The next hero to be introduced to us is Ant-Man although this is not the original Ant-Man Hank Pym. This version is Scott Lang, the second Ant-Man in the comics. A big easter egg is Scott’s daughter Cassie Lang being in the film who herself has abilities in the comics and is part of the Young Avengers. 

MCU ties in this film are mainly the fact that Hank Pym worked with S.H.I.E.L.D in the past and his work was valued because of the shrinking technology that he invented. Also mentioned in the film is Hank Pym’s wife Janet van Dyne who is the original Wasp and mother of Hope van Dyne. Wasp is one of the founding members of the Avengers in the comics along with Ant-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor. Captain America later replaces Hulk. 

The villain of the film is Darren Cross who was a prodigy of Pym’s before Cross became obsessed with recreating Pym’s formula. Pym tried to dissuade Cross from doing so because of the potential danger it could cause being in the wrong hands. But because Cross suspected Pym was withholding information from him, he had him voted out of his own company Pym Tech. Cross succeeded in recreating the formula and donned his own suit called the Yellowjacket which is one of Hank Pym’s suits and identities in the comics. 

Scott defeats Cross by shrinking to subatomic size and sabotaging Cross’s regulator causing the suit to shrink in on him and kill him. When Scott does shrink, he enters the Quantum Realm. This is the first hint of the Multiverse in the MCU and that a Multiverse exists. Hope Van Dyne in the comics exists only in an alternate Marvel universe where she is known as the supervillain Red Queen.