Ant-Man and the Wasp: The Story of Marvel’s Smaller Than Life Heroes

Ant-Man and the Wasp: The Story of Marvel’s Smaller Than Life Heroes

Sydney Vallier (9th), Reporter

In 2015, Marvel Studios introduced us to Scott Lang, an ex-burglar who, having just gotten out of prison, is recruited by scientist Hank Pym to don his Ant-Man suit, which he designed to give the user the ability to shrink. With the suit, Lang sneaks into Pym’s old company, now run by his previous apprentice Cross, to prevent Cross from completing his version of Pym’s shrinking technology and using it as a weapon.

Ant-Man’s next MCU appearance was in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, in which he sided with Team Cap during the fight against Stark’s group of heroes. His actions in this movie made him a fugitive, and he was consequently unable to help in the recent Avengers: Infinity War.

While Lang may not have been able to make an appearance in Infinity War, recent trailers for Ant-Man and the Wasp show that he has not been idle. In his upcoming sequel movie, Scott, now on house-arrest, has to cope with the consequences of his participation in the events of Captain America: Civil War and is learning to balance his family life with his Ant-Man responsibilities when Hank Pym and Hope Van Dyne drag him back in with a new mission, in which he will be partnered with Van Dyne as the Wasp.

So far, we don’t have a lot of details on the next Marvel installment, but one thing that’s clear is that they will be fighting Ghost, a villain nothing like any other we’ve seen in the MCU before.

In the comics, Ghost was originally one of Iron Man’s enemies. He hated large corporations and often used his hacking skills to sabotage them. Ghost’s other abilities include becoming invisible and intangible as well as making other objects invisible and intangible. In trailers for Ant-Man and the Wasp, Ghost appears to be similar to the comic version power wise, though the villain is now female and it is unclear whether or not she’ll retain the corporate hatred of her comic equivalent.

The origin of Ghost’s powers is debatable, though it is entirely possible that the cinematic version of the character will get her ability to become intangible and pass through solid objects from the Quantum Realm, as it seems the subatomic world will start to play a larger part in the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Quantum Realm is even rumored to be where Carol Danvers gets her powers in next year’s Captain Marvel.

Speaking of the Quantum Realm, fans of the original Ant-Man movie will remember that Janet Van Dyne, the previous Wasp and the wife of Hank Pym and mother of Hope Van Dyne, was trapped in the Quantum Realm after going subatomic to disable a Soviet missile while on a mission with Hank Pym, who was Ant-Man at the time. Pym had tried everything to get her back, but had given up hope until Scott Lang’s Ant-Man successfully returned from the Quantum Realm in Ant-Man. At the time, Scott Lang had no memory of what happened while he was in the Quantum Realm; however, as Marvel has cast Michelle Pfeiffer to portray the character in the new movie, it’s possible that Scott was able to recall enough memory to help bring her back, or even that she eventually figured it out on her own. Either way, Janet is sure to play a large role in the upcoming film.

Going back to the subject of Infinity War, fans have speculated that, even though Ant-Man wasn’t present in the movie, Ant-Man and the Wasp will somehow tie in to it. One possibility of this happening is a post-credit scene in which an Ant-Man character fades to ashes as a consequence of Thanos’s deadly snap. A favorite to disappear is Lang himself, as his absence would be a good opportunity to introduce Wasp to the rest of the Avengers in Avengers 4. If the MCU really wants to put obstacles in Lang’s way; however, his daughter may disappear since he spent Ant-Man trying to be with her and losing her would be one of the worst things that could happen to him at this point and would motivate him to join the other Avengers to get her back in the next Avengers movie.

In short, Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp will be an exciting movie about the MCU’s smaller-than-life heroes. And, while it may not be as anticipated as Infinity War, the Ant-Man sequel is sure to be a crowd pleaser (and who knows? We may still get to see some more Infinity War action this summer).