WARNING: There are unmarked spoilers on these sheets for all but the most recent comics.
This page refers to villains from the Ant-Man comic book series, as well as villains who are specifically associated with Ant-Man via appearances in other Marvel Universe comics.
Remember, unless otherwise stated, this page is for characters and examples from the main Marvel Universe (referred to in-universe as Earth-616). Please do not list characters or trope examples from alternate universes, shows, or movies here. If you have thought of a trope that fits an Ant-Man character from another universe please take that example to a more appropriate page.
Augustine Cross
First Appearance: Iron Man #145 (April, 1981)
The son of Darren Cross, Scott Lang's first opponent as Ant-Man. Cross inherited Cross Technological Enterprises after his father's death, becoming a competitor of Tony Stark, Justin Hammer, and Edwin Cord. After learning that his father has been placed in suspended animation, Augustine becomes obsessed with reviving him, which eventually prompts him to target Stark's personal physician, Dr. Erica Sondheim, and Lang's daughter, Cassie, after he learns the former used Pym Particles to save the life of the latter.- Avenging the Villain: His father Darren, until Darren comes Back from the Dead.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: He's CEO of Cross Technological Enterprises, and he finances criminal operations.
- Evil Is One Big, Happy Family: He's The Dragon to his dad, and his cousin Bill, better known as the supervillain Crossfire, does some of their dirty work.
- Expy: Of Justin Hammer: A normal human who would never stand a chance if he confronted his super-heroic Arch-Enemy head on, so he has to rely on his brains and the occasional super-powered hired-muscle.
- Red Herring: In his inaugural Iron Man appearance, he was suspected of hiring the Raiders to attack the Armored Avenger, but Edwin Cord turned out to be the real guilty party.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Introduced as a potential rival for Tony Stark but was easily overshadowed by the likes of Justin Hammer, Edwin Cord, and Obadiah Stane. So he became an enemy for Scott Lang.
Beasts of Berlin
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #60 (October, 1964)
Communist scientists developed a ray that could increase the intelligence of animals and allow them to be trained for combat. The ray was used on gorillas creating the Beasts of Berlin.
- "Flowers for Algernon" Syndrome: The ray that gave them their intelligence only lasted temporarily, and the scientists didn't know how it worked, just that it did. So Hank smashed it, turning the Beasts back into regular gorillas.
- Uplifted Animal: The six gorillas were uplifted by a fluke by an experimental ray reared in Communist Berlin. The ray itself had a reverse effect on humans, making them mindless beasts, but in both cases, it was temporary.
Beetle
Alter Ego: Janice Lincoln
Notable Aliases: Lady Beetle, Beetle Girl
First Appearance: Captain America #607 (August 2010)
The fourth individual to use the Beetle identity. Janice Lincoln is the daughter of longtime Spider-Man foe Tombstone. Initially a criminal attorney who sparred with Matt Murdock in the courtroom, Janice secretly sought the thrill of her father's lifestyle. She got the opportunity to become a supervillain in her own right when Baron Zemo enlisted her in one of his plots against Captain America. After a stint in the Sinister Six and attempting to assassinate Iron Man for an unknown client, Lincoln decides to start her own organization, the Syndicate, a Distaff Counterpart to the Masters of Evil intent on bridging the gap in male-female disparity of organized crime.
Black Knight
Alter Ego: Nathan Garrett
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #52 (February, 1964)
Colossus
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #58 (August, 1964)
Colossus is a 30 feet tall scout of the Vegan race (no, not that kind of Vegan) who has fought Giant Man and The Wasp. After his defeat, he advised his superiors to cross Earth off their list of planets to conquer.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: He's around thirty feet tall, a problem for Hank at the time, given his limit was fifteen feet, and thirty was seriously pushing into the danger zone.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Hank managed to sucker him by shrinking out of sight. Thinking he'd vanished into thin air, the Colossus fled Earth and told the other Vegans to stay away.
- You Are Number 6: Agent 7M of the Vegans.
Comrade X
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #36 (October, 1962)
One of Ant-Man and the Wasp's early enemies, a cold war spy from the Soviet block.
- Let X Be the Unknown: What the X is for, not for anything to do with the X-Men, or the X-gene.
- Samus Is a Girl: Comrade X, the great master of disguise, turns out to be a woman.
The Creature from Kosmos
Alter Ego: Pilai
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #44 (March, 1963)
A being from the dimension known as Kosmos, he was summoned to Earth by the scientist Vernon van Dyne. The Creature killed the scientist, prompting his daughter Janet van Dyne to contact Vernon's associate, Hank Pym in the hopes of avenging her father's death.
