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Description

Meet Scott Lang: Ex-con turned superhero. He does his best to save the day and 69% of the time it works every time.

(Now that you get the gist, I’m gonna ramble with a complex design statement!)

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The challenge with Scott Lang’s Ant-Man was finding the perfect marriage of new and old. The second Ant-Man, Scott Lang embodies a new generation, but the soul of the character still lies with Hank Pym. As such, Lang’s design should seem both new and familiar, reflecting the fact that Lang brings his own individuality to being Ant-Man while still embodying the creation and legacy of Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man.

It was important to make sure that visually, the identity of Ant-Man was preserved no matter who is underneath the helmet. As a result, that helmet hasn’t changed much from Pym’s original design, and the Ant-Man Pym technology also operates pretty much the same way. Because of these ‘rules’ for the Pym Process, the Harness technology that actually does the resizing hasn’t changed much either, so most of the design for Pym’s original Harness pieces remain in Scott’s suit (albeit tweaked slightly to be more resilient than the original Pym Harness). These constant design elements create continuity between both the science behind and the recognizability of the different versions of the character.

However, while still being Ant-Man, Scott plays the game differently than Pym ever did, bringing some individuality to the role. He is faster, more nimble, and better at quick thinking on the fly. The design reflects this, with the base suit being streamlined and compacted a bit, the colors made more bold, and the striped motif from Pym’s original suit being made more flowy and organic looking. While I still envision Ant-Man to be somewhat limited by the sensitivity of the Pym Tech, it was important that Scott’s more rough and tumble approach to Ant-Man got a suit to match. Although still fragile enough to warrant caution, Scott’s version of the Harness is more resiliant than Pym’s original model, allowing him to take a few blows without completely compromising the suit. This is especially important considering that Scott’s version of the Ant-Man suit is able to grow to giant sizes; a handy feature when the situation demands it.

Perhaps the most intriguing feature of Scott’s suit is the servos on the legs. These effectively act as springs which propels him forward when running at miniature sizes; adding height to his jumps, increasing the distance he can cover, and exponentially increasing his acceleration & forward momentum. The servos not only allow for easier traversal, but also enable Ant-Man to be more powerful at small sizes. In his miniature state, Ant-Man is extremely dense, meaning he could pack quite a punch… IF there was enough force behind that punch. I was never a big believer in the comic-book explanation that Ant-Man magically retains the strength of a normal man at miniature sizes, so my answer to the strength of Ant-Man comes from the Newtonian equation for Force. Force is Mass times Acceleration. If the wearer of the suit loses physical mass when shrinking down, they will need to increase their acceleration in order to compensate for this loss and generate necessary force. Ant-Man’s servos allow him to move fast enough and forcibly enough to cause damage at miniature sizes, and increase that damage by growing back to normal size, rapidly restoring mass to compound that increased acceleration. When not in use, the servos compress to a boot-like resting state.

As I envision him, Ant-Man should feel small time; a little rough around the edges, vulnerable, and firmly rooted in science no matter who’s under the helmet. Scott Lang’s Ant-Man elevates the dexterity of the character while remaining true to the old-fashioned scientific sensibilities of Hank Pym.

(… okay, now I’m done.)

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Stay Tuned for more entries in my MARVEL Redesign Series!

Make sure you check out Scott Lang: Ant-Man's Companion Piece: Hank Pym !

www.deviantart.com/climbguy/ar…

Description

Meet Scott Lang: Ex-con turned superhero. He does his best to save the day and 69% of the time it works every time.

(Now that you get the gist, I’m gonna ramble with a complex design statement!)

——

The challenge with Scott Lang’s Ant-Man was finding the perfect marriage of new and old. The second Ant-Man, Scott Lang embodies a new generation, but the soul of the character still lies with Hank Pym. As such, Lang’s design should seem both new and familiar, reflecting the fact that Lang brings his own individuality to being Ant-Man while still embodying the creation and legacy of Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man.

It was important to make sure that visually, the identity of Ant-Man was preserved no matter who is underneath the helmet. As a result, that helmet hasn’t changed much from Pym’s original design, and the Ant-Man Pym technology also operates pretty much the same way. Because of these ‘rules’ for the Pym Process, the Harness technology that actually does the resizing hasn’t changed much either, so most of the design for Pym’s original Harness pieces remain in Scott’s suit (albeit tweaked slightly to be more resilient than the original Pym Harness). These constant design elements create continuity between both the science behind and the recognizability of the different versions of the character.

However, while still being Ant-Man, Scott plays the game differently than Pym ever did, bringing some individuality to the role. He is faster, more nimble, and better at quick thinking on the fly. The design reflects this, with the base suit being streamlined and compacted a bit, the colors made more bold, and the striped motif from Pym’s original suit being made more flowy and organic looking. While I still envision Ant-Man to be somewhat limited by the sensitivity of the Pym Tech, it was important that Scott’s more rough and tumble approach to Ant-Man got a suit to match. Although still fragile enough to warrant caution, Scott’s version of the Harness is more resiliant than Pym’s original model, allowing him to take a few blows without completely compromising the suit. This is especially important considering that Scott’s version of the Ant-Man suit is able to grow to giant sizes; a handy feature when the situation demands it.

Perhaps the most intriguing feature of Scott’s suit is the servos on the legs. These effectively act as springs which propels him forward when running at miniature sizes; adding height to his jumps, increasing the distance he can cover, and exponentially increasing his acceleration & forward momentum. The servos not only allow for easier traversal, but also enable Ant-Man to be more powerful at small sizes. In his miniature state, Ant-Man is extremely dense, meaning he could pack quite a punch… IF there was enough force behind that punch. I was never a big believer in the comic-book explanation that Ant-Man magically retains the strength of a normal man at miniature sizes, so my answer to the strength of Ant-Man comes from the Newtonian equation for Force. Force is Mass times Acceleration. If the wearer of the suit loses physical mass when shrinking down, they will need to increase their acceleration in order to compensate for this loss and generate necessary force. Ant-Man’s servos allow him to move fast enough and forcibly enough to cause damage at miniature sizes, and increase that damage by growing back to normal size, rapidly restoring mass to compound that increased acceleration. When not in use, the servos compress to a boot-like resting state.

As I envision him, Ant-Man should feel small time; a little rough around the edges, vulnerable, and firmly rooted in science no matter who’s under the helmet. Scott Lang’s Ant-Man elevates the dexterity of the character while remaining true to the old-fashioned scientific sensibilities of Hank Pym.

(… okay, now I’m done.)

------

Stay Tuned for more entries in my MARVEL Redesign Series!

Make sure you check out Scott Lang: Ant-Man's Companion Piece: Hank Pym !

www.deviantart.com/climbguy/ar…