BulletPoints - Of Ultron and Ant-Men

Welcome back to BulletPoints where we talk about movies, games, and other entertainment in more detail. We can talk about the art, the business, or just have a little fun doing something nonsensical like last week’s personal Silent Hill venture. This week, I thought we’d dive in some Marvel Comics lore now that most of us have seen Age of Ultron. Why? Because while I really quite like Age of Ultron it got some things wrong (adaptation wise) and while I’m not upset, I feel this is a missed opportunity that will lower the quality of this year’s OTHER Marvel film, Ant-Man. 

First off, did you know that while Tony Stark makes Ultron in the movie, it was actually someone else in the comics? No, it wasn’t Bruce Banner either. It was Hank Pym, one of the original founding members of The Avengers in the comics. You see, in the comics, the original team was Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and the duo Ant-Man and Wasp. It wasn’t until after Hulk left the team that Captain America was brought on board. And it wasn’t until MUCH later that Hawkeye or Black Widow worked with the team. And, yes, in the comics, Ant-Man was originally Hank Pym (not Scott Lang). Okay, so what’s this got to do with Ultron?

The reason for Ultron’s creation was much the same as Tony Stark’s in the movie, with some differences. Hank is a pacifist and doesn’t like to fight. And he thinks the Avengers is something he can’t do long term because of that. So instead of relying on the heroes to fight, he builds himself robots, Ultron. This gets expanded upon more in reboots and in the animated series (so we’ll borrow lore from there). You see, Ultron started off as just a sentry robot with no real AI component beyond what you saw in default Baymax in Big Hero 6. He was assigned to protect, serve, and be a medic if needed. So, he was the Iron Legion from Avengers 2.

What happened? Again, going off the cartoons, a threat big enough that the Avengers couldn’t handle alone came up. So Pym and Stark (yes, Stark still has a hand in it) weaponized Ultron. This set off dark ideas in Ultron’s head now that it could be allowed to attack and kill. Namely, the best way to serve and protect was to kill the human race, which was responsible for most of the killing and death anyway. Then the world would be safe… from humans. Yeah, nice guy. The Avengers stop him on multiple occasions, with Ultron getting significant upgrades each appearance. Heck, he even appears with the special Adamantium metal in the comics before Wolverine existed.

So, yes, Pym is actually Ultron’s creator. Furthermore, Ultron’s AI personality is based on Pym’s mind (whereas the film, it was based more on Tony Stark’s). This is why the connection between the characters is incredibly important. You see, after Pym’s failure with Ultron nearly killed all of humanity, he kind of went through a mental breakdown. He changed costumes and hero names multiple times taking on monikers like Giant Man, Goliath, Wasp and Yellow Jacket (just to name a few).

Now that might not seem odd at first. But consider this, how many other heroes can you think of that have completely changed their appearance and identity outside of younger heroes become adults (such as Robin going to Nightwing)? The number is incredibly small. That’s because these cosmetic changes were a representation of the personality changes going on in Pym’s head. He felt broken and confused by what he had accidentally made. He felt like his mind would be as warped as Ultron’s and so he had a bit of an identity crisis, literally. This even ends up with a scene in which Hank slaps his wife, showcasing the first moment I can recall of spousal abuse in comics.

This makes for a fascinating character study because while Ant-Man isn’t the most interesting hero of the Avengers, he does make for a very fascinating character. Yes, all the heroes in Marvel are flawed. But Ant-Man is all about self-doubt, confidence loss, and trying to establish ones identity when they determine their idea of self is damaging to themselves and those around them. He’s a character about change and growth. And while that might have been a result because of changes in his character in attempts to sell his comics better, I can at least attest that this is a much stronger character than many other comic book heroes. We all go through identity problems (usually at younger ages) and work to find out just who we are and find our place in the world. Hank, boring as he can be at times, is someone we can all relate to in some regard.

“Hey, Aaron! While this is cool, mind telling us who Scott Lang is and why Hank isn’t Ant-Man?” Thanks for asking. While the backstory to Hank Pym is incredibly interesting and worth a look for yourself, I doubt Disney wants to try and sell a wife beater as hero alongside the other Avengers. This is supposed to be a kid-friendly series after all (even if there’s some swearing). Scott Lang actually is the second Ant-Man because, like I said, Hank goes through some self-identity issues and abandons the Ant-Man costume in favor of Yellow Jacket (eventually). As such, Scott Lang steals the suit on his own volition and, after some time with it and dealing with Hank, becomes the new Ant-Man in the Avengers and is actually a good guy.

So, yes, there are lots of revisions for the Ant-Man movie largely because while Hank’s past is incredibly fascinating, it makes it a tough sell for an action-hero movie largely targeted towards kids. I would have preferred to see him involved with the creation of Ultron, but it wasn’t meant to be. I’m not upset, but this is a missed opportunity for the character and I ultimately feel like Ant-Man will suffer a bit because of it. It still looks like a fun movie that we might be able to enjoy, but there’s so much lore and backstory that we won’t be getting and it’s a real shame because I feel there’s a movie there we just won’t be getting.

Thanks for reading and be sure to stop by again soon for more BulletPoints. I’ll be back soon with more nonsense. And, if you’re lucky, I’ll do a video BulletPoints sometime soon eventually. If you’d like that be sure to like, share, comment, and subscribe. If you like this, be sure to check out the YouTube channel or the other blog posts and see what else we do around here. See ya next time!