- Back from the Dead: In Wasp (2023), it turns out that W.H.I.S.P.E.R. revived it at some point, and it would very much like revenge on Janet.
- Brown Note Being: Merely looking at the Creature can kill people, which makes fighting it difficult. Easy to find, hard to stop.
- Card-Carrying Villain: It revels in being the greatest criminal on Kosmos, and planned to do much as it did on Earth.
- Compelling Voice: To merely gaze upon the Creature is to die. And it can command people to look at it.
- Emotion Eater: Wasp (2023) reveals that it's not so much looking at the Creature that kills. First it traps victims in a Lotus-Eater Machine designed to crush their spirits. Then it kills them.
- The Exile: He was exiled from Kosmos after trying to enslave everyone else.
- Green and Mean: A bright green radioactive blob alien, who enjoys killing en masse.
- Immune to Bullets: It is, naturally, immune to bullets and shells, rendering the army and military useless.
- Kryptonite Factor: Being partially made of formic acid, it's killed by alkalines. Failing that, as a gamma radiation being, it's weak against cosmic rays.
- Outside-Genre Foe: In the middle of ridiculous Silver Age villains such as space aliens, costumed crooks with gimmicks like paralyzing window fluid or political strawmen, along comes something right of out the Cthulhu Mythos.
Crossfire
Alter Ego: William Cross
First Appearance: Marvel Two-In-One #52 (June, 1979)
The cousin of Darren Cross, William Cross was a CIA agent who frequently worked with Marc Spector. Once he felt he had learned enough from the agency, Cross faked his death and sets up his own criminal base, fomenting disorder and subversion in society in order to make a profit. Cross learns the hard way that organized crime is already a crowded market when a rival gang attempts to assassinate him with a bomb. Narrowly surviving his injuries, Cross resurfaces as the cyborg supervillain Crossfire. In addition to occasionally leading his own crew, Cross has done numerous criminal favors for Darren and Augustine, and has also worked with A.I.M., Baron Zemo, and The Hood.Doctor Nemesis
Alter Ego: Michael Stockton
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Marvel Feature #4 (July, 1972) note ; Marvel Feature #9 (May, 1973) note
Michael Stockton was a scientist who discovered a way of looking into subatomic worlds (including one ruled by the dictator Tim Boo Ba). Later, he became involved with the terrorist group AIM and was a part of the criminal M'Sieu Tete's attempt to steal the Pym Particles from Henry Pym, an encounter which resulted in Pym becoming trapped at ant size. Stockton took the opportunity to raid Pym's lab and steal his shrinking technology, becoming the criminal Doctor Nemesis.
- Card-Carrying Villain: His supervillain name is Dr. Nemesis, after all, so it is pretty clear he considers himself a bad guy.
- Fun with Acronyms: One crime spree of his was robbing various places in a way that spelled out his alias. Hank Pym was able to work it out within a few letters and anticipate where he would strike next.
- Sizeshifter: His costume possesses a device that enables him to access the Pym Particles that enable him to grow and shrink in size.
Egghead
Alter Ego: Elihas Starr
Notable Aliases: Carl Stricker, Tarantula
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #38 (December 1962)
Dr. Elihas Starr was a research scientist who was discharged from the Atomic Energy Commission for selling classified government secrets to the black market. The Maggia offered to make the criminal charges against him go away if he could eliminate (the original) Ant-Man, who had been hurting their operations. After being narrowly defeated, Starr, now dubbed "Egghead" becomes obsessed with revenge. When Pym joined the Avengers, Starr responded in kind by joining A.I.M. and forming the Intelligencia with M.O.D.O.K. and the Leader.
- Arch-Enemy: Back in the day for Hank Pym, long before far greater threats debuted.
- Appropriated Appellation: The Daily Bugle called him "Egghead" because of his appearance, and the name stuck.
- Back from the Dead: Egghead had a good teacher, as the Leader seems to cheat death every other week. Egghead appeared to bite it during a showdown between the Avengers and the third Masters of Evil, but his "Rejuvitech Serum" managed to bring him back.
- Badass Normal: He possesses no superpowers, but knows some hand to hand and is an evil genius.
- Bald of Evil: He wouldn't have the codename of Egghead without an oval-shaped bald head.
- Evil Genius: A scientific genius in many fields, including Biology, Nuclear Physics, Robotics, and Electronics. He was also a gifted engineer.
