Written by Brandon Auman
A security camera at a bank in New York captures footage of piles of money, being shrunken down in a suspiciously familiar manner. The camera then zooms in to reveal the culprit: Ant-Man.
Uh oh.
Amidst Wasp's protests, Hank returns to clean out his lab and leave the Avengers behind for good when he overhears a news broadcast reporting the theft. He rushes back to Grayburn, leaving Jan incredibly upset in the process, only to find that all his Ant Man gear has been stolen. Since he doesn't feel like he can go to the Avengers for help, he enlists the aid of Luke Cage and Iron Fist to find the culprit before he causes all sorts of damage with the equipment, damage that Hank explains in great detail.
The Heroes for Hire get on the case and start shaking down the usual suspects. They figure out that since "Ant-Man" failed to get the money the first two times and has tried to rob the same bank repeatedly, he will likely be back for a third go. Sure enough, he shows up and makes short work of both Cage and Iron Fist before running off with the money. He doesn't get very far, though, as Hank builds a Pym Particle detector and uses it to track him down. "Ant-Man" is revealed to be Scott Lang, a maintenance tech at Grayburn, and a former electrical engineer who used to crack safes to get money for his daughter's treatments. Now that he is out of prison, his former associates are demanding their share of the cash and holding his daughter hostage to get it.
Now, as has already been established, Scott is not particularly bright and when he shows up in the Ant-Man costume, his old partner Cross gets the idea to use the Pym Particles to pull off bigger and better jobs. Fortunately, Scott also lead Hank, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist directly to them and they immediately go to work. It turns out Hank was also able to perfect the Pym Discs so that they don't shrink things out of existence and is thus able to save Scott's daughter. With the situation wrapped up cleanly, Scott agrees to return all the equipment and turn himself in, but Hank has other ideas.
Hank Pym: Ant-Man was on an undercover mission for the Avengers. They'll explain the bank robberies to the police.
Scott Lang: I don't— I'm not Ant-Man.
Scott Lang: I don't— I'm not Ant-Man.
Hank Pym: You are now.
Tropes:
- All There in the Manual: The names of Cross's supervillain gang aren't given in the episode proper.
- Animated Adaptation: This episode is a mostly faithful adaptation of Marvel Premiere #47, which also titled To Steal an Ant-Man!, with the addition of Luke Cage and Iron Fist.
- Artificial Limbs: Gideon Mace, one of Cross's minions, has his right arm replaced with a cybernetic mace.
- Ascended Fanboy: Iron Fist is practically ecstatic over working with the Avengers.
- Berserk Button: After Ultron, Hank is really sensitive about his work hurting people. He even assaults Scott when he sees him.Hank: WHY?! Why have you done this?! People could've been hurt by my work!
- Big "WHY?!": Hank when assaulting Scott.
- Bowdlerization: The original version has Cross pointing a gun at Cassie's head, which is edited out, though the sound of the gun cocking remains.
- Cheerful Child: Cassie Lang gets held hostage by a supervillain, then shrunk by Hank's tech. Her only reaction? "Can we do that again?"
- Civvie Spandex: While Iron Fist wears an outfit, Luke Cage does not.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Hank questions why Scott didn't simply ask for his help.
- Cutting the Knot: Luke thinks Scott should've used the Ant-Man tech to rescue Cassie instead of rob banks to pay off Cross.
- Deadpan Snarker:
- Iron Fist.Luke: (after Scott shrinks) Danny, you got him?
(the window smashes)
Iron Fist: I'm guessing he went out the window. - Luke's no slouch, either.Cross: And who are you three supposed to be? The Avengers?
Luke: Yeah, we're the Avengers. I'm Captain America. My friend in the pajamas is Thor.
- Iron Fist.
- Didn't See That Coming: Hank over Scott being the thief.
- Dynamic Entry: Luke kicks open the door to Scott's apartment.
- Easily Forgiven: Hank is rightfully furious about Scott stealing his Ant-Man gear and endangering lives with it just to rob banks. After learning the reason why and witnessing him go to great lengths to save his daughter, Hank gives him a pass, provided a cover story of the ordeal, and makes him the new Ant-Man.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Cross and his gang figured Scott held onto the heist money, rather than using it to save his daughter.
- Flawed Prototype: Hank's Pym Discs, which Scott stole before Hank could finish them, and come with the little flaw of constantly shrinking whatever they hit out of existence. Fortunately, Scott manages to fix that problem.
- Foreshadowing: While Hank struggles with his work, he's watched by a yellow jacket. He's also got some issues controlling his anger.
- Genre Blindness: Scott should probably have kept his methods under tighter wraps.
- Gosh Dangit To Heck: Luke gets to let off a "sweet Christmas".
- Heroic BSoD: Hank still can't shake his guilt over what happened with Ultron and formally quits the team.
- History Repeats: Once more, a villain thinks he "holds all the cards" since he has a hostage. While Scott's daughter cannot defend or rescue herself, Hank is able to take her safely out of the equation so the other heroes can deal with Cross's gang.
