ANT-MAN
Earth-14831

Real Name: Zayn Asghar

Identity/Class: Alternate reality (Earth-14831) human technology user (circa 2549 AD)

Occupation: Adventurer, nano-robotics scientist

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Ant-Man (Eric O'Grady of Earth-616), Ant-Man (Henry Pym of Earth-616), Ant-Man (Scott Lang of Earth-616)

Enemies: All-Father Ultron, Stinger (Cassie Lang of Earth-616) (indirectly)

Known Relatives: Unidentified parents

Aliases: "Buster," "Chum"

Base of Operations: Earth Sector 4

First Appearance: Ant-Man III#1 (September, 2022)

Powers/Abilities: Ant-Man does not have any inherent superhuman powers but he is highly-educated in the field of nano-robotics and is a skilled inventor and scientist with extensive knowledge in the field of cloning as well.

He controls a nano-ant swarm that can break down and reconfigure solid matter as well as create matter itself from stray atoms. The nano-ant swarm cannot create organic life.

As Ant-Man, Zayn wears a nano-weave costume that provides enhanced durability sufficient to withstand at least high level electric charges if not other forms of damage. The costume is also equipped with built-in genetic scanners and the palms project the energy that allows the scans to take place. Presumably, the costume also has built-in storage capabilities in order to store and hold the data scanned by its palm scanners.

In his job as a scientist, Zayn also had access to advanced technology such as Doctor Doom's Time Platform.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'11")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 160 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black (with white streak)

History:
(Ant-Man III#4 (fb) - BTS) - Following a lengthy period in which the robot Ultron ruled the planet and was defeated by time and reality-displaced Avengers, Zayn Asghar was born to eco-scientists in Earth Sector 4 at a reclamation settlement. Growing up, Zayn developed a deep interest in the pre-Ultron history and a knack for nano-robotics, in which he eventually earned a doctorate. His interest in pre-Ultron history becoming an obsession by 2549 AD, Zayn sought to redeem Ultron's creator, Dr. Henry Pym. While attempting to create nano-robots to restore Earth's climate, Zayn invented a nano-ant swarm that could manipulate solid matter at his command and he decided to also use the nano-ant swarm to fight crime as the new Ant-Man.

(Ant-Man III#4 (fb)) - As Ant-Man, Zayn used his nano-ant swarm to combat paleo-capitalists and disaster opportunists. Soon realizing his nano-ant swarm could not replicate organic life such as plants to restore the climate, Zayn turned to cloning, successfully recreating thousands of extinct ant species, but he quickly learned the cloned ants lacked generations of evolved natural instinct. Curious if the cloned ants could be trained, Zayn used his security clearance to access former villain Dr. Doom's Time Platform in an effort to travel into the past to seek out the former Ant-Men and their methods of insect control, feeling as if the prevention of global starvation outweighed restrictions on temporal travel.

(Ant-Man III#1) - After checking the status of his cloned ants via a large hologram, Zayn stepped onto Doom's Time Platform and traveled back through the timestream, soon emerging in the past of the pre-divergent Earth-616. Locating the Ant-Man at that era, Henry Pym, Zayn confronted the hero using his real name. When Ant-Man (Pym) feigned confusion due to his identity being a secret, Zayn remarked that he was talking to Dr. Henry Pym, Ant-Man, and asked that Pym keep up his control of the nearby ants. Assuring Pym that he would take care of everything else, Zayn scanned the nearby ants by bathing them in a strange ray emitted from his palm and walked off, further assuring Pym that, even though he might be confused, he had done humanity a great service. Demanding more of an explanation as to what was going on than that, Pym pursued Zayn outside, only to find that Zayn had seemingly vanished into thin air. Curious if Zayn had perhaps shrunk out of view and unaware Zayn was a time traveler, Pym barely had time to ponder his curiosity before he was attacked by his foe, the Window Washer.

(Ant-Man III#2) - Next time traveling back to a time period years after his encounter with Henry Pym, Zayn found another Ant-Man (Eric O'Grady) waiting for ants to dig up the grave of the previous Ant-Man (Scott Lang) in an effort to acquire Lang's Pym Particles. When the impatient O'Grady questioned why the ants were taking so long and what they were doing, Zayn interrupted and remarked that the ants were doing exactly what he had come there to see. Zayn then scanned O'Grady's ants in much the same way he had done with Pym's and O'Grady angrily demanded to know what Zayn was doing to his ants. Zayn assured O'Grady that he was merely scanning the ants and that he was doing nothing that would hurt them. Assuming Zayn knew his name because he was with S.H.I.E.L.D., whom O'Grady had stolen his armor from, O'Grady warned Zayn against trying to apprehend him but Zayn assured O'Grady he was done in this particular time period and had no interest in the distant past.

