Name

Current Alias

Aliases

...Yeah, well I beat upDoctor Doom once!

Early Life[]

Scott Lang was born and raised inCoral Gables,Florida, the son ofBob Lang.^[6] He later became an electronic engineer and met and marriedPeggy Rae. Together they had a daughterCassandra "Cassie" Lang. Although he was an electronics expert he could not support his family doing repair work, so he turned his talents to burglary. Apprehended, he served his prison sentence and was paroled for good behavior. During his time in prison, however, Peggy divorced him. Lang had furthered his studies of electronics while in prison and was soon hired byStark International to work in its design department.^[10]

Ant-Man[]

When his daughter Cassie was diagnosed as having a serious congenital heart condition, Lang sought the aid of surgeonDr. Erica Sondheim. Desperate to help his daughter, Lang decided to return to thievery.^[11] Breaking into theNew Jersey home of Dr.Henry Pym, Lang stoleAnt-Man's Suit. Unknown to him, Pym observed the theft and in his guise as Yellowjacket, followed Lang, curious to see what use he would put the paraphernalia.^[11]

Garbed as Ant-Man, Lang broke into Cross and discovered Dr. Sondheim was held prisoner byDarren Cross, president of CTE, who needed Sondheim to correct his own heart condition. Rescuing Sondheim and defeating Cross, Lang was relieved when Sondheim was able to save the life of his daughter. Lang intended to return the Ant-Man costume to its owner and turn himself in, but Henry Pym offered to let him keep them, provided Lang put them to lawful use.^[12]

Stark Industries[]

Tony Stark recruited Scott to find out whoJustin Hammer really was.^[13] WhenDr. Bruce Banner asked Iron Man to help him either by curing or killing him. They designed a nuclear-powered regulator that would allow him to control his heart beat preventing transformation into the Hulk. Scott Lang and Erica Sondheim successfully implanted the device in Banner's chest. After exposing Banner to the emotional overlord inducement generator, they were convinced that the regulator would keep the Hulk reigned in from now on.^[14] However, this was not the case. Tony, Scott, and Sondheim restrained Banner's transformation, ending with Sondheim's use of sound waves to return Banner to normal.^[15] Iron Man directed Sondheim to remove the regulator from the Hulk's chest before he woke up. Unfortunately, Stark was dealing with his own health crisis, leading Scott to shrink into the Iron Man armor in order to save Tony's life.^[16]

Scott also helped Yellowjacket rescue theWasp who had been captured byDr. Pernell Solomon.^[17] Alongside the Avengers, he first battledTaskmaster.^[18]

Fantastic Four[]

He then met theFantastic Four, and with them first journeyed to a "micro-world", and battled there alongside theThing.^[19] He encounteredRick Jones andAlpha Flight, and then foughtDire Wraiths alongsideRom andBrandy Clark.^[20]

He helped the Avengers in infiltrating Taskmaster's henchmen-training facility, battling the Taskmaster alongsideHawkeye, and visited Henry Pym while he was in prison.^[21]

When theMasters of Evil took control of theAvengers Mansion and captured some of the current team; Lang was instrumental in helping theWasp defeat theAbsorbing Man andTitania, two villains much stronger and more powerful than them. The pair attacked a hospital in an attempt to kill a comatoseHercules^[22]

Shrunken Spider-Man[]

At the Tomorrow Exposition, techno-thieves break in to steal the Quark machine. With the expo closed, Scott shrinks down as Ant-Man to take a private tour, but his gas apparently also works on Spidey who shrinks to insect size. As the thieves attack a guard, Spider-Man battles a spider. Ant-Man stops the thieves from stealing the Quark field generator's circuit board while Spidey destroys the attacking automatic insect eradicator. Ant-Man enlarges and escapes with the circuit board but is slowed by a magnesium flare. Spidey battles the robot guard dog while Ant-Man summons an army of ants to stop the thieves. Spidey stumbles across the fracas and helps, webbing the thieves up. As the police arrive, Ant-Man takes Spidey to a secluded spot to re-enlarge him, but fails. Spidey is stuck the way he is.^[23] While still trapped in his shrunken size Spider-Man and Scott battled theScarlet Beetle.^[24]

