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| Image Courtesy www.twitter.com/AntMan |
Ant-Man is going
to introduce us to the concept of size-altering later this week. Over the course of the movie, we are going to
see at least 3 characters (potentially 4 depending on how much involvement the
original Wasp has in flashbacks) use Pym Particles to shrink down and
fight. However, Scott Lang, Hank Pym,
and Darren Cross are not the only characters in Marvel history to make use of
size alteration—actually Darren Cross never did use Pym Particles in the
comics... but that’s okay. There are a
lot of characters who have used this ability in the comics, many of whom
succeeded to one of Hank Pym’s various hero identities. However, there are also several who created
their own hero identity, some of whom had other powers which could be enhanced
by the use of Pym Particles.
Could we see any of
these characters enter the Marvel Universe through Ant-Man or one of its
sequels? One has already been in a few
movies, and we’re already guaranteed to see another one in Ant-Man!
(Note 1: Just about everything here comes from either
Wikipedia or Marvel Wiki. Feel free to look it up there. Or if you don’t want to get sucked into a
wormhole and reemerge next month, keep reading here!)
(Note 2: There will be spoilers for the comics ahead.)
Ant-Man
The first hero
identity I’m going to discuss is the one that started it all: Ant-Man.
Ant-Man is a hero with the ability to shrink down to ant size (and smaller
on occasion) while retaining his regular strength and speed levels. He also wears a cybernetic helmet enabling
him to communicate with ants. The first
Ant-Man was none other than Hank Pym.
However, a thief named Scott Lang stole his suit and used it to rescue
the only doctor who could save his daughter.
When he saw the noble use to
which Lang put the suit, Pym decided to let him keep it as a member of the
Avengers, Heroes for Hire (with Danny Rand and Luke Cage), Defenders, and even
the Fantastic Four.
However, Lang was
presumed killed (uh… spoiler alert?) when fellow Avenger Jack of Hearts
exploded. The Ant-Man suit was recovered
and placed into storage on the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, from which the third
Ant-Man, Eric O’Grady, stole it. O’Grady
primarily used the suit to spy on women (among others, Carol Danvers) and
seduce some of them (among others, not Carol Danvers!). However, in the end O’Grady managed to redeem
himself by giving his life to save a child.
Since his death, Lang has been revealed to still be alive (uh… spoiler
alert again?) and has resumed the mantle of Ant-Man.
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| Image Courtesy en.wikipedia.org |
Wasp
Chronologically, the
Wasp is the second hero identity created which makes use of Pym Particles. The first Wasp, Janet van Dyne (later Pym),
had actual wasp wings grafted to her back, enabling her to fly. In addition, she also had the ability to
harness her own bio-electrical energy and release it in the form of her
“Bio-Stings.” Janet also
possessed/possesses (comics can be confusing!) the ability to shrink and grow
at will due to repeated exposure to Pym Particles.
When Janet was
presumed killed for a while, Hank chose to become the new Wasp as a way to cope
with her death. However, because she has
been revealed to still be alive, she is currently the Wasp.
Giant-Man/Goliath
I’m going to tackle
these two titles together. Giant-Man or
Goliath is a hero with the ability to grow in size and either retain equal or
proportional strength compared to their normal size. Pym first created the Giant-Man identity
because he felt inadequate alongside his fellow Avengers. He eventually changed the name from Giant-Man
to Goliath after taking a leave of absence from the Avengers.
During Pym’s leave of
absence, his one-time lab assistant, Bill Foster, makes use of the Pym Particle
formula to become a hero himself, adopting the name “Black Goliath” and joining
the West Coast Avengers. As Black
Goliath, Foster also joins the Champions of Los Angeles and Defenders. After Pym changes his name to Goliath, Foster
takes up the “Giant-Man” mantle, though he eventually returns to the “Black
Goliath” title before leaving the hero life altogether.