- Evil Uncle: His niece Patricia "Trish" Starr did not share any of his devious plans. Trish aided Henry Pym on more than one occasion, infuriating her uncle.
- Gadgeteer Genius: He invented many things including: insect control devices, laser satellites, mind control devices robots, teleportation devices. He also uses an egg which explodes, wrapping its victim in a nigh-unbreakable material, an egg which electrocutes its victim, an egg which bursts into a bolo, ensnaring its victim. He's also utilized wrist blasters in the past.
El Toro
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #54 (April, 1964)
El Toro is Cuba's first super agent. He has fought Hank Pym and the Westcoast Avengers.
- Took a Level in Badass: One of the vanishingly few enemies of Hank's Tales days to reappear later, he'd show up to fight Quicksilver at one point, now with slightly stronger horns.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: Having gotten into power via communist-backed chicanery, he proceeded to turn Santo Rico into a police state, until Hank and Janet investigated for the American government and uncovered proof of his deeds.
- Use Your Head: He's got a helmet with bull-horns, which he uses to head butt enemies.
Fantasma
First Appearance: Unstoppable Wasp vol 2 #9 (June, 2019)
A mysterious person whose face is hidden behind a hologram and helmets, with a very personal grudge against Nadia Pym.
- Bad Boss: In Wasp, she throws several goons at Nadia and Jan, which predictably fails, while all she does is yell at them for failure, with the last one standing left pleading not to be abandoned.
- The Dragon: First appears working as a minion of A.I.M.. The 2023 Wasp has her as an agent of W.H.I.S.P.E.R.
- Holographic Disguise: Her suit allows her to disguise herself as other people.
- The Resenter: Whatever her beef with Nadia is, it's pretty clear that from Fantasma's end she violently resents Nadia, including accusing her and Janet of nepotism, and when confronted sneers at her for being liked.
- The Unreveal: When Nadia asks just why Fantasma hates her so much, she doesn't give a straight answer, only saying that the reason Nadia has to ask just makes her hate her more. When Nadia has an opportunity to unmask her, she pleads with her not to do it, but Nadia has by this point bigger priorities, and just doesn't care either.
Hijacker
Alter Ego: Howard Mitchell
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #40 (February, 1963)
The Hijacker was a criminal that used his Crime Tank called the Murder Machine to wreck havoc.
- Swiss-Army Gun: His Vario-Blaster had different settings that could fire nerve-gas, heat blasts, emit nuclear flame that could melt some of the strongest metals and could use it to control and activate nearby machines.
- Tank Goodness: The Crime Tank could smash through steel walls like papier-mache, used electromagnets and had spikes on its tank treads.
Madame Macabre
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #66 (April, 1965)
Madame Macabre is a mysterious female with the ability to manipulate the size of certain objects fashioned by her lackey Gogo.
- Sizeshifter: Different from Hank's, in that she can't work it on living matter such as herself, but only on specialized plastic objects.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Despite swearing vengeance on Ant-Man and the Wasp, she hasn't been seen to this day.
Magician
Alter Ego: Lee Guardineer
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #56 (June, 1964)
The Magician was a stage magician who would use his stage act to rob rich party guests and so the Magician robbed a yacht party being thrown by a wealthy socialite and kidnapped the Wasp who was there to make Giant-Man jealous.
- Meaningful Name: His name combines the names of two cartoonists who created famous magician characters: Lee Falk, creator of Mandrake the Magician, and Fred Guardineer, creator of Zatara (the father of Zatanna).
- Stage Magician: A stage magician turns criminal who uses his tricks to commit crimes.
Plantman
Alter Ego: Paul
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Astonishing Ant-Man #7 (April, 2016)
A comic book shop employee who was fired for selling stolen comics. He agreed to work for the Power Broker as part in exchange for powers and employment.
- Green Thumb: Not only Paul's body appears to be entirely composed of vegetable tissue, he has also shown the ability to manipulate the shape and mass of plants.
- Legacy Character: Took over the Plantman name from Samuel Smithers.
Ultron
Alter Ego: Ultron
Notable Aliases: Crimson Cowl, Ultimate Ultron, Great Ultron, Ultron Pym, Ultron Prime, Hank Pym
First Appearance: The Avengers #55 (August 1968)
The Voice
Alter Ego: Jason Cragg
Notable Aliases: The Voice of Doom, The Voice of Truth, the Man with the Voice of Doom
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #42 (April, 1963)
Jason Cragg acquired his abilities when he accidentally breathed ionized atoms and gained the power to make anyone do anything he commanded. He would eventually become a member of the Skeleton Crew.