Stane International[]

When Stark International was bought out byStane International, Lang resigned out of respect to Tony Stark, the company's former head (and secretly Iron Man). Lang opened his own electronics business. Later, he temporarily gave up the business to be hired by theFantastic Four when their scientist and leaderReed Richards was missing for an extended period. Lang and Cassie lived at theFour's headquarters during this time.^[25]

Armor Wars[]

When Tony Stark discovered that Justin Hammer had stolen his Iron Man technology and provided it toForce and other villains, Stark hired Lang to hack into the computers atTranscorp in order to find out to whom Hammer had sold or supplied that technology. Lang physically infiltrated the Transcorp computers as Ant-Man, and had to fend off an automated pest-control system before successfully transmitting the data to Stark.^[26]

Heroes for Hire[]

During a time when many of Earth's heroes were believed dead after battling the psychic entity,Onslaught, Lang agreed to join the newly-reformed superteamHeroes for Hire.^[27]

The Avengers[]

Lang continued to aid his superpowered colleagues as needed, such as joining other Avengers associates in infiltrating the base of the Avengers' enemies of theTriune Understanding, although this turned out to be a ruse by the Triunes to discredit the Avengers. He also helped the Avengers against the threat of the villainKang the Conqueror, who nearly succeeded in conquering the world. After overthrowing Kang's would-be regime,^{[citation needed]} the Avengers offered Lang a place on the roster, and he agreed.^[28]

Jessica Jones[]

Scott datedJessica Jones, the super-heroine named Jewel who left to become a private investigator.^[29] He assisted her in a matter withMattie Franklin, one of the many female heroes to take theSpider-Woman identity. Assisting the duo isS.H.I.E.L.D. agentClay Quartermain.^[30] Their relationship ended when she revealed that she was pregnant withLuke Cage's baby.^[31]

Jack of Hearts[]

Lang's place with the Avengers was not without its personal struggles. Scott was brought into court for a custody battle with his ex-wife over the safety of his daughter Cassie when she visited theAvengers Mansion headquarters of the team. Lang also struggled with his new teammateJack of Hearts, as the two often clashed over trifling matters. However, when Lang's daughter was randomly kidnapped by a madman, Jack of Hearts rescued Cassie at the risk of his own powers consuming him, which ultimately killed him.^[32]

Avengers: Disassembled[]

Lang felt guilty that he had only begun to reconcile with his new friend. Later, Jack of Hearts somehow returned to the Mansion with a message of warning for the team. When Lang reached out to his friend, Jack of Hearts detonated himself, taking half of the Avengers Mansion and seemingly Scott Lang with him. This attack was later discovered to be motivated by theScarlet Witch, whose mind had become unhinged due to the magical powers she constantly felt forced to control. Whether this was truly the corpse of Jack of Hearts or just a magical construct of the Scarlet Witch remains unclear.^[8][33]

Stature[]

Cassie subsequently becomes Stature as a member of theYoung Avengers, having apparently taken enoughPym Particles over the years to enable her to automatically grow and shrink in size whenever she wants.^[34]Ant-Man's Helmet fell intoAmadeus Cho's possession for a time. He wore it with Cassie's blessing, choosing to focus on the insect mind-controlling abilities.^[35]

Children's Crusade[]

A few years later, theYoung Avengers traveled back in time with an amnesiac Scarlet Witch to the moments before Avengers Mansion was destroyed and escaped along with Lang, leaving the Avengers of that time to believe he had perished.^[36] This celebration was short lived however, after Lang witnessed the death of his daughter Stature in battle withDoctor Doom.^[37] Lang then swore vengeance on Doom.^[38]

Future Foundation[]

