Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, master thief Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world from the militarized Yellowjacket technology.
Information |
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|---|---|
Language |
English |
Country |
United States |
Premiere date |
July 17, 2015 |
Running time |
117 minutes |
Genre |
Action Adventure Comedy Sci-Fi |
Budget |
$130,000,000 |
Box Office |
$519,300,000 |
Crew |
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Directed by |
Peyton Reed |
Produced by |
Kevin Feige |
Written by |
Edgar Wright Joe Cornish Adam McKay Paul Rudd |
Music by |
Christophe Beck |
Cinematography |
Russell Carpenter |
Edited by |
Dan Lebental Colby Parker Jr. |
Production Co. |
Marvel Studios |
Distributed by |
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
Official Trailer
The Plot
Resignation from S.H.I.E.L.D.
In 1989, within the walls of the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, the brilliant scientist Hank Pym confronts the organization's leadership, including Howard Stark and Peggy Carter. Pym has discovered that S.H.I.E.L.D. attempted to replicate his proprietary shrinking technology—the Pym Particles—without his consent. Viewing this as a betrayal and recognizing the formula's potential for catastrophic mass destruction, Pym vehemently resigns from his position. He vows to suppress the technology, hiding it from the world to ensure it never falls into the wrong hands.
A Fresh Start and Old Habits
In the present day, Scott Lang is released from San Quentin State Prison after serving a three-year sentence for a high-profile burglary targeting a corrupt former employer. Upon his release, he is picked up by his optimistic former cellmate, Luis, who introduces him to his criminal associates, Dave and Kurt. Although the crew immediately offers Lang a position in a new heist, he declines, expressing a firm intention to live an honest life and go straight for the sake of his daughter.
However, Lang’s attempts to reintegrate into society meet severe roadblocks. He is fired from a menial job at Baskin-Robbins once his criminal record is discovered. Desperate to see his daughter, Cassie, he crashes her birthday party uninvited. There, he confronts the harsh reality of his situation: his estranged ex-wife, Maggie, has become engaged to a police officer named Jim Paxton. Maggie reveals that until Lang can provide consistent child support and prove he has stabilized his life, he is barred from seeing Cassie. relentless and feeling hopeless, Lang inadvertently accepts the burglary job offered by Luis as a last resort.
The Yellowjacket Ambition
Meanwhile, Hank Pym faces his own crisis. He has been forced out of his own company, Pym Technologies, by his estranged daughter, Hope van Dyne, and his former protégé, Darren Cross. Pym visits the facility and is devastated to learn that Cross is close to unraveling the secrets of the Pym Particle. Cross unveils his project: an advanced, militarized shrinking suit dubbed the "Yellowjacket," which he intends to sell to the highest bidder to revolutionize warfare and espionage. Pym, terrified of the implications, realizes he needs a specific agent to stop Cross.
The Trial by Fire
Acting on Luis's tip, Lang infiltrates a heavily secured home, bypassing a fingerprint scanner and freezing the safe's mechanism to crack it open. Instead of money or jewelry, he finds only what appears to be an old motorcycle suit. Disappointed but curious, he takes the suit back to his apartment. While toying with the gear in his bathtub, Lang puts it on and accidentally triggers a button on the glove, instantly shrinking to the size of an insect. Terrified by the enigmatically frightening experience and struggling to navigate the sudden gargantuan world around him, he is tossed about in a drain and nearly trampled on a dance floor. Traumatized, he attempts to return the suit to the house he burglarized, only to be caught by the police and arrested.
The Breakout and The Proposition
While Lang sits in his cell, Pym visits him posing as a lawyer. He reveals that he was the owner of the house Lang broke into and that he had manipulated Luis into suggesting the heist as a test of Lang's skills. Pym smuggles the suit into the cell and communicates with Lang via an earpiece, guiding him to use the suit to shrink and escape prison atop a carpenter ant. Although confused and reluctant, Lang escapes and is flown to Pym's estate.
At the residence, Pym and Hope reveal the full scope of their plan. Pym wants Lang to become the new Ant-Man and steal the Yellowjacket suit from Cross to prevent global chaos. Hope, though resentful of her father for their strained relationship and his refusal to let her wear the suit, agrees to train Lang. She teaches him martial arts and how to communicate with ants using an electromagnetic device, granting him control over the swarm. Pym reveals that the Yellowjacket is capable of mass destruction and that Cross plans to sell it to Hydra and the Ten Rings.
