Ant-Man Movie Sequel – Ant Man 2 – Has Fertile Content In Marvel’s Ant-Man Annual #1! Spoilers & Review With Wasp, A Giant-Man & More!

Reviews, Spoilers, Top Story

The Ant-Man movie, currently in theaters is generating quite the buzz. We’ve got a few Ant-Man movie reviews here and here at InsidePulse and Comics Nexus as well as the spoilers with the mid-credits and post-credits scenes / Easter Eggs here. An Ant-Man movie sequel – Ant-Man 2 – is likely in the cards.

In parallel to the release of the Ant-Man film, Marvel Comics also released Ant-Man Annual #1 that includes Scott Lang as Ant-Man, Hank Pym as Giant Man, a cameo by Janet Van Dyne as the Wasp and the reveal of Marvel next generation Giant Man!

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The free preview for Marvel Comics’ Ant-Man Annual #1 explains the history between the original Ant-Man / Giant Man / “other names of” Hank Pym and current Ant-Man Scott Lang.

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That free preview also teased tension between Hank Pym and Scott Lang in their last encounter.

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Spoilers and review follow for Marvel Comics’ Ant-Man Annual #1

Yet that tension that readers are left with on the last page of the free preview was a red herring.

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The Ant-Man Annual predominantly focuses on villain Egghead’s plans to use his A.I. Avengers to take down Ant-Man and Giant Man. However, Egghead needs some assistance – willing on unwilling – by a new South East Asian / East Indian character who makes his Marvel Comics debut: Raz Malhotra. Egghead needs him not because he works for Marvel’s equivalent of Best Buy’s Geek Squad, but his university dissertation seemed to lead Egghead believe that Raz Malhotra can bring to life the A.I. Avengers. Their first exchange ends with Egghead laying some tech on Raz who is now Egghead’s pawn.

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Fast-forward to the action and Ant-Man and Giant Man are getting the upperhand against the A.I. Avengers and Egghead as Raz Malhotra gets free from Egghead’s tech and plays a key role in ending the A.I. Avengers that he unwittingly helped animate.

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The Ant-Man Annual #1 ends with Janet Van Dyne, the Wasp, revealing to Scott Long that Hank Pym was inspired by him…

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…and it seems that Scott Lang was impressed by Raz Malhotra who he passes the Giant Man costume and tech down to. Oh, and Raz Malhotra gets two diversity points for Marvel by not only being of seeming South Asian descent, but also openly gay.

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With the first Ant Man movie being a very Caucasian affair, it sure seems that Raz Malhotra’s Giant Man may be a great way to diversify the sequel to the Ant-Man movie. Will he pop up in Ant Man 2? I’d place a bet on Raz Malhotra as Giant Man being in the Ant Man 2 movie. Would you?

Certainly, Marvel should be applauded for its diversity efforts and this bodes well for an All-New All-Different Giant Man series popping up in the future or this new Giant Man popping up in a super-team or more likely in the new Ant-Man ongoing series; well after Raz’s next appearance in the Last Days of Ant Man.

Overall a great written issue despite my luke warm response to the art.

John is a long-time pop culture fan, comics historian, and blogger. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief at Comics Nexus. Prior to being EIC he has produced several column series including DEMYTHIFY, NEAR MINT MEMORIES and the ONE FAN'S TRIALS at the Nexus plus a stint at Bleeding Cool producing the COMICS REALISM column. As BabosScribe, John is active on his twitter account, his facebook page, his instagram feed and welcomes any and all feedback. Bring it on!