After Pym gives up the
“Goliath” name to adopt a new one, it is not in use for a short time. Eventually, after his bow breaks, Clint
Barton, aka Hawkeye, takes up the Goliath title for a while before returning to
his original identity. Before leaving
Clint Barton, we should also note that as Hawkeye he made use of Pym
Particle-infused arrowheads (thanks @Pym_Particles [www.twitter.com/Pym_Particles]),
one example of a character using tools infused with them.
The third Goliath was
a villain named Erik Josten, who first went by the name “Power Man”—until Luke
Cage defeated him and took his codename.
After losing his original strength, Josten made a bargain to receive the
stolen Pym Particle formula, which he used to grow in size, adopting the
codename “Goliath” and starting a rampage across Los Angeles which was only
stopped when the West Coast Avengers defeated him. Josten retained the Goliath title for quite a
while before being stripped of his Pym Particle enhancement and adopting a new
codename as “Atlas.”
Shortly before the
Civil War, Bill Foster takes the name of Goliath and returns to the hero
life. However, during one of the first
major battles between Captain America’s Secret Avengers and Iron Man’s forces,
Foster is killed by a clone of Thor and buried in his giant form.
Following Bill
Foster’s death, his nephew Tom recreated the Pym Particle formula and used it
to become the fifth Goliath and join Damage Control.
Yellowjacket
Now on to Pym’s other
insect-based superhero identity:
Yellowjacket. In the comics, this
identity was created by Hank Pym while he was going through a mental breakdown. Yellowjacket is a cocky and brash hero
without most of Pym’s trademark intellect.
Pym’s mind is eventually restored, and he joins the West Coast Avengers
as a non-costumed technical advisor. He
eventually returns to the “Giant-Man” identity when he goes back to being a
hero.
The second
Yellowjacket is not Darren Cross (who in the comics is just your regular
run-of-the-mill millionaire with minor superhuman abilities). However, before you get all worked up about
someone other than Hank Pym becoming Yellowjacket, keep reading. There is a second Yellowjacked in the comics,
and that second one is a supervillain, at least at first. Rita DeMara’s story is very similar to Scott
Lang’s: reluctant criminal who steals
one of Hank Pym’s costumes (he really needs to invest in a lock, doesn’t
he?). However, DeMara fought with the
Wasp (Janet), panicked on shrinking, and was captured. She later joined the Masters of Evil in
attacking the Avengers. Later on she
teamed up with a group of Avengers to defeat the High Evolutionary. During the Infinity War, DeMara joined the
Masters of Evil in attacking the Guardians of the Galaxy (the original team, not
the one in the movie), but the two sides were forced to work together, and in
the end she joined the Guardians.
Other
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| Not the best, but what'cha gonna do? |
There are also a few
other characters who use Pym Particles to either fight or commit crime. The most well-known of these characters (who
is going to make her MCU debut in Ant-Man) is Scott Lang’s daughter,
Cassie, who repeatedly exposed herself to Pym Particles growing up, giving her
the ability to generate Pym Particles at will.
She adopted the hero identity of “Stature” and fought alongside both the
Mighty Avengers and Young Avengers.
The other hero who
uses Pym Particles is Humberto Lopez, aka Reptil. Lopez’s parents are paleontologists who
discovered a crystallized bone which he began to wear as a medallion. The medallion gives him the ability take on
the abilities of a dinosaur by thinking of them and transforming parts of his
body, and limited empathy to sense dinosaurs and other lizards. However, over time he develops his ability to
the point that he can transform his whole body into that of a dinosaur, an
ability which is eventually enhanced by his use of Pym Particles, which allow
him to assume the size of the dinosaur as well as its shape.
The other two
characters who use Pym Particles are villains, though only one is particularly
enduring.