TheFuture Foundation would soon be left in the hands of Scott, after Reed discovered that the cosmic energy that gave him is powers was decaying, forcing him and the rest of the Fantastic Four to visit another universe in order to fix the problem. Scott was left withShe-Hulk,Medusa, and Johnny Storm's current girlfriend,Darla Deering, to be the replacement Fantastic Four for what was supposed to only be approximately four minutes, unless something went wrong, which of course it did.^[39] He later defeated Doctor Doom, and when the Fantastic Four returned, he left the team.^[40]

Original Sin[]

Following the murder ofUatu theWatcher, Scott was chosen alongsideBlack Panther,Winter Soldier,Emma Frost,Gamora, thePunisher, and Doctor Strange as one of the potential candidates to replace the originalNick Fury in his role as the defender ofEarth.^[41] He and the others attempted to stop Fury after he was revealed to be the Watcher's true murderer.^[42]

Ant-Man Security Solutions[]

As a consequence of a magic spell gone wrong, Doctor Doom's moral compass was temporarily inverted. In an attempt to atone for killing Cassie, he chaneled theScarlet Witch's powers and used them to resurrect Scott's daughter. She turned out alive and well on Scott's doorstep.^[43] With Cassie returned, Scott tried to adjust his life, and got the job of Head of Security atStark Industries. However, after Cassie moved with her mother Peggy to Miami, Scott ditched his new job in favor of spending more time with his daughter (against Peggy's will and without her knowledge).^[7] As part of his new life, Scott opened a business calledAnt-Man Security Solutions. Scott battledGrizzly who wanted revenge on Ant-Man due to his betrayal during theSiege ofAsgard, unaware he was notEric O'Grady. After the misunderstanding was cleared, Lang offered Grizzly a place at his new company.^[44]

Trouble followed Scott and his family after Cassie was abducted byCross Technological Enterprises.^[45] With the help of Grizzly's friend fromVillains Anonymous, theMachinesmith, Ant-Man infiltrated Cross Technologies and fought his way toDarren Cross, whomDr. Sondheim was blackmailed into reviving using Cassie's heart.^[46] Darren engaged in combat against Ant-Man while the hero tried to buy time for Sondheim to transplant another heart into Cassie.^[47]

After Cross was forced to flee when the Pym Particles now in his body caused him to shrink down, Scott shrunk down to microscopic size, and was guided by Sondheim to attack Cassie's white cells and allow her body to accept the new heart's tissue. Even though the procedure was difficult, Scott was finally able to help Cassie survive the experience. When Peggy and Blake arrived, Sondheim told her that Cassie had suffered an infraction and Scott took Cassie to her, which they believed. Although he saved his daughter, Scott decided to distance himself from her so that she could have a normal life.^[47]

Scott couldn't resist the urge to accompany her daughter, and started stalking her while in miniature size,^[48] something that enraged Cassie after Scott confessed his behavior, and led her to resent her father even more than when she simply believed he had distanced from her.^[49] Cassie's increasing frustration prompted her to enlist in a mobile app developed by thePower Broker calledHench that facilitated anybody a supervillain career, with the intention to shut it down from the inside. However, Power Broker's revelation of the truth behind Cassie's latest health problem ensured her collaboration in infiltrating Cross Technologies asStinger, in order to shut down Cross' own app, a copy and rival of Hench called Lackey.^[50]

Once he learned of Cassie's whereabouts, Ant-Man assembled a group of supervillains, including his casual romantic partner theBeetle, to break into Cross Technological to prevent her from falling into Cross' clutches.^[51] The rescue mission was successful, but the police were alerted of the intrusion.^[52] In order to protect Cassie, Scott took the blame for the situation and was arrested.^[53]

