Ant-Man may not be getting the same amount of attention right now as The Avengers: Age of Ultron (how many edits can they make with one trailer?), but Marvel is slowly working towards getting the general public familiar with the shrinking superhero. They debuted brief behind the scenes footage of the film during the Marvel: 75 Years, From Pulp to Pop! TV special, a trailer will likely be released in the coming months, and now it’s been announced that readers will get to follow Ant-Man’s exploits next year in prose form with the novel Ant-Man: Natural Enemy.
Marvel (via THR) has announced that that Ant-Man: Natural Enemy, written by Jason Starr, will be released on June 3, 2015. The story will focus on Scott Lang, described as a "an ex-con, single parent and part-time superhero," moving to a new city with his daughter, Cassie. This novel follows Marvel’s other recent prose projects Rocket Raccoon & Groot: Steal the Galaxy, which was released in July, and Avengers: Everybody Wants to Rule the World, which will be released in April 2015. Like the previous books, Natural Enemy will not be directly connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though it is described by Marvel’s senior vice president of sales and marketing David Gabriel as offering a "completely new window into the Marvel universe."
Whenever a new Marvel Studios movie comes out, the company tends to put the main characters of said movie in more prominent positions. Since Scott will be the film’s main Ant-Man, that’s why he’s also wearing the shrinking suit in the book as opposed to Hank Pym. This could also mean that Hank will serve in a similar mentor role in the story, although the age difference would be significantly smaller. Marvel hasn’t given specific details on the novel’s plot, but readers might want to pick it up for clues on where the movie will go, whether it’s with his daughter Cassie (who has been confirmed to be in the movie), the main villains, or just with character personalities and interactions. Make no mistake: this book is not a novelization of the film, but considering the synergistic approach Marvel takes with its characters starring in movies, don’t be surprised if similar plot points happen to pop up. At the very least, readers of the novel will have an edge on the rest of the film’s audience, many of whom might still be confused why a guy who can decrease his size and talk to insects is starring in his own movie.
With this novel, the movie and a new comic book series starting in January 2015, you won’t have to look far to get an Ant-Man fix...although I doubt that’s even a thing yet.