The first is the
Scarlet Beetle, an ordinary beetle which gained conscious thought and the
ability to control other insects due to exposure to atomic radiation. The beetle attempts to take over the world
and destroy the human race, and it sees Ant-Man as an obstacle. His insects capture Pym and throw him in a
pit, and Scarlet Beetle steals his Pym Particles to grow himself to human
size. However, Pym’s ants rescue him,
and Pym defeats the Scarlet Beetle, restores it to normal size, and
decontaminates it of the radiation before releasing it into his back yard. I have to admit, that sounds like the kind of
quirky, weird, and out-of-left-field story that would be perfect for Ant-Man
2!
The other villain is a
little more than just a once-off: Katrina
van Horn, aka “Man-Killer” (among other aliases, including “Amazon”). Van Horn is a “militant feminist” (I can just
see them working that angle into the MCU!) who suffers serious injuries
in a skiing accident. She is outfitted
with an exoskeleton that restores her movement and increases her strength,
calls herself the “Man-Killer,” and goes to work for Hydra. She has also been a member of both the
Masters of Evil and several incarnations of the Thunderbolts. While working with the Thunderbolts, she was
given Pym Particles by the Fixer (the same guy who gave them to Erik Josten),
which enhanced her already-superhuman strength, stamina, and durability by
allowing her to grow in size.
Conclusion (or “Why
Did I Write all This?”)
So, how many of the
aforementioned characters are going to show up in the Marvel Cinematic
Universe? We already know at least a few
are going to be showing up in Ant-Man—Hank (and Janet) Pym, and Scott
and Cassie Lang. Additionally, one has
already shown up in the MCU—Clint Barton.
But will Barton take up the Goliath mantle? Something makes me doubt it, but they could
always put a nod to that storyline into Captain America: Civil War.
Of the other
characters mentioned, there is at least one who could be given supporting roles
in Ant-Man to set him up for a costumed supporting role in future
movies: Bill Foster (yeah, introduce the
black guy as a friend in the first movie and give him a suit in the
second. We’ve never [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Machine]
seen that before…). I actually think
Bill Foster would be a good character to introduce as an older, established
hero who worked with Pym later in his (Pym’s) career.
It has been confirmed
by Kevin Feige that Janet van Dyne will play a very minor role as the
Wasp in Ant-Man in the flashback scene(s) of Hank’s hero career. However, I think it would be cool for her to
show up in later seasons of Agent Carter (or perhaps in her own spinoff
TV series?). Additionally, rumor has it
that we could still get a Wasp in the modern-day MCU in the form of—you guessed
it!—Hope van Dyne, Pym’s daughter! In an
alternate reality in the comics, Hope becomes a supervillain called the Red
Queen, who has bio-Stingers and the ability to fly (but not the ability to
alter her size). In the MCU, it seems
pretty clear that they are setting her up to play a major role opposite Scott
Lang; could she become the Wasp by the end of the movie? It sure seems possible.
I don’t really see
Eric O’Grady, Tom Foster, Erik, Josten, or Rita DeMara appearing in the MCU at
this point in time. Rita DeMara could follow
her comic book progression by stealing the Yellowjacket suit after the events
of Ant-Man, becoming the second Yellowjacket, and becoming a hero, but I
think it would be far more interesting for Darren Cross to stay around, either
remaining a villain or developing into an anti-hero.
However, all of the other
characters could appear in the right story.
The Scarlet Beetle is just the kind of silly villain that Scott Lang
could find himself fighting off in the (inevitable) sequel. Man-Killer (“Amazon” might be a preferable
name for her to use) could appear as a member of the Thunderbolts if they ever
decide to make them into a movie. Reptil
and Stature would both be interesting characters to use if/when Marvel ever decides
to start introducing more teenaged heroes to the MCU, though Cassie is too
young to really become a superhero at this point; that would have to wait for
Phase 4 or so (after the announced movie schedule). Regardless, like the Terrigen Fish Oil Bomb
on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., after Pym Particles are introduced we may see
people popping up all over the place who use them!
Which of these
characters do you find the most interesting?
Which do you want to see appear in the MCU? Do you want to see Darren Cross as more than
a once-off villain, perhaps even becoming a genuine hero down the line? Let me know in the comments!
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