The Avengers Compound Infiltration
To pull off the heist at Pym Technologies, the team requires a specific signal decoy device. Pym sends Lang on a risky mission to retrieve it from an old Stark Industries warehouse, which turns out to be the new Avengers Compound. Lang encounters Sam Wilson, the Falcon, leading to a skirmish. Utilizing his shrinking ability and the ants, Lang manages to disable Falcon's flight pack, steal the device, and escape, proving his worthiness to Pym and Hope.
Ghosts of the Quantum Realm
Following the successful retrieval, Pym finally opens up to Hope about the truth of her mother’s death. He reveals that Janet van Dyne was the Wasp, a superhero who fought alongside him. Years ago, during a mission to stop a Soviet nuclear missile, Janet sacrificed herself by turning off her suit's regulator to shrink to a subatomic size, disappearing into the Quantum Realm—a dimension where time and space cease to exist. Pym admits he barred Hope from using the suit to protect her from the same fate. This revelation allows father and daughter to finally reconcile.
The Heist at Pym Technologies
Darren Cross eventually perfects his shrinking formula by successfully shrinking a lamb and invites Pym to the unveiling ceremony. As the congregation gathers, Lang infiltrates the building with his ant swarm and his human crew—Luis, Dave, and Kurt—who assist in sabotaging the servers. Lang plants explosives on the databanks to destroy Cross's research. However, as Lang attempts to steal the Yellowjacket suit, he is captured by Cross, who anticipated the move. Cross reveals his plan to sell both the Yellowjacket and the Ant-Man suit to Hydra representatives.
Implosion and Confrontation
Lang breaks free from his glass trap, engaging the Hydra agents in combat while his ants disable the opposition. Amidst the chaos, Mitchell Carson, a S.H.I.E.L.D. traitor working for Hydra, manages to steal a vial of Cross’s unstable particles and escapes. Lang pursues Cross, who dons the Yellowjacket suit. As they fight, the explosives Lang planted detonate, causing the entire Pym Technologies building to implode into the Quantum Realm, erasing Cross's research facility.
The Duel for Cassie
Enraged, Cross flies to Maggie’s house and takes Cassie hostage to lure Lang into a final confrontation. Lang arrives, and the two battle in Cassie's bedroom, shrinking and growing amidst a toy train set. With Cross threatening his daughter's life and unable to penetrate the Yellowjacket's titanium armor, Lang makes the ultimate sacrifice. He manually overrides his regulator, shrinking to a subatomic size. He penetrates the Yellowjacket suit, sabotaging its internal mechanisms and circuits. The damage causes Cross's suit to shrink uncontrollably, imploding him out of existence.
Return from the Nothingness
Lang continues to shrink, entering the Quantum Realm. Floating in the kaleidoscopic void of subatomic nothingness, his mind begins to fade. However, hearing Cassie’s voice calling out to him, he finds the will to survive. He manages to insert a Pym Particle enlargement disk into his regulator and reverses the mechanism. He successfully returns to the macroscopic world, appearing in Cassie's room.
Witnessing Lang's heroism, Paxton covers for him, preventing him from serving more jail time. Pym, seeing that Lang survived the journey to and from the Quantum Realm, begins to wonder if his wife, Janet, might still be alive. Months later, Lang enjoys a dinner with Luis, who informs him through a convoluted story that the Avengers are looking to recruit him, specifically by the suggestion of Sam Wilson.
Epilogue
In a mid-credits scene, Pym leads Hope to a secret vault and reveals an advanced prototype of the Wasp suit he and Janet had been working on, offering it to her. Hope looks at the suit and smiles, declaring, "It's about damn time."
In a post-credits scene, set a year later, Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson are shown in a remote location where they have found Bucky Barnes, whose arm is trapped in a vice. Rogers mentions that the "Accords" prohibit him from contacting Tony Stark for help. Wilson assures Rogers that they are not alone, stating, "I know a guy," implying they will seek Scott Lang's assistance.
Top Cast
- Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man
- Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym
- Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne
- Corey Stoll as Darren Cross / Yellowjacket
- Michael Peña as Luis
- Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Falcon
- Judy Greer as Maggie
- Abby Ryder Fortson as Cassie
- Bobby Cannavale as Paxton
- T.I. as Dave
- David Dastmalchian as Kurt
