Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was filled to the brim with eye-popping, interdimensional shenanigans. But aside from the spectacle, the threequel also established some interesting subplots for its characters. One that was particularly humorous was Scott Lang’s newfound fame as a local celebrity. That status was punctuated by the fact that he even wrote a best-selling memoir, Look Out for The Little Guy. Now, anyone who’s had an actual desire to read it can do just that, as it’s available for purchase. The book includes a number of funny anecdotes from Paul Rudd’s Lang, including his reasoning for an Avenger writing up a post-Blip book. Funny enough, while explaining that, he name-dropped fellow heroes Bruce Banner and Clint Barton.
In the past, Disney and Marvel Studios have come up with some ingenious ways to market their movies, but an entire book written with Scott Lang’s delivery is just too clever. The introduction of Hyperion Avenue-published novel was shared exclusively to Marvel.com and gives prospective readers a taste of what they can expect. In the opening, Lang chronicles his journey from family man to ex-con to superhero. After discussing his status as the “everyman Avenger,” Ant-Man’s lead character gets into the nitty gritty about why he decided to chronicle his adventures. That’s ultimately where his esteemed colleagues come into play:
The simple answer is, ‘The Avengers asked me to.’ One day, Bruce ‘the Hulk’ Banner and Clint ‘Hawkeye’ Barton took me out for lunch. They said they were concerned that the world didn’t really know what had happened with Thanos and the Blip and our long struggle to finally put things right again. At first, as I usually do when confronted with heavy topics, I made a joke: ‘I’m pretty sure at least half the world knows what happened.’ Bruce responded that yes, of course, billions had experienced these jarring and mind-bending events, but they didn’t know the full story behind them. And ultimately, that’s what people need the most to get through and get past traumatic events: a narrative that helps it all make sense.
First off, can we just marvel (no pun intended) at how this conversation plays out? The actual author really captures the spirit of Lang’s wit and candor. But from a continuity standpoint, this is a very nice piece of character-building, and the notion of the three heroes meeting under such casual circumstances is refreshing. (Given this close interaction, Hawkeye’s Ant-Man reference makes even more sense now.) Scott goes on to share more about what transpired during that lunch and how he officially ended up being the one to write the proposed book:
‘Okay,’ I agreed. ‘Solid plan. So who are you going to get to tell that story?’ Clint answered, ‘You, Scott. You’re the guy who got scooped up in all this pretty recently. You’ve still got one foot in their world. And you’re a guy everyone likes . . . and trusts.’ And Bruce sealed the deal: ‘It’s tough stuff, and no one knows how to keep it light like you.’ Well. I still had tons of doubts. I was hardly an eyewitness to almost all that history. I hadn’t been around for the Battle of Wakanda, or any of the events that led to Thanos gathering the various Infinity Stones.
It’s indeed true that Ant-Man (and Hawkeye) weren’t present for the Battle of Wakanda. When it comes to the former, Ant-Man and the Wasp’s Avengers: Infinity War tie-in explains the reason for his absence. Scott was trapped in the Quantum Realm when Thanos snapped half of the universe’s population out of existence. That apparent didn’t deter the always-optimistic Lang from taking on the task, though:
But pretty much immediately, I knew what my answer would be. As far as I’m concerned, when the Avengers ask you [to do] a job—any job—you say yes. So I did. Two quick handshakes (Bruce—now permanently in his Hulk body—made sure to keep his ‘not too firm’), and it was settled. They’d supply me all the archival footage and documentation, take me anywhere I needed to go, and let me ask as many questions as I needed.
This humorous – and detailed account – is just further proof for why Scott is one of the most dependable people in the MCU. As someone who’s a bit of a nerd when it comes to details pertaining to this cinematic universe, I find all of this quite delightful. It’s interesting that Lang would be tasked with chronicling the recent years within the fictional timeline. One would assume that the book itself is filled with even more information that fills in key gaps.
Whether or not the novel makes an impression is up in the air at the moment, but what is known is that Quantumania didn’t exactly strike a chord with critics or many general audience members. While performances from stars like Paul Rudd and Jonathan Majors were well received, the script, pacing and third act (which features a controversial ending) were criticized. The film also continued a negative box-office trend for Marvel, which has seen smaller box office returns with some of its more recent films.
Hardcore MCU fans may not let any misgivings about the movie deter them from reading this book, though. I’d also be more than willing to bet that beyond the introduction, more Avengers are prominently mentioned throughout the text beside Bruce Banner and Clint Barton.
Look Out for The Little Guy is on sale now, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is currently streamable for anyone with a Disney+ subscription.