Scott Lang’s book featured in the worst ‘Ant-Man’ movie gets official release date

Well, it’s official. The in-universe book written by Scott Lang of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has received an official release date, confirming that its initial announcement was not, in fact, a joke. Ant-Man fans were equal parts shocked and amused when Disney made Lang’s so-called Look Out for the Little Guy available for pre-order in February, but the memoir will now formally hit bookshelves early next month.

It’s news that surely has Edgar Allan Poe rolling in his grave, but despite the world of literature now being sullied by the ill-fated Quantamania, excerpts of Look Out for the Little Guy seem more entertaining than the film itself. According to Disney’s website, the autobiography totals 256 pages, and is said to recount Lang’s experiences as an ex-con, Avenger, and now (apparently?) an author.

Lang’s memoir is a neat marketing trick for a corporation that has merchandise stretching everywhere from orthodontics to theme parks, and perhaps lessens the hangover fans are still feeling following Quantamania’s release. The marketing around Look Out for the Little Guy even includes fictional praise from fellow Avenger Bruce Banner, who described the memoir as introducing “the man behind the hero, and the hero I call friend.”

The book adds to Marvel’s increasing knack for being self-referential, which elsewhere includes the Scott Lang podcast seen in Ms. Marvel, and the meta-musical chronicling Steve Rogers and the Battle of New York in Hawkeye. 

While it’s not yet clear whether a book that was once a movie prop will go on to win a Pulitzer Prize (about as close as Quantamania will get to an accolade), Disney’s efforts in actually manifesting the memoir deserves praise. Props are also due to Look Out For The Little Guy’s ghost writer, which funnily enough, sounds like a sidekick hero name (Ant-Man and The Ghost Writer).

For anyone interested in the (Ant)man behind the mask, Look Out For The Little Guy will be released in stores on Sept. 5, and is available for pre-order here. This writer personally wouldn’t mind a hardcover portrait of Paul Rudd, even if it sits alongside Edgar Allan Poe.