- Hope Spot:
- Hank meets Jan again and she believes he's about to take the mantle of Ant-Man again. Unfortunately, he says he is cleaning out the remainder of his lab and confirms that he's leaving the Avengers once and for all.
- With the Ant-Man gear, Scott is able to physically defend himself against a couple of ants quite handily. One appears to be reacting with Screw This, I'm Outta Here, but then Scott realizes it was simply stepping aside for a flying ant to attack instead. Luckily, during a moment of panic, Scott learns he can use the helmet to command the ants to simply stop attacking him.
- I Have Your Wife: The Villain of the Week has Scott's daughter.
- I Warned You: When threatened by Mangler and Scythe, Luke reminds them that he and Iron Fist aren't traditional superheroes, so they'll end up in hospital rather than a jail cell. The two thugs pick a fight, anyway, and get pummeled for their trouble.Luke: [chuckles] Tough guys.
- Jerkass Ball: When Hank tries calling Jan to say his equipment's been stolen, she lashes out at him, discouraging him from asking her for help.
- Legacy Character: Scott Lang as Ant-Man.
- Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Luke and Iron Fist agree to this after Scott gets the better of them and escapes.
- Little "No":
- Hank, after confirming his equipment was stolen.
- Scott, after Cassie is hit with one of the discs.
- Mirror Character: In the face of Wasp lashing out at him, Hank can't bring himself to ask her or the other Avengers for help. For all their differences, Scott ends up being the same way, as he didn't simply ask Hank for help, despite knowing who he was.
- Moving the Goalposts: Scott delivered the money as promised, but seeing him in Ant-Man's costume, Cross realizes how much more could be stolen now and says he's changed the terms of their deal. Luckily, Hank and the Heroes for Hire arrive soon afterwards.
- Noodle Incident: If you listen closely while Wasp is trying to stop Hank from leaving, the anchorman can briefly be heard discussing an incident involving Spider-Man saving people.
- No-Sell: Luke Cage and his unbreakable skin, as Mastodon learns the hard way when he tries pumelling him.Luke: It's called "unbreakable skin", fool.
- Not Listening to Me, Are You?: Hank, when he notices the news report behind Janet showing someone committing theft using his tech.
- Now You Tell Me: It's only after Luke and Danny's first run in with Scott that Hank calls to tell them he's finished his Pym Particle detector.
- Old Shame: Luke really hates the name "Power Man."
- Papa Wolf: After Cassie is safe, Scott tells Cross he'll never threaten her again and summons an army of ants to make his point.
- Pride: Luke suspects Hank would rather pay good money to get his Ant-Man gear back quietly than tell the other Avengers what happened. Iron Fist admits that's not the kind of problem he'd want to tell Captain America about.
- Race Against the Clock: Scott says he needed the Ant-Man gear because there just wasn't enough time to plan and perform a bank robbery the mundane way.
- Shoot the Hostage: Cross boasts that having Cassie gives him all the leverage. Hank simply shoots her with one of his discs to remove that leverage.
- Sigil Spam: The bank that's actually a front for Hydra might have an easier time hiding this fact if they didn't have Hydra's octopus heads carved into their frontage.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Cross acts like a big deal, complete with "you have no idea who I am", when Hank's fought gods.
- Special Guest: The Heroes for Hire, Luke Cage/Power Man and Danny Rand/Iron Fist.
- Tempting Fate: Luke manages to catch Scott between his hands, and remarks how easy that was. Scott suddenly grows and knocks him over.
- This Cannot Be!: Hank's expression when the news report shows the money shrinking.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Although he doesn't say anything, Piranha Jones' expression when he bites into Luke's arm - to no effect - and Luke glares at him screams this.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Hank gives Scott his Ant-Man gear and assures him he'll square things with law enforcement with a cover story about all this. Iron Fist also offers Scott a new job.
- Too Dumb to Live: Luke mentions that the bank Scott robbed is actually a front for Hydra."This guy's not too bright if he's rippin' them off."
- Trapped in Villainy: Scott got involved with Cross so that he could pay Cassie's medical bills and eventually did time. Cross, however, tracked him down and kidnapped Cassie in order to get his cut of the stolen money (unaware it has long since been spent). With no time to perform a traditional bank robbery, Scott resorted to using the Ant-Man gear to get the money.
- Unfinished, Untested, Used Anyway: Scott unknowingly was doing this with the discs. Hank was in the process of stabilizing the discs before Ultron became a threat, so he never got around to finishing them. Scott is stunned when the money he was attempting to steal practically shrinks out of existence. They're properly stabilized in time for the climax.
- Vocal Evolution: After everything that happened in the first season, Hank sounds much more emotionally burnt out.
- Wham Shot: How we learn that Hank is explaining the situation to Iron Fist and Luke Cage.
- Worth It: Scott regrets his criminal history and how he's been reduced to working as a mere janitor, but he feels it was all worth ensuring that his daughter could survive.
- Would Hurt a Child: Cross kidnapped Cassie and promised to kill her if he didn't get his money.
