Ant-Man is one of the funniest characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In fact, he’s arguably the only character whose solo movies could be classed as full-on comedies. This was mostly helped by the casting of Paul Rudd in the role of Scott Lang.
Rudd has punched up the scripts for both Ant-Man movies with extra jokes alongside his Anchorman director Adam McKay, and brought improvisation to the set. But as with any MCU hero, Ant-Man has also seen his fair share of tragedy and emotional gut-punches over the years. So, here Ant-Man’s 5 Funniest (And 5 Saddest) Moments In The MCU.
Saddest: Reuniting with teenage Cassie
MCU fans were curious about how Avengers: Endgame would pay off the mid-credits scene of Ant-Man and the Wasp, which left Scott Lang stranded in the Quantum Realm during Thanos’ finger-snap. In the end, a rat walked across the controls to free Scott, albeit five years into the future.
Baffled, he wandered the streets, trying to figure out what terrible thing had happened. He returned home, expecting to see his 10-year-old daughter, but when she came to the door, she was a teenager. All of a sudden, his little girl was taller than him. He just said, “You’re so big!”
Funniest: Shrinking down to a child’s size
Director Peyton Reed really pushed the boundaries of the fun-o-meter in Ant-Man and the Wasp, making it an out-and-out crime caper about three parties chasing a shrunken-down laboratory. Marvel fans will probably come to view this film more fondly in a few years, but at the time, they were still reeling from the death blow of Avengers: Infinity War, which was released just a couple of months earlier.
In one sequence in the sequel, Scott and Hope sneak into a school to get his Ant-Man suit from Cassie’s backpack. To avoid detection, Scott shrinks down to a child’s size and wears a giant hoodie.
Saddest: The death of Ant-ony
There have been a ton of heartbreaking deaths in the MCU – Yondu, Peggy, Odin, Mar-Vell, and not to mention Tony Stark – but one that doesn’t often get talked about is Ant-ony. It seems to be an unwritten rule in screenwriting that if you name an animal, that animal has to die.
Ant-Man named his trusty ant sidekick “Ant-ony” and rode him into battle against Yellowjacket with the rest of his army of ants. However, Yellowjacket was firing at them from his helicopter and one of the bullets took down Ant-ony. The grief is tragically clear when Scott cries out, “Ant-ony!!”
Funniest: “Thinks for thanking of me.”
There are so many superheroes in the MCU that they’ve even drawn comparisons between themselves. Captain America is the gold standard for superheroes in the world of the MCU – he’s revered by millions, he won the Second World War (in that timeline), and he’s the leader of the Avengers.
Ant-Man, on the other hand, isn’t a particularly well-known superhero, so Scott Lang is starstruck when he meets Cap ahead of their airport battle in Captain America: Civil War. He’s also pretty flustered from crossing time zones and getting very little sleep, so he mixes up his words: “Thinks for thanking of me.”
Saddest: Finding his own name on the Snap memorial
Scott Lang was understandably pretty confused when he emerged from a five-hour session in the Quantum Realm to find himself in a storage locker in 2023 with half as many people in the world. He didn’t know about “the Snap,” he’d never heard the name Thanos, and no one seemed to be able to give him a straight answer.
All he knew was that a terrible thing had happened that had claimed the lives of enough people for each city to have its own memorial. As he searched for Cassie’s name to see if she was okay, he came across one of the victims’ names that confused him: Scott Lang.
Funniest: Janet speaking to Hank and Hope through Scott
In perhaps Ant-Man and the Wasp’s funniest scene, Janet van Dyne embodies Scott Lang for a heartfelt reunion with Hank and Hope through him. The hilarity of this scene can be entirely credited to Paul Rudd’s acting.
There was no CGI or makeup involved in making the audience believe that Janet van Dyne had occupied Scott’s body and was speaking to her husband and daughter through him – it was all down to Rudd. And he absolutely nailed the scene. It was all in the little touches, like holding Hank’s hand or looking at Hope with the glint of a proud mother in his eye.
Saddest: Entering the Quantum Realm to save Cassie
All throughout the first Ant-Man movie, Hank Pym had continually stressed the dangers of the Quantum Realm, assuring Scott that if he ever entered the Quantum Realm, he’d be stuck between time and space for all eternity. So, naturally, at some point in the movie, Scott was going to enter the Quantum Realm.
But it’s the reason he did it that’s so heartwarming. He saw that Yellowjacket was threatening Cassie, and that the only way to disable his suit would be to shrink between the atoms, and he didn’t think twice. To save Cassie, he risked getting trapped in there forever.
Funniest: No kids wanting to take a selfie with him
After Tony Stark refused to help the remaining Avengers with their “Time Heist,” at least initially, they brought the idea to Bruce Banner, who turned out to have merged his consciousness with the Hulk’s to become “Smart Hulk.” During the conversation, some kids come over to get a selfie with the Hulk and Scott Lang asks them if they’d like to get one with Ant-Man.
They’re hesitant, so Scott just wants to end the awkwardness and let them go. But the Hulk doesn’t want Scott to feel left out, so he implores the kids to get a picture with him. The kids shake their heads and one flat-out refuses, prompting Scott to tell Bruce, “He’s even saying no, he doesn’t.”
Saddest: Listening to birds chirping and then immediately being blown up
After the Hulk snapped his fingers and brought back the trillions of lifeforms that were wiped out by Thanos in Infinity War, Scott Lang was the first to go out and see the effects of this. He could hear birds chirping outside in the New Avengers Facility’s courtyard. And then, he was promptly blown away by Thanos’ warships.
Fans had to wait until the Blu-ray released to freeze the frame and see exactly when Scott shrinks down during this scene. He managed to hit that regulator a couple of milliseconds after the bomb hit. Hank Pym would’ve been so proud.
Funniest: Closeup magic
In Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scott Lang was shown to be bored out of his mind under house arrest. One of the things he filled his days with was learning closeup magic online. Randall Park’s character Agent Woo was desperate to figure out how Scott was doing his tricks, and was later caught using his government computer at the FBI office to learn closeup magic.
Some Marvel fans have jokingly said they’d love to see a team-up with Ant-Man and Doctor Strange, because seeing him go toe-to-toe with the Sorcerer Supreme and the Masters of the Mystic Arts with limited knowledge of closeup magic would be pretty hilarious.
