Avengers: Doomsday is officially leaving one of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania's more polarizing choices in the past. Aside from all the shrinking (and growing), Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) hasn't gone through many major transformations since his MCU debut in 2015's Ant-Man. Then came 2023's Quantumania, which limped to just $476 million worldwide and became the lowest earner of the three mini-sized standalone movies. Between that flop and Marvel Studios' sharp redirect away from Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), Doomsday is shaping up to be the studio's latest step toward getting back to its former glory.
Official Doomsday promo art and Scott's official on-screen look from the trailers show him back in his classic Ant-Man and the Wasp look, ditching the bulkier, armor-plated getup he debuted in Quantumania.
That busier redesign proved pretty divisive among fans, so it's not exactly shocking to see Marvel quietly shove it to the back of the closet.
Still, it's a notable bit of backtracking, since Scott's past team-ups have always carried over his newest suit, from his original Ant-Man suit in Captain America: Civil War to his Ant-Man and the Wasp suit in Avengers: Endgame.
Now, Scott is back in that Endgame look, once again making Quatumania as irrelevant as possible at Marvel Studios. One of its greatest connections is the simple fact that Kathryn Newton's Cassie will star in the upcoming event.
In-universe, the Ant-Man suit is the creation of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), who used his Pym Particles to go on missions as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s original Ant-Man. Decades later, Hank tested Scott by tricking the ex-con into stealing that original suit right out of his house in Ant-Man.
By Ant-Man and the Wasp, Hank had cooked up a brand-new suit, a glitchy work in progress that famously left Scott stuck at kid size inside his daughter's school.
That's the same suit Scott had on when he got stranded in the Quantum Realm during the Snap, and he was still wearing it when a random rat set him free five years later in Endgame. He's now back to that look for Doomsday, part of Sam Wilson's (Anthony Mackie) Avengers team.
Plenty of fans felt Scott's Quantumania suit was way too busy and even borrowed a little too much from Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), and not in a cool way.
That upgrade also wasn't just in design. Following Endgame, it seemed that Ant-Man's new suit took another page out of Iron Man's book: nanotechnology.
The new nanotext suit in Quantumania had that same effect of being able to fully wrap around his body by tapping the rounded chest plate. Great, practical functionality for the hero, but something that fans haven't seen wrapped around their arms within the MCU in general.
As for why Scott even needed a new suit, Quantumania never actually explains it, but it was clearly presented as the next evolution of the shrinking suit, only to be back-racked three years later.
Looking back at Scott's Endgame suit, it seems that his Doomsday suit will be basically identical, now becoming the standardized Ant-Man MCU costume again.
When comparing the Doomsday look to Quatumania, it's clear in the side-by-side that the Russo brothers and the costuming crew wanted to go a different direction.
With Ant-Man being back in an Avengers movie, it shouldn't be too surprising to see that he's back in the same suit. It's hard to discern any differences between these two, there's even a chance it was the literal exact same practical suit Rudd wore around set.
11 years later, Ant-Man's suit has undergone some changes, adding more red and featuring a sleeker design. Also, Scott's helmet no longer opens that way and is easier to retract.
Scott's Civil War outfit was actually a bit of a departure from any other appearance when he first transformed into Giant-Man.
Ant-Man and the Wasp is truly what established this Doomsday suit. It's a classic look; it's easy to see why Marvel reverted to it.
With Ant-Man now back to his Avengers style, it will be of great interest to see how the Russos actually utilize Scott and his powers in Doomsday.
Ant-Man's Doomsday Role Explained
Scott is set to fight alongside the new Avengers team led by Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), and Kevin Feige has teased that he'll serve as an "elder statesman" for the MCU's newer heroes.
He'll bring plenty of muscle, as that same variant cover shows him going full Giant-Man on an army of Sentinels. He's still the team's comedic relief, too. In recent footage, Scott asks, "Right, Cap?" only for Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) to turn around instead of Sam, a mix-up that ends with him dubbing Steve, Sam, and John Walker (Wyatt Russell) the "Captains America."
Cassie also returns, with the story set to lean into the parent-child dynamic among its heroes. Doctor Doom calls out the heroes for having "lived stolen lives" in the Doomsday trailer.
That jab could be partially aimed at Scott and fellow returning Avengers like Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Steve, who most notably went back in time to live out a perfect life with Peggy (Hayley Atwell). That all changes on December 18.
