ANT-MAN (2015): Edgar Wright Provides Clue on Character’s Identity

Ant-Man director, Edgar Wright, released a pic regarding groundwork for film. The image, posted on his official site, and entitled ‘Homework,’ is actually a still from the animated series Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Ant-Man ‘Homework’

The specific episode, 2.5: ‘To Steal an Ant-Man,’ introduced the character of Scott Lang, who usurped the identity of Ant-Man from its original owner, Henry Pym.

Regarding Henry Pym and Scott Lang:

Ant-Man was originally the superhero persona of Dr. Henry Pym, a brilliant scientist who invented a substance that allowed him to change his size. Henry Pym was created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Tales to Astonish #27; his first appearance in the Ant-Man persona was in Tales to Astonish #35. A biophysicist and Security Operations Center expert, Pym decided to become a superhero after discovering a chemical substance (Pym Particles) that would allow the user to alter his size. Armed with a helmet that could control ants, Pym would shrink down to the size of an insect to become the mystery-solving Ant-Man. He soon shared his discovery with his girlfriend, Janet Van Dyne, who became his crime-fighting partner as the Wasp. The duo would become founding members of the Avengers, fighting recurring enemies such as the mad scientist Egghead, the mutant Whirlwind, and Pym’s own robotic creation Ultron. Pym has adopted other aliases over the years including Giant-Man, Goliath, and Yellowjacket, leaving his original persona vacant for successors while Pym explored these other identities.

Scott Lang was a thief who first became Ant-Man after stealing Henry Pym’s Ant-Man suit to save his daughter Cassie from a heart condition. Reforming from his life of crime, he soon took on a full-time career as Ant-Man with the encouragement of Hank Pym. He became an affiliate of the Fantastic Four, and most recently became a full-time member of the Avengers. For a period of time he dated Jessica Jones.

While it had been previously suggested that both Pym and Lang would be featured in Wright’s upcoming film, what has not been settled is which character will be played by Paul Rudd (since confirmed as the lead), thus becoming the focus of the film. The answer would hang on whether ‘To Steal an Ant-Man’ turns out to be a principal source of inspiration for Wright, or just one element in his overall research of the character’s source history.

While the severing of ties between Henry Pym and Ultron (for the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron) served as an automatic downgrading of Henry Pym’s role in the Marvel Joint Cinematic Universe, I think it would be a shame to sideline him for Lang. Pym and Janet Van Dyne make for something of a set, so the future of The Wasp may be up in the air, as well; and personally, I was really looking forward to a Wright directed pairing of Rudd and Rashida Jones (considered up for the Wasp role).

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Sources: EdgarWrightThere, Wikipedia