Few MCU characters come close to matching the sheer intellect of Hank Pym.
Michael Douglas’ former S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant is known for his ability to defy physics by way of Pym Particles, leading to his ‘Eureka!’ moment – the creation of the Ant-Man suit.
On the other side of the MCU spectrum, Tony Stark achieved a similarly marvelous feat when launching his Iron Man into the skies, and he’s continued to iterate and improve upon his design with each passing model. So in all the years that Pym has been active, why hasn’t his cutting-edge technology piqued the curiosity of Stark? Better still, how did Michael Douglas’ character avoid a run-in with Stark Industries during the fallout of Civil War?
Allow Ant-Man and the Wasp producer Stephen Broussard to explain:
Post-Sokovia Accords, someone knocked on [Hank and Hope’s] door and was like. ‘You gotta sign this contract. You gotta be under the Accords because you’re currently in violation of this thing we put in place in Captain America: Civil War. And Hank, being Hank, he never wanted Stark to have his technology and said, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ and sort of had to go underground a little bit.
Going off the radar involved building a mobile command center (spoilers: it’s the wheely suitcase glimpsed during Ant-Man and the Wasp‘s blistering teasers), which ensures Hank Pym and his allies can work in relative peace without alerting Tony Stark to their whereabouts. Or, worse, the government officials behind the Sokovia Accords.
Broussard continued:
He built this kind of mobile operation. You walk in and it’s huge. It’s this giant set, but when it’s time to go the whole building can be mobile and move around. It’s got a little handle and squeaky wheels and it’s just fun.
So while Captain America adopted an entirely new persona (and a beard!) when he slipped off Marvel’s radar, Hank Pym of Ant-Man and the Wasp called upon that genius-level intellect to get him out of a tricky situation. Clever, eh?
