Ant-Man's Powers Are Not To Be Trifled With
Ant-Man (played by Paul Rudd in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) was born Scott Lang and began his troubled life as an electrical engineer that turned to a life of crime. Depending on the comic you read, he became a criminal because of either simple boredom, or because he needed more money to take care of his wife and daughter. He was, eventually, caught and spent some time in prison, where he studied hard. His studies paid off, gaining him a job in the Avengers Mansion. Later, after his daughter fell ill, he got back into his bad ideas and broke into Dr. Hank Pym’s home, stealing the ant-man suit. He impressed the good doctor and was allowed to keep the suit.
Ant-Man and the Wasp, the second MCU installment of his story, comes out on July 6th, 2018. Starring Evangeline Lilly as Hope/The Wasp, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, and Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym, shows Scott trying to be a good father and hero at the same time. Part of his heroics involves helping Hope find and rescue her mother, while also beating back the phase-shifting villain, Ghost.
So, to bring us back to the point of this discussion, Scott Lang wasn’t born with any powers except, perhaps, a lust for adventure and a brilliant mind. However, with the help of inventor and genius, Dr. Hank Pym, he has gained some pretty cool things. Have you ever wondered what Ant-Man’s coolest powers are?
5. Durability
BAM!! Image credit goes to Marvel and Slinkachu
Especially in the MCU, Ant-Man’s durability is amplified when he becomes tiny. There is actually some science behind this phenomenon, as his mass and density don’t shrink with his volume. Basically, he weighs the same and is made up of the same amount of _stuff_ even though he looks smaller. I won’t get into the math (I’m not sure I could, actually) but that gives him the strength and durability to be almost invincible in his small form. In the movie Ant Man, you can see him use his extra strength in small form when he fights Falcon, using his small size to avoid easy detection, while remaining just as strong as he was before he shrank.
If you’d like a fantastic explanation of the mechanics of this scientific phenomenon, watch this video by Vsauce3 on youtube, featuring Paul Rudd.
While shifting sizes, he also generates energy, which he can harness with the help of his suit. Basically this gives him an even bigger edge and packing an even bigger punch than he already does.
4. Helmet and Suit
A behind-the-scenes shot, making sure the helmet fits over Ant-Man’s giant ego. Image credit goes to Walt Disney Studios.
One downfall to becoming smaller than the eye can follow is that your voice box would shrink too. This would normally mean a reeeally tiny voice, one which almost no one could hear. Thanks to Ant-Man’s helmet, however, Dr. Pym made it possible for Ant Man’s thoughts and spoken word to be amplified. Essentially, it makes his voice normal to normal sized humans, and (with the added use of insect pheromones in the comics, or EMP communication in the MCU) allows him to communicate with ants, almost as if telepathically. The real-world science on this is a little fuzzy, but it’s a cool power nonetheless.
Ant-Man also has his suit, which works to shrink and grow using the same mechanism that Ant-Man does. The distance between particles is shortened or lengthened, respectively. The gloves of the suit contain shrinking serum and growing serum, one in each hand. The wrists contain touch screen monitors, showing things such as his vital-signs and the amount of serum left. The belt contains the disks that contain the Pym Particles, which he can use to throw at things and make them shrink or grow.
In the comics, the wrists of the suit have contained a blow torch and a grappling hook as well, both of which I really hope we get to see in Ant-Man and the Wasp!
3. Giant Sized
Goliath-Man vs. War Machine in Captain America: Civil War
At one time, the Ant-Man suit and Pym Particles were only able to be used to shrink him down to ant size or grow him back to his normal human size. Eventually, Dr. Pym figured out how to do the opposite, however, and the Goliath Form was born. Now, science tells us that growing to such sizes would actually weaken us in our world, but we’re not superheroes. When Ant-Man grows, so does his strength.
A cool side effect of both his shrinking and growing abilities is that he can enter the Quantum Realm (when he shrinks) or the Overspace (when he grows) which are separate planes of existence. Not much is known about these realms. However the Quantum Realm, in particular, has no time, and Ant-Man is one of the few beings in the multiverse that can enter even one of these realms, let alone both.
Watch Ant-Man pluck War Machine out of the sky in Giant Form as if he was a particularly annoying bug!
2. Ant Army
Hi Ho Antony! From the movie Ant-Man
Due to either pheromones or electrical impulses from Ant-Man’s helmet (depending on the story you are reading), controlling ants is relatively easy. This comes in handy especially when you need to stay tiny but still need to travel long distances. Don’t call a cab, just call an ant!
In the movie Ant-Man, he is even able to call upon a veritable army of ants to help him travel through a sewer without drowning. A fun note is that bullet ants are, apparently, much harder to control than other types of ants. They are even more stubborn than Ant-Man himself.
1. Genius Intellect
Don’t mess with the best! Image is taken from Ant-Man the movie
Tony Stark, his father Howard Stark, and a few others are the people who first come to mind when you mention the word “genius.” The MCU showcases their talent over most other super-smart-people. Because of this, intellectually gifted individuals such as Dr. Hank Pym are often forgotten about.
Dr. Pym might be the good friend and mentor of Scott’s Ant-Man in the MCU, but in the comics, he is Ant-Man, and Scott is just a regular, human electrician-turned-criminal. [31] [AR2] However, whether the superhero *is* the good doctor himself, or is his protégé Scott Lang, he’s a great scientist to have on your side. As the leading expert in entomology (the study of creepy-crawly insects), cybernetics, and subatomic physics (which is exactly what lead him to the invention of the Pym Particle).
Hank Pym is actually the creator of Ultron in the comics, not Tony Stark. He is also the man behind the “infinite Avengers Mansion” in the comics, which allows for the transport of people to and from the mansion, no matter where they are in the universe. His holograms have even fooled Ultron’s sensors! This might not be an in-the-moment kind of power, but his inventions have helped (or accidentally hurt) the Avengers more than we can even know. Beat that, Stark![33] [AR4]
