15 Biggest Differences Between Ant-Man In The Movies & Comics

Ant-Man roared into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with his own solo movie, and it was the Scott Lang version of the character that appeared. Since that time, Ant-Man has received his own sequel and also appeared in both Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Endgame. Next up is a third Ant-Man movie that will feature Kang as a villain.

However, fans who only know Ant-Man from the movies only know part of the story. Ant-Man and the Wasp saw the tale of Hank Pym serving as Ant-Man in the past, before the MCU ever started with Iron Man, or even with Captain Marvel before that. However, that is only part of the saga, and there is a lot that comic fans know about Ant-Man that movie fans don’t.

Hank Pym And S.H.I.E.L.D.

In the MCU, Hank Pym was a member of S.H.I.E.L.D., working alongside people like Howard Stark and Peggy Carter. That was not his origin in the comics. Pym never created his Pym Particles for the U.S. Government, and instead did it on his own and became a crime fighter, instead.

He was also one of the Avengers’ founding members with Janet Van Dyne, The Wasp. He never worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. in his younger days, and the entire break from the organization was an MCU creation.

Hank Pym Was Disgraced

Hank Pym has mostly played things level in the MCU. He did set up Scott Lang to steal his costume to see if he could use him to stop Darren Cross. However, in the end, Pym was one of the most well-rounded characters in the Ant-Man franchise. He was the complete opposite in the comics.

In the comics, Hank questioned himself from the start. He created Ultron and watched it turn evil. He kept pushing himself until he struck his wife Janey out of anger. After creating a dangerous situation to redeem himself, he ended up court-martialed and kicked out of the Avengers. Hank had a tough life in the comics.

Ant-Man’s Relationship With Hank Pym

Scott Lang and Hank Pym never shared the relationship in the comics that they did in the movies. In the movies, Lang worked for Pym to stop Darren Cross and then ended up dating his daughter. The two then worked together on more scientific experiments.

In the comics, this was not their relationship at all. Pym allowed Lang to keep the Ant-Man suit and powers to be a crime fighter. However, he was not a mentor, and they were never partners.

Nadia Pym

In the movies, Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne had a daughter named Hope, and she became Wasp in the MCU. In the comics, they never had a child while they were together. However, Hank had a daughter with his wife before Janet.

Hank married a woman named Maria, but she ended up killed when visiting her home country of Hungary. What he never knew was that she was pregnant, and the baby survived. Trained in the Red Room, Nadia grew up to become a Widow, but later defected and became the new Wasp.

How Cassie Lang Gained Her Powers

It is unclear how Cassie Lang will gain her powers in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. However, there is no way it can happen like it did in the comics. That is because Cassie got her powers while staying with her dad at the Avengers mansion when he had partial custody.

Scott never lived at Avengers mansion, and even if he did, he doesn’t get his powers like he did in the comics. Cassie exposed herself to Pym Particles at the Avengers mansion as a child and has it biologically in the comics. Whether she becomes Stature or Stinger, she will get her powers in a completely different method.

Ant-Man Was A Founding Avengers Member

Scott Lang was not the first Ant-Man, and anyone who watched the movies know that. However, while Hank Pym worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. in the past of the MCU, he was a founding member of The Avengers in the comics. Ant-Man and Wasp were partners in the early days of Marvel Comics and formed the team with Iron Man, Thor, and Hulk.

In the comics, it wasn’t until Ant-Man and Wasp left the team that the MCU’s founding members, Hawkeye and Black Widow, even joined the team.

Ant-Man Also Worked As Giant Man

In the movies, Ant-Man has used the Pym Particles to change size. In Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scott met Bill Foster, who served as Goliath in the pre-Iron Man history in the MCU. However, while Bill existed in the comics, the original Ant-Man was the first Giant Man in comics.

Hank could grow up to 100 feet in height, but he soon learned that growing to this size posed a health danger. Hank ended up retiring at the time to save his own life.

