his old partner, Cross, came
to him to get his cut of the profits. He kidnaps Cassie when Scott tells him he
couldn’t pay. Scott steals the Ant-Man costume and tech to steal the money
he needed. He uses an experimental device Dr. Pym created, the Pym Discs, to
try and shrink the money. Unfortunately, Hank had never perfected the tech, so
any objects hit with the Discs shrank to nothingness. He’s caught by Hank, as
well as his hired back up Luke Cage and Iron Fist. He explains the situation,
but then runs off to pay off Cross. Scott hoped he could get him and Cassie
out, but Cross had other plans. He wanted to force Scott as Ant-Man to help him
steal more stuff. Hank and his backup arrive and help Scott save Cassie and
kick Cross’s butt. He tries to turn the costume back over to Hank, but Hank
leaves the Ant-Man costume with Scott, deeming him a worthy successor. It’s
implied that he starts working with Cage and Iron Fist at the end of the
episode. He returns in the series finale, helping the Avengers and other heroes
stop the monstrous Galactus for eating the world.
Scott’s version of Ant-Man appears
in the new Disney Animated Universe. This version seems to be a combination of
Scott and Hank, having Scott’s name and criminal background, but Hank’s more
scientific background and intellect. Not the biggest fan of this approach,
simply because it’d really disappoint any kid that likes this character. Why?
Because if they try to get into the comics, they’ll learn that Scott Lang isn’t
as smart as this version. Or that Hank Pym hasn’t had the darker past. I find
most of the Disney Animated stuff to be more “meh,” not awful but not something
I’m willing to talk at length about. But, check it out if you’re curious.
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| Start of something big...er, little? |
Paul Rudd is going to portray Scott
Lang in Ant-Man. They seem to be
sticking pretty close to his origins. Rudd’s Lang is an ex-con trying to go straight.
He’s recruited by Hank Pym to break into Darren Cross’s company to steal back
Pym’s tech from Cross. He’s mentored by Hank and Hank’s daughter Hope, and is
trying hard to be a role model for his kid. I was more than a little skeptical
when I heard that Paul Rudd was chosen to be Ant-Man, but he exceeded my expectations. He's both a very funny man, and yet that still capable of handling a more dramatic scene. He excels as the new Ant-Man, but despite this, also accepts that he got the job more or less because he is an expendable asset. The best looking scene is one that you've all already seen, it's from the original
promo, where he and Yellowjacket fight on a Thomas the Tank Engine train set. Rudd is already set to reprise
his Ant-Man role in Captain America:
Civil War next year.
Scott Lang is an interesting
character. He’s one of those heroes that is trying very hard to both walk away
from a troubled past and live up to the expectations of the ones that he loves
most. The criminal turned hero storyline has been done a few times, but Lang
does do it well. Looking back, he makes an excellent successor to Hank Pym, and
also serves as an excellent symbol for later heroes, like Cassie. Scott’s a
good man that made a few bad choices, and is now trying to learn and be better
for them. He’s the tiny but powerful, and always incredible Ant-Man. Next time,
our villain for the series, Darren Cross.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant-Man_%28Scott_Lang%29#/media/File:AntmanAH.JPG
http://marvel.wikia.com/File:2319724-145.jpg.png
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=49856
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/88/Paul_Rudd_as_Ant-Man.jpg
http://moviepilot.com/posts/2014/12/25/5-things-we-hope-to-see-in-the-ant-man-teaser-trailer-2541148?lt_source=external,manual
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/462744930438175872/
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