Whirlwind
Alter Ego: David Cannon
Notable Aliases: Human Top, Charles Matthews
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #50 (December, 1963) note ; Avengers #46 (November, 1967) note
Whirlwind has the mutant ability to spin his body rapidly, giving himself a whirlwind effect. He uses his power for his own gains.
- Addled Addict: One story has him show up to an AA meeting that Tony Stark is also attending. Tony is unsympathetic at first, initially believing him to be there to make trouble, then dismissing him in general on basis of him being a villain. When Tony sees him engaging in drunken flying, causing destruction with his powers, he sees his own rock bottom in David's drunken stupor and begins to support him in AA.
- Alternate Company Equivalent: He's Marvel's equivalent to the Top, an enemy of The Flash who had a similar Jobber reputation among the Justice League of America before he showed them how dangerous he truly is.
- Asshole Victim: At the end of Wasp, he's murdered in his cell. The opening issue of Avengers Inc. follows up on this. Given his history of stalking and assault, nobody feels remotely sorry for his being shot in the head, and the guards are more bothered because his death makes them look bad.
- Atrocious Alias: Formerly known as "The Human Top".
- Bizarre Human Biology: It's stated his body fluids have viscosity comparable to motor oil to withstand the rigors of his powers.
- Blow You Away: He's a mutant who has the ability to rotate his body around its lengthwise axis at superhuman speeds. He can spin as fast as 400 revolutions per minute, and still speak, hear, and see his environment while spinning. Virtually nothing can touch him; most people and objects are repelled by the centrifugal force if they try to impede his motion. He can fly, make force fields, partial whirlwinds, climb surfaces, make wind jet streams, and create tornados.
- Deadly Disc: His gauntlets employ two 10 inch diameter saw blades mounted on metal bracelets and driven by two DC servomotors each. Activated by switches on the palm, the twin blades spin at approximately 1600 revolutions per minute. Their hardened tool steel composition enables them to saw through virtually any substance softer than steel. When employed while Whirlwind spins, they are extremely deadly weapons. Whirlwind also employs shurikens (throwing stars) which he can propel at high velocities. He sometimes replaces them with other weapons that compliment his powers such as arm-blades.Tinkerer: I think you will find a razor sharp blade a far more effective surface to strike with than your fist. I'm sure your enemies will, too.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: He's as fast as Quicksilver, survived numerous battles with Iron Man note , and yet he's considered a joke. To say that this annoys him would be putting it mildly.Whirlwind: Sure, I've been made a chump a number of times, but what guy in my profession hasn't?
Tinkerer: In what manner do you engage your opponents, Whirlwind?
Whirlwind: Huh? Well, I spin like a top and batter them with my fists.
Tinkerer: Well, there's your problem. An awful lot of crime fighters these days know how to stand up to an awful lot of punching.
- Flight: He has the ability to fly like a helicopter for 10 minutes reaching a speed of 120 miles per hour.
- Green and Mean: His costume is green and he's a dangerous criminal.
- Manipulative Bastard: An early scheme of his had him manage to trick the Hulk (the early, bad-tempered Hulk) into fighting Giant Man for him.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Agrees to work for the Mandarin in exchange for some upgrades. But when he discovers that said upgrades have an Explosive Leash, he joins Iron Man in an Enemy Mine.
- Mutant: He's a mutant with the ability to make tornadoes.
- Secondary Color Nemesis: He dresses in green and he's one of the oldest foes of the Wasp.
- Spectacular Spinning: He has Super-Speed in the form of spinning quickly.
- Stalker with a Crush: He had an obsession with Janet Van Dyne, aka the Wasp, for a long while - at least, until The Unstoppable Wasp, wherein Janet beat him so badly that she made him swear to stay away from her and her family out of fear. During Wasp, he attacks her again, but it's made clear that this time he's doing it against his will.
- Super-Speed: He can travel fifty miles per hour for 30 minutes without tiring out respectively.
- Took a Level in Badass: Starting off at the not-tremendously-threatening "Human Top", he became more threatening on the rebrand to Whirlwind, and has occasionally taken upgrades to his outfit to compliment his powers.
- Villain Team-Up: A frequent member of the Masters of Evil, and also joined the Mandarin's collective in Matt Fraction's Iron Man run.
Wrecker
Alter Ego: Frank Smith
Notable Aliases:
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #63 (January, 1965)
- One-Steve Limit: Shares his alias with a more famous Marvel villain: Dirk Garthwaite (a.k.a. the Wrecker), the leader of the Wrecking Crew.
