15 Most Dangerous Ant-Man Villains [Ranked]
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Ant-Man surged in popularity after Paul Rudd portrayed the Scott Lang version of the superhero in the MCU. However, Ant-Man has actually been around for quite a while, first appearing as Hank Pym. Over the years, the would-be Avenger fought many threats – some funnier, some more dangerous. Nevertheless, Ant-Man’s rogue gallery is quite interesting and colorful.
Let’s take a deep dive into the superhero’s history and see who were the most dangerous opponents he ever faced. Here’s a ranked list of the 15 most dangerous Ant-Man villains.
15. Egghead
As the name would suggest, Egghead is one of the funniest villains Ant-Man ever faced. Don’t get me wrong, Elihas Starr had his moment and was far from harmless. But, come on. The guy got his nickname for having an egg-shaped head.
First appearing in Tales to Astonish #38 in 196, Egghead was a genius scientist with expertise in numerous areas, including biology, nuclear physics, electronics, robotics, etc. He fought both Hank Pym and Scott Lang in the past, always plotting to outsmart and eventually destroy Ant-Man.
However, apart from his intellect, there’s not much Egghead can do. He develops high-tech gadgets and robots to aid his evil plans but usually works as a genius-for-hire for other, more serious threats and crime lords (namely, Darren Cross, Scott Lang’s arch-nemesis). He’s a genius but somehow always fails miserably. Probably because he’s an egghead.
14. Whirlwind
Whirlwind is another B-list villain that usually gets forgotten when you talk about Ant-Man villains or about the Masters of Evil – a supervillain group Hank Pym and Scott Lang usually face. David Cannon, as the villain is known, first appeared in Tales to Astonish #50 in 1963.
His superpower is that he can spin at a very fast pace, usually looking like Taz from Looney tunes in the process. He has superhuman strength, and other stuff, making him at least a formidable opponent, but what makes him even more dangerous is his unhealthy stalker-like fascination with Hank Pym’s wife, Janet van Dyne, aka the first Wasp.
At first, Whirlwind hated the couple, doing whatever he could to hurt them – if not physically, then financially. However, the resentment grew into fixation, even posing as Janet’s chauffeur, Charles Matthews, for years, trying to get close to her to win her romantically, or steal her money, whichever comes first.
13. Radioactive Man
When you hear his name and see his appearance, you’d think that Radioactive Man is a menacing, super-dangerous villain. In reality, he’s not that tough and doesn’t have that many powers. Dr. Chen Lu first appeared in Journey into Mystery #93 in 1963 as a Chinese Communist scientist that fell off the deep end.
Lu became a career criminal that purposely exposed himself to radioactive material in order to gain superpowers – and it worked for him. He gained superhuman powers, but only when he absorbed various types of radiation. Radioactive Man was a member of the Masters of Evil before Hank Pym beat them single-handedly.
The guy was an easy target for Ant-Man, but he’s on this list due to the long-term collateral damage he leaves behind. You see, everywhere he goes and anything he does leaves radiation behind, making him a threat simply for existing.
12. Scarlet Beetle
I have to admit, reading Ant-Man was always a bit hard for me. I love the character and the humor, but I just hate bugs and insects – and hey, Ant-Man and insects are like two peas in a pod. You can imagine how I felt when the Scarlet Beetle first appeared – a human-sized, intelligent beetle using her disgusting insect army against Ant-Man.
First appearing in Tales to Astonish #39 in 1963, Scarlet Beetle transformed after atomic experimentation. First, it gave the beetle a sentient mind, which it used to steal Pym Particles and enlarge itself to human size. Scarlet Beetle could also command insects with its mind, which really triggered some nightmares for young me.
Other than that, the Scarlet Beetle was more funny than threatening but still powerful and odd enough to give Ant-Man some headaches.
11. The Power Broker
The first Power Broker was a mighty presence in the Marvel Universe, not for his superpowers but financial and influential power. However, the second Power Broker might be even more dangerous simply because so little is known of him.
We know the guy is the head of a huge corporation that developed an app where you can hire a supervillain of your choice to do your dirty work, regardless of how dirty it is. The tougher the job, the higher the price. Anyway, to prove how cool the app is, he hired the before-mentioned Whirwold to try and kill Ant-Man, which the villain gladly did.
And that wasn’t the only time the Power Broker hired someone to take down Ant-Man. While he may not have superpowers of his own, his influence and financial power are more than enough to be a dangerous opponent to anybody.