Scott Lang Stole The Ant-Man Costume To Save His Daughter

In the movies, Scott Lang was hired for one last big heist when he couldn’t keep a job after getting out of jail. It turned out to be a setup by Hank Pym, as he then used the thief to help him break into his old company to regain his Pym Particles.

In the comics, Scott stole the suit for a very different reason. His daughter Cassie Lang was dying of a heart condition. He used the suit to break in to save a doctor who could save his daughter’s life. Henry Pym agreed not to press charges if Scott would use the Ant-Man suit for lawful deeds.

Ant-Man’s Relationship With His Wife

In the movies, Scott Lang went to jail when he learned that the company he worked for was hurting people. When he got out, he had to deal with his ex-wife, who felt that he was a bad influence on their daughter. However, it was clear all along that she cared about Scott, even as a friend, and she was one of Ant-Man‘s best supporting characters.

In the comics, it was very different. Scott and Peggy Rae, his ex-wife in the comics, had an extremely poor relationship. She did everything she could to keep him from seeing his daughter, believing that his work as a superhero was too dangerous to allow him custody.

Ant-Man Became Yellowjacket

The villain in the first Ant-Man movie was Yellowjacket. This was Darren Cross, a former employee of Hank Pym who had a hostile takeover and then took on the Yellowjacket identity to help in his illegal endeavors. This is not what happened in the comics. Yellowjacket was actually an identity that Hank Pym took on.

In the comics, he showed up as Yellowjacket but didn’t tell any of the Avengers who he was. Janet van Dyne knew, but she kept his secret and ended up marrying him.

Darren Cross Was Not Hank Pym’s Enemy

Darren Cross in the comics was not the same as he was in the movies. In Marvel Comics, Cross was always a villain of Scott Lang’s Ant-Man, whereas in the MCU, he was trying to ruin Hank Pym. He worked for Pym and then executed his hostile takeover and tried to sell off the Pym Particles.

In the comics, Cross was a millionaire who owned his own company. He kidnapped a heart specialist to help him, which led to Scott Lang stealing the Ant-Man costume to save the doctor. Cross eventually became Yellowjacket, but this happened in 2015 in response to the movie.

Scott Lang And Hank Pym’s Daughter Never Dated

Scott Lang never dated Hope van Dyne, and this was for a very good reason. Scott was an adult with a daughter when he broke in to steal the Ant-Man costume. Over his history, he joined the Avengers, had a lot of adventures, and his daughter grew up into a healthy teenager.

Hank Pym’s daughter in the comics was named Nadia, not Hope, and she is also a teenager, around the same age as Cassie Lang. The age difference here is striking and the two never had any sort of relationship.

Wasp Was Drastically Changed

In the movies, Janet van Dyne was a scientist and a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent along with Hank Pym. They worked for the U.S. government during the Cold War and Janet was a brilliant hero, much like Hank. The couple was also older, operating in the era of Howard Stark and not Tony Stark.

Jan was very different in the comics. Wasp was a sidekick to Ant-Man for much of the start of her career. She eventually became a respected Avengers leader, but she was mostly a socialite, a clothing designer, and never approached the level she did in the movies.

The Ghost Was Gender-Swapped

The Ghost was the main villain in Ant-Man and the Wasp. This was interesting for a pair of reasons. First, Ghost is not typically an Ant-Man villain in the comics, but is an Iron Man rogue. Second, instead of a girl who worked as an assassin who is dying, Ghost was a man.

Ghost was a criminal hired to act as an industrial terrorist. This often put him in the crosshairs of Iron Man, as he targeted Stark Enterprises more than once.

Ant-Man Was On The Other Side In Civil War

In Captain America: Civil War, Falcon reached out and pulled in Scott Lang to help fight on Captain America’s side. This helped Cap make it out of the war in one piece, but also resulted in Ant-Man being caught once again and serving out his time under house arrest.

In the comics, Scott Lang was dead at this time, and Hank Pym sided with Iron Man. Not only did Hank take Iron Man’s side, but he worked hand-in-hand with Reed Richards to create a prison in the Negative Zone to hold heroes who refused to sign the Registration Act.

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