By Alex Welch
Hey Schmoeville!
Alright everyone, it’s time for another edition of Comic Book Showcase. Basically, every week I go through and pick heroes from comic books that may not be well known to fans out there who aren’t die hard comic book fans, and may want to know more about the characters without having to run and pay money at their local comic book shops. Whether they want to know more out of pure curiosity, because there have been rumors of a possible onscreen appearance sometime soon, or they are appearing in a future superhero/comic book movie, this is what Comic Book Showcase is for.
This week I’m going to go ahead and give you all a quick rundown and backstory on the character that Paul Rudd will be playing in Marvel’s Ant-Man, Scott Lang. Now, I was going to do a rundown on Hank Pym as well since he is the original Ant-Man, but due to the controversial nature of his character and because he’s not the main focus of the film, I thought I would go ahead and just focus on Lang’s character this week. (Although, let me know in the comments down below if you want me to write something up for Pym as well!)
This time around I’m going to be giving you all a quick rundown/background of the character’s comic book history, his powers and abilities, and since we already know who’s going to be playing him, what we can expect to see with the character in the upcoming Marvel film. So without any further ado Schmoeville, let’s get started!
HISTORY
Scott Lang was a character created by Marvel Comics in Spring of 1979, making his first two appearances in The Avengers #181 and Marvel Premiere #47. Lang was an electronics expert when we first meet him who was married to his wife and they had a daughter together. However, when he was unable to support his family with his salary, he began using his expertise in electronics and became a burglar. At one point, Lang was caught and sent to prison for two years before being let out for good behavior, although while he was serving time in prison, Lang’s wife divorced him.
Lang continued to hone his electronics knowledge while he was in prison, and when he was released he garnered a job at Stark International and began to work in the company’s creative design department. Lang was struck with tragedy though when he found out that his daughter, Cassie, was suffering from a serious congenital heart condition. She needed surgery from a specific doctor, Dr. Sondheim, but when Lang went to ask Sondheim for her help, he found out that the Doctor had been kidnapped and he believed she was being held at Cross Technological Enterprises.
In need of the Doctor’s help to save his daughter, Lang broke into Hank Pym’s house and stole his Ant-Man suit and Pym particles, even though unbeknownst to him, Pym had been watching him the whole time as Yellow Jacket and followed Lang after he left to see what he would use his suit for. When Lang arrived at CTE, he found out that Sondheim was being held captive by Darren Cross (later became known as the villain, Crossfire) who needed Sondheim’s help as well for his heart disease. Lang fought and defeated Cross, saving Sondheim who in return agreed to operate on Cassie, saving his daughter’s life.
When Lang went to return the Ant-Man suit to Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man told Lang to keep the suit as long as he swore to only use it in lawful ways. Lang agreed and then took up the mantle of the superhero, Ant-Man. While keeping his hero and personal lives separate, Lang helped many heroes in the Marvel Universe throughout the years including Iron Man, The Avengers, and more. He even collaborated with the Wasp a few times to help her defeat villains like The Absorbing Man and other foes more powerful than them. It was later revealed to Lang that his daughter, Cassie, had figured out his secret on her own.
Lang continued to work at Stark International until the company was bought out and became Stane International, at which point he resigned in order to remain faithful to his boss, Tony Stark aka Iron Man. Lang then started his own electronics business and at one point left the business in order to step in and replace Mister Fantastic in the Fantastic Four when Reed Richards went missing for a long period of time.
Lang even joined the Heroes for Hire at one point until the group disbanded and Lang moved on without the team. Scott continued to work with the Avengers many times and was even played a big role in helping Earth’s Mightiest Heroes defeat Kang the Conqueror who was nearly successful in his quest for world domination. After the defeat of Kang, the Avengers offered Scott a place on the team and he accepted becoming an official member of the Avengers.
While a member of the team, Lang dated Jessica Jones for a short time until Jones revealed she was pregnant with Luke Cage’s child. He had to fight for custody of his daughter, Cassie, after his ex-wife began to sue him in a custody battle for her. Lang had many quarrels and fights with his new teammate Jack of Hearts as well until Hearts sacrificed himself to save Lang’s daughter, Cassie, killing himself in the process.
However, during Avengers: Disassembled, Jack of Hearts reappeared at the door to the Avengers Mansion with a warning for the team, and when Lang reached out to touch his friend, Hearts’ body detonated taking out half of the Avengers Mansion and killing Lang in the process. The attack turned out to have come from Scarlet Witch who was angry and unhinged after having to control her powers for so long.
This was not the end of Lang though, as the Young Avengers traveled back in time with an amnesic Scarlet Witch accompanying them to before the blast that killed Lang and destroyed the Mansion, Lang’s daughter Cassie was a member of the Young Avengers as the hero, Stature. The team was able to escape before the blast occurred bringing Lang back into the present time with them, leaving the past Avengers to still believe him to be dead.
When the group came back to the present, Cassie aka Stature got into a fight with Doctor Doom, who ended up killing her. Lang saw his daughter die and the team’s celebration was cut short as he sobbed over her body, vowing vengeance upon Doom. Lang was once again approached to be Mister Fantastic’s replacement among three other heroes when the Fantastic Four began to embark on a journey they did not know if they would come back from. The new four heroes formed the Future Foundation with Lang as their leader and the Fantastic Four did end up disappearing on their journey.
POWERS AND ABILITIES
Lang’s powers with the Ant-Man suit allow him to shrink in size by using the Pym particles while still being able to have the strength of a normal sized human, and also being able to talk to and call an army of ants to help him in his fights. Lang’s abilities all come from the suit he originally stole from Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man, but his intellect has also helped him many times in his crusade against injustice.
Ant-Man’s powers are some of the more unique ones in the comic book universe Schmoeville, so I’m definitely interested in seeing how they approach him talking to ants and shrinking down to small-size while having the strength of an normal sized man in the film. If the test footage and reception of the footage shown at Comic-Con this year is any indication, I think we’re in for something special.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE FILM
I honestly think that the story and the character of Lang in the comics is what we’re going to be getting in the film. Paul Rudd seems even more like the perfect choice for this character after learning more about him, a man with an enormous amount of intellect driven towards crime and robbery in order to provide for his daughter sounds like something he could hit a home run with. I know it hasn’t been confirmed whether or not Cassie is going to be in the film, or if he’ll have a daughter at all in the flick, but from what Peyton Reed has said about the character in the film and that his daughter and their relationship is such a core factor and characteristic of the character, I can’t imagine them leaving her out of the film. I can’t wait to see Scott Lang on the big screen after learning more about him!
So that does it for this week’s edition of Comic Book Showdown, I hope you enjoyed reading about Scott Lang as much as I did writing and learning about him! I’m definitely more interested in seeing this character’s arc in the film and the MCU after reading what I have about him, something tells me Marvel could really, really kill it with this character. Fingers crossed they come through and it ends up being awesome!
So what do YOU think Schmoeville? Are you a fan of the character? Are you not? Are you excited to see him in the film? Drop some comments down below, share with your friends, and let’s talk ANT-MAN!
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