10. A.I.M.
A.I.M., or Advanced Idea Mechanics, is a murderous, villainous group of incredible scientists dedicating their lives to rise in power with their intellect and advanced technology. First appearing in Strange Tales #146 in 1966, A.I.M. changed members numerous times over the years.
Also, they battled many different heroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther, the Hulk, Ant-Man, and others. They first appeared as a Hydra branch in World War II but separated into a new organization later.
The fact that it’s a collective of brilliant scientists with such malevolent intentions is well enough to break the top ten of Ant-Man’s most dangerous villains. Sure, they’re not strictly Ant-Man villains, but they faced multiple times, so I think they fit the list anyway.
9. Vespa
Vespa is a character quite similar to Ant-Man or the Wasp in appearance but couldn’t be more different in personality. The villain first appeared in Ant-Man Vol. 2 #1 in 2020 as a humanoid being made entirely out of mutated hornets, controlled by one conscious hive mind.
Vespa was actually created by another villain, Swarm, who’s entirely made out of bees, but still has a human mind. On the other hand, Vespa lacked any humanity and actually set out to kill Swarm because he has a human mind. That’s where Ant-Man steps in. Believe it or not, he offered to protect Swarm from Vespa (and two of his other rebelled creations).
Being a creature entirely made out of mutated hornets is absolutely nightmare-inducing, despite the artwork behind Vespa not being that hideous. We haven’t seen much of her, but the hive mind and the complete lack of empathy or humanity make Vespa a dangerous foe.
8. Crossfire
Crossfire first appeared in Marvel Two-In-One #52 in 1979 as one of the most skilled mercenary sharpshooters in the world. William Cross, as the villain is named, is usually seen fighting Daredevil, but the connections to Darren Cross put him on a collision course with Ant-Man more than once. You see, Scott Lang’s arch-nemesis is Crossfire’s cousin.
Also, Crossfire worked for the Masters of Evil in the past, too. The guy proved his marksmanship skills are up to par with phenomenal sharpshooters such as Bullseye, and his mercenary skills match awesome characters like Deadpool.
He tends to lose in silly ways sometimes and never really jeopardized Ant-Man, but it would be silly not to put him on the list simply because Crossfire is a formidable opponent to anyone, especially his cousin’s arch-nemesis.
7. Ghost
Ghost is an awesome character that isn’t really a full-on villain, per se, but some of his/her actions at least make Ghost an anti-hero, if not a villain. Notice that I’ve said his/hers – in the comics, the character first appeared in Iron Man #219 in 1987 as a male, corporate computer scientist, but got a full gender swap in the MCU film, Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Ghost has a deep hatred toward big corporations, aiming to destroy them one by one after they murdered his girlfriend for self-protective reasons. Ghost infused himself with the technology he was developing, GhostTech, survived an assassination due to the cybernetic enhancements and started taking the corporate bosses down one by one.
Now, Ant-Man and Ghost haven’t fought in the comics that often, but the awesome portrayal of the character in the MCU, as well as some epic confrontations in the comics, are more than enough for Ghost to be on this list. His brilliance and cybernetics enhancements are enough not just to destroy one physically but economically, too.
Albeit, he’s only interested in taking down corporations, not individuals.
6. Taskmaster
Just like Ghost, the Taskmaster received a gender swap in the MCU in relation to the comics. However, the character fought the Black Widow, not Ant-Man, in the cinematic version. On the other hand, who hasn’t Taskmaster fought in the comics? First appearing in The Avengers #195 in 1980, Taskmaster is a dangerous, formidable opponent to anybody.
His biggest superpower is photographic reflexes – Taskmaster can duplicate anyone’s fighting style and moves at double the pace and strength after seeing them fight only once. That includes Hawkeye’s archery, Captain America’s shield fighting, Black Panther’s martial arts skills, etc. Taskmaster is as tough as they come.
While he can’t really copy Ant-Man’s shrinking in size, the guy proved to be powerful enough to beat the entire Avengers team on his own, so I doubt Scott or Hank could go at him by themselves. They fought several times, but the fight was either never one-or-one or never finished. Still, Taskmaster had to be on this list for his/her sheer awesomeness.
5. Black Ant
The student-becomes-master scenario is quite frequent in comics. However, the student-becomes-villain might be even more frequent and more awesome. Black Ant first appeared as Ant-Man in Secret Avengers #24 in 2012, and as Black and a few issues later, in #32.