Scott faced court, and he was represented by She-Hulk.^[53] However, the prosecutor was Janice Lincoln, the civilian identity Beetle,^[54] who held a grudge against Scott for having failed to use their sporadic relationship to gain access to Pym Particles. Lincoln managed to put Scott in a tight spot by using her knowledge on Scott's break in plan and manipulating every witness account to her favor. The trial was interrupted by the appearance of Darren Cross, now donning a stolenYellowjacket Armor, who wanted to have revenge on Ant-Man for the injuries his sonAugustine sustained during Scott's mission to rescue Cassie from them. Even though Scott and his allies fell to Yellowjacket's power, Stinger managed to defeat him by forcing him to ingest the Pym Particle-neutralizing pills that Scott had been taken while incarcerated. The trial resumed, and the surprising testimony of Peggy Rae turned the tide in Scott's favor, allowing him to walk away as a free man. Even though Scott's business was shut down, having forged a new relationship with both Cassie and Peggy allowed him to begin a new lease on life, with his daughter joining him in his adventures, together as Ant-Man and Stinger.^[55]

Secret Empire[]

WhenHydra took over the United States under the leadership of an alternate-timeline version ofCaptain America,^[56] Scott forced Cassie to take refuge inFrance^[57] while he joined the American resistance group known as theUnderground.^[58] Unfortunately, Hydra's forces got hold of Cassie, and used her as leverage to force Scott to become a mole.^[59]

After joiningIron Man's efforts to recover the pieces of theCosmic Cube that was used to shift Captain America's allegiance in order to bring him back to normal,^[60][61] Ant-Man tipped off Hydra when the heroes returned from their journey with two shards, resulting in Hydra launching an attack against the Underground's base inThe Mount. Scott immediately came clean, being ridden of guilt despite his best interests being Cassie's safety.^[59] Ant-Man would later redeem himself, playing a key role in the defeat of the evil Captain America by using Pym Particles to help theWinter Soldier reach into the rebuiltCosmic Cube in the hands of Hydra at the subatomic level.^[62]

• Pym Particles: Ant-Man carried a supply of Pym Particles in his belt, allowing him to reduce himself to the size of an ant, approximately one-half inch in height, by means of a rare group of sub-atomic particles, the source of which is as yet unknown, which he is able to contain in magnetic-field "canisters" (the shape of the magnetic lines of force were made visible by the confined particles, whose concentration caused them to behave like a gas).^[64][3]
  • Size Alteration: These particles, whose wavelength is in the mental range when released, allow Ant-Man to will himself and other objects to reduce in size or enlarge. The mechanics involved having most of the mass of the nucleus of each affected atom convert into energetic particles which take up orbit around the nucleus - thus, although gravitation do not affect these particles, the mass of the original volume remains intact.^[64] This means a punch delivered by the half-inch high Ant-Man would feel like the blow of a normal-sized man.^[3] Ant-Man's reducing particle has no time limit to its potency.^[64]
    • Superhuman Strength: At 50 feet tall Scott is able to lift 50 tons.^[65]
    • Superhuman Durability: At gigantic size Scott can shrug offDoctor Doom's energy blasts.^[65]

Electrical Engineer: Scott has a masters degree in electrical engineering.^[64]

Ant-Man's Suit:^[64]

• Ant-Man's Helmet: Ant-Man also wore a cybernetic helmet designed by Henry Pym permitting him rudimentary communication and control of insects, allowing him to lead hundreds of ants to overwhelm any single opponent.^[3] He could broadcast to a range of about one mile (1.6 km), depending on the materials surrounding him. His helmet also contained sound amplification equipment which also shifted the frequency of his voice so that he could be heard by normal-sized humans despite his diminutive size, as well as providing its own oxygen supply.^[64]

• Wanting to devote more time to his daughter, Ant-Man turned down membership offers from both theAvengers andFantastic Four, though he eventually accepted Avengers membership.
• Ant-Man's costume forAnt-Man was designed byChris Samnee.^[67]
• Scott's early appearances are reprinted in various comics.^[68]
• InPeter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #1, Ant-Man's helmet was reconfigured so its default height for Scott was an inch taller than before.

• Roughly a decade beforePeggy Rae was introduced inAvengers (Vol. 3) #62, Lang's co-creators David Michelinie and Bob Layton planned to reveal thatIron Man's girlfriendRae LaCoste was Scott Lang's ex-wife. Furthermore, LaCoste would also have become the villainMadame Masque.^[69]

• Fantasy
• Sci-fi
• Marvel