Marvel's silly character Ant-Man has become a popular franchise star thanks to the MCU trilogy, including the new Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania. Ant-Man may not be as prolific as the likes of Spider-Man, but the character has survived decades of Marvel history, including being a founding member of the Avengers.
Over the years, the Ant-Man moniker has seen many variations from alternate universe versions to new men and women donning the suit. Some are far better than others, with some versions of Ant-Man depicting the hero to be arguably worse than iconic Marvel villains.
10 Ultimate Hank Pym
In terms of reinventing its characters, the Ultimate universe often went off the rails and Hank Pym is a prime example. This version of Ant-Man was mentally unwell which resulted in him not only abusing his wife Janet but also experimenting on her to perfect his Pym Particles.
Hank Pym became so jealous of Jan's friendship with the Hulk that he actually hospitalized her. After that, he has an affair with Valkyrie thus making him a hypocrite and he continued to descend as a person. Finally, when he saw the error of his ways, Ultimate Hank Pym took his own life to try to make up for them.
9 Fire-Ant
In an alternate reality where there was never a roster of Avengers, Fire-Ant is the world's Scott Lang who never reformed. Instead, Scott became a new variant of Ant-Man that remained a criminal and fought alongside other villains using his shrinking ability and fire-based stingers.
Fire-Ant debuted in the "Heroes Reborn" event in 2021 and despite having a great set of new powers thanks to the Silver Witch, he did not leave an impact. He was essentially a fun gimmick seeing what would have happened if Scott Lang never became a hero.
8 Yellowjacket
After having so much guilt for creating Ultron in the 616 comics universe, Hank abandoned the Ant-Man suit and became Yellowjacket. Yellowjacket was essentially and fusion of Ant-Man and Wasp, allowing him to fly and fire stinger blasts at his enemies.
It's difficult to blame Hank for what happened with Ultron, but it shows the good in his heart that he was willing to change his hero persona to repair the damage, even though it ended with Hank becoming more villainous over time. The Yellowjacket moniker would not stick around with Hank retiring and Darren Cross became the new villainous Yellowjacket further down the line.
7 Giant Man
There was a time when Hank Pym swapped out shrinking for being able to grow into Giant Man. Later on, Ant-Man would be able to harness both abilities but purely as Giant Man, Hank could rival the strengths of heroes such as the Hulk and become as tall as skyscrapers to fight any kaiju that would attack.
As a bonus, Giant Man featured energy blasts similar to the Wasp's stingers. Other than the different power, this was still classic Hank Pym who was as much of an idealist as her was a brilliant scientist, even if his want to be a pacifist rarely worked out.
6 Dwight Barrett
An often-forgotten variant from the Old Man Logan timeline, Dwight Barrett was a genius since he was a child; he even built his own version of the Ant-Man helmet when he was still in grade school. In some cases, Barret even put Hank Pym to shame with how much he was able to create with remnants of the post-apocalypse.
Dwight Barrett may have had the brains of Hank Pym, but he had more of an edge to him as he was more willing to start and end a fight. As the future Ant-Man, Dwight fought various villains and ended up joining a new Avengers team, proving himself worthy of carrying on Hank Pym's torch.
5 Eric O'Grady
The third person in the 616 canon to take on the Ant-Man mantle, Eric O'Grady was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who became Ant-Man out of desperation to survive an attack. That didn't stop Eric from being surprisingly effective with the Pym Particles, managing to defend S.H.I.E.L.D. from superhuman Hydra agents.
Eric O'Grady even earned mentorship from Hank Pym to become an official superhero despite his selfish nature. Eric O'Grady joined the Thunderbolts as well as the Secret Avengers, then later died trying to save innocent lives from the Descendants. Eric was a flawed hero but in a way, that made him seem more human when he would succeed or make mistakes.
4 The Original Hank Pym
Husband, scientist, Avenger, and caring pacifist, Hank Pym of Earth-616 is the first person to wear the Ant-Man suit. Pym was not that dissimilar to the likes of Tony Stark; he was a core Avenger that always willing to fight until evil was on the run, but his ambition and brilliance would often blind him to certain things.
Hank Pym created Ultron as a means to helping the world, but Ultron went rogue and turned against humanity. This sent Pym on a downward spiral, even though he never meant to harm anyone. This doesn't stop Hank Pym from being recognized as the original Astonishing Ant-Man, as the legacy of the character wouldn't exist without him.
3 MCU Scott Lang
Similar to his comic book counterpart, Scott's biggest drive in life is to take care of Cassie. This leads him to make mistakes as well as the right thing as the second Ant-Man, starring in the most underrated MCU movie, taking on the role of Hank Pym to save the world from evil corporate masterminds to saving the Quantum Realm from a time-traveling tyrant.
Scott is a strong hero because he's always trying to do the right thing; even when he was a thief, he was trying to steal from corrupt CEOs. In fact, it's this quality that led to him being the most important person in restoring half of the universe after Thanos's snap, earning his status as a genuine Avenger.
2 Cassie Lang
Taking after her father Scott, Cassie Lang joined the world of Avengers with Pym Particles embedded in her DNA that allow her to become Stinger/Stature. Cassie was a perfect mix of the Ant-Men and Wasps of the past, which turned her into a proper leader for the Young Avengers alongside Kate Bishop.
Cassie's best quality as Stinger/Stature is her tenacity; much like her father, Cassie is never willing to stay down when knocked down. She often relies on her determination and instincts, allowing her to win a fight when all hope seems lost. Cassie's bravery makes her arguably the best potential recruit for the Avengers.
1 Scott Lang
Redemption plays a big part in why Scott Lang is the best Ant-Man; he's not a genius or some agent with special training, he's actually just a thief trying to fix his life and be a father for his daughter Cassie. Even when Hank Pym makes him into the new Ant-Man, Scott does everything for his daughter.
As a result, Scott Lang comes off as more of the Everyman: a regular guy trying to make it in life. It makes Scott far more relatable and on top of all that, he manages to be a strong successor to Ant-Man since he can shrink other things besides himself and has fought as an Avenger, managing to be just as useful as Hank was.