Avengers: Infinity War united every hero who’s part of the MCU… except for Hawkeye and Ant-Man. Sidestepping the thorny issue of where Clint Barton was when the world needed his archery skills, at least it sort of makes sense that Scott Lang wasn’t around, as he does have his own movie coming up in a couple of months.
That being said, Infinity War scribes Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus have still been asked why Paul Rudd’s little superhero who could wasn’t in the event film, and just as you might think, the pair explained to THR that Scott’s absence was due to the incoming arrival of Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Along with next March’s Captain Marvel, a character who also doesn’t appear here, the writers used the presence of these upcoming movies to ease their workload, so to speak, and give them more room to focus on some of the other heroes who won’t be getting their own outings over the next year or so.
“When we get to this time next year, all will become clear. Ant-Man clearly had a specific requirement, which is he had an entire movie [July’s Ant-Man and The Wasp] that is going to come between these two movies. Same thing with Captain Marvel, by the way. We looked at that as an opportunity, not as some sort of backbend we had to do.”
Markus went on to point out that there was also a tonal element to the reasoning behind leaving Ant-Man out. As has been adequately shown by the trailers, Ant-Man and the Wasp is going to be a much-needed respite from the darkness of Infinity War – which is why it might have felt odd to have Scott feature in the film. Having just seen him go through such a tough time, it might have soured the fun that audiences would have with the sequel.
“Also, Ant-Man the franchise is very light-hearted. It’s fun. It maybe even skews younger. If we were to put Ant-Man in this extremely heavy movie, and then have to say to the guys who are making the Ant-Manmovie, “Yeah, he went through hell, but now go ahead and have your little romp and we’ll pick it up afterwards,” that’s why we have to really sort of manage your interconnections and go, “Let’s go and hold off so you can enjoy that without feeling a bad taste in your mouth.”
We can see the thinking behind this decision, even if it would have been enjoyable – and probably useful for the other heroes – to have had the character appear in Avengers: Infinity War. Still, we’re pretty sure that he’ll turn up in Avengers 4 and Ant-Man and the Wasp is right around the corner, too, hitting theaters on July 6th. So, suffice it to say, Scott Lang fans will certainly have their fix over the next little while.