After the third Ant-Man, Eric O’Grady had been killed by the Descendants, they made a Life-Model Decoy of Ant-Man and programmed it to infiltrate the Avengers as a double agent. Black Ant had all the fighting skills that Ant-Man had but probably had a faster mind, making him an astonishingly powerful enemy.
Now, the student-becomes-villain relates to O’Grady, who was once a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, but this LMD version of him turned bad and actually had success both in his villainous actions and fights against the real Ant-Man.
Seeing a hero fight a dark version of himself isn’t rare in comics, and Black Ant served that purpose for Ant-Man.
4. The Wasp
No, the Wasp is not a villain. Yes, Janet van Dyne’s Wasp was Hank Pym’s wife, and Hope van Dyne was Scott Lang’s lover. However, Ant-Man has a history of violence between him and the Wasp that had to be on this list. It shows how twisted Hank Pym was, despite being a superhero most of the time.
One time, Hank kidnapped the Wasp after suffering from a schizophrenic episode, forcefully kissed her, and eventually married her. On another occasion, Hank slapped Janet when she tried to stop him from executing his plan, leading to Pym being expelled from the Avengers in The Avengers Vol. 1 #213. She filed divorce papers afterward.
In another storyline – the Marvel Ultimate series – Hank Pym was portrayed as an abusive husband who threatened to kill his wife, the Wasp, because of their friendship with Captain America, as Pym doubted there was something more than friendship going on there.
In Ultimates #6, Janet tries to escape from him by going Wasp-size, but the guy literally sprays her with bug spray, almost killing her. Not long after that altercation, Hank sends an army of ants to kill her. Sure, it wasn’t canon, but all those altercations between Ant-Man and the Wasp forever dubbed Hank Pym as the wife-beater.
3. Jocasta
Jocasta has to be one of the most dangerous villains Ant-Man has ever faced. First appearing in Avengers #162 in 1977, Jocasta is incredibly powerful, being an artificial intelligence similar to Ultron. In fact, the robotic supervillain created Jocasta to be his wife. During that time, Ant-Man had altercations with Jocasta, just like he did with Ultron.
Ultron kidnapped Janet and transferred her mind to a shell-body that would be his Jocasta, programmed to hate the Avengers and Hank Pym. However, just like Janet van Dyne eventually left and divorced Hank Pym, Jocasta rebelled against Ultron (due to Janet’s mind inside it), eventually helping Ant-Man and the Avengers defeat him.
Even when Jocasta died, Ultron revived her and reprogrammed her to be undyingly loyal to him; what was left of Janet’s mind still prevailed, and Jocasta betrayed him again. However, every time Ant-Man had to fight Jocasta, it was incredibly emotional because he knew that ending Jocasta might just mean ending Janet. It was a wild but awesome storyline.
2. Darren Cross
Darren Cross, aka Yellowjacket, is Scott Lang’s arch-nemesis. I thought about putting him at number one because he’s by far the most recognizable Ant-Man villain, but seeing that this is a list of the most dangerous villains, the number one on this list just fits the bill more.
First appearing in Marvel Premiere #47 in 1979, Darren Cross was the head of a huge corporation with tons of money and influence. However, he had a severe heart condition, so Cross got mechanical enhancements on his heart that ultimately gave him superpowers.
We’ve seen the guy fight Scott Lang dozens of times, wearing the Yellowjacket suit that has similar capabilities as Ant-Man’s suit. He even appeared in the MCU as the main antagonist of the first Ant-Man movie.
Throughout the years, Darren Cross used his money and power to do some horrible stuff, like having the heart of Scott’s daughter transplanted into himself. Some characters on this list have money and influence, others have superpowers – but Darren Cross has both. Plus, he’s one of the most recurring villains for Ant-Man, making him well-deserving of the number two spot.
1. Ultron
Finally, the most dangerous supervillain Ant-Man had ever faced was Ultron. Many of you may not know this, but in the comics (namely, in Avengers #54), Hank Pym was the one who created the sentient artificial intelligence android, whereas Tony Stark created him in the MCU.
Ultron was a menace for the entire planet – even the universe, in some storylines – but the fact that Hank Pym created him made Ultron an especially weak spot for Ant-Man. To add to it, the android seemingly had a thing for making Hank suffer – like when he kidnapped Janet and transferred her mind to another android, using her as his so-called wife.
The thing that made Ultron so scary was the fact that he evolved at an incredibly rapid pace, soaking up knowledge and upgrading himself non-stop. He’s not just one of Ant-Man’s most dangerous villains but probably the most dangerous human creation ever.
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