Deducing that Zayn must be from the future, O'Grady became excited and began asking Zayn what the future was like and why he was scanning ants but Zayn commented that it was best O'Grady not know too much or risk Zayn returning home to a divergent future instead of his own. Explaining that visiting the past itself wouldn't directly diverge an alternate future but giving out major historical events might, Zayn was surprised when O'Grady had no interest in newsworthy events and instead wanted to know how a certain TV show ended. Zayn then revealed the ending to one of O'Grady favorite shows and how the main characters survive and O'Grady admitted his suspicions that the TV networks would never kill off main characters. A somewhat disappointed Zayn then asked if O'Grady was sure of the information he wanted to know about the future and O'Grady reminded Zayn that Zayn himself had said he couldn't give out any important information. O'Grady then tried to talk Zayn into giving him information that would make him rich but Zayn suggested he return to his own time period, remarking that his encounter with O'Grady had been interesting. O'Grady quickly begged Zayn not to go, asking for more information as to who won the next Super Bowl, stock tips and whether or not he should buy a house in the current market, and Zayn disappointedly sighed as he entered the Time Platform and departed O'Grady's time period.

(Ant-Man III#3) - Following his encounter with O'Grady, Zayn decided not to reveal himself to any other Ant-Men as he next traveled to Earth-616's modern era. Keeping himself hidden, Zayn scanned the ants working with that era's Ant-Man (Scott Lang) and his daughter Cassie (then using the alias of Stinger). He then activated his Time Platform and whispered an apology to Lang for the brief scare he had created while scanning the ants before departing.

(Ant-Man III#4 (fb)) - Returning to his home time period and reality on Earth-14831, Zayn considered his time travel successful and smiled at the thought of now being able to imprint a suite of artificial instincts onto his cloned ants. As he remarked on his "little unauthorized time-jump" might change the world, Earth-14831's former ruler, the All-Father Ultron, appeared and announced that Zayn's time travel had shown Ultron a way of the labyrinth of time he had been trapped in. Ultron then announced that Zayn had returned him to the world he had once ruled and that Zayn would be rewarded with death. When Ultron then proclaimed that once he reached his full power, he would rule all reality once more, Zayn activated the Time Platform and escaped back into the past. As he traveled back into the past of Earth-616, Zayn thought about the irony of how another Ant-Man's hubris had once again brought Ultron into the world and how there was at least one man that could stop Ultron if he could be reached in time.

(Ant-Man III#1) - Arriving in Earth-616's past moments after the Henry Pym Ant-Man and his crimefighting partner Wasp had defeated the assembled criminal Ant-Agonists, Zayn was quickly noticed by Ant-Man due to their earlier encounter. A surprised and confused Pym demanded to know what part in his recent adventure Zayn had played and what Zayn had earlier meant by "a great service to humanity." When Zayn remained silent, Pym rushed at him, demanding an answer, and Zayn calmly replied that the answers were beneath Pym's feet. Pym managed to look down in time to see the Time Platform and Zayn calmly remained still as the two Ant-Men traveled back to Zayn's home reality and time period. Upon arrival, Pym asked where they were and who Zayn was. Removing his labcoat and donning his helmet, Zayn revealed himself as Earth-14831's Ant-Man and proclaimed that he needed Pym's help to save the world of tomorrow from the deadliest menace of yesterday.

(Ant-Man III#4) - Pointing towards the All-Father Ultron, Zayn explained to Pym that Earth's future depended on Pym knowing Ultron's weakness as the robot's creator. The time-displaced Pym admitted he had never seen Ultron before in his life but assured Zayn that if he could handle the Creature from Kosmos, he could handle Ultron. Pym quickly noticed a slightly gray goo swarming around Ultron and asked what it was, prompting Zayn to explain that the "goo" was his nano-ant swarm. When Zayn informed Pym that his nano-ant swarm could not fight a living god, Pym decided to use one of his Pym Particles pills to enlarge the nano-ant swarm. At first successful, the nano-ants were soon swatted aside by the all-powerful Ultron and Pym suggested they needed backup. Explaining that Thor and Doc Doombot were in space and would never arrive in time, Zayn opted to time travel once more to recruit the Scott Lang Ant-Man.

(Ant-Man III#3 (fb) - BTS) - Zayn used the Time Platform to travel back to the modern era of Earth-616.

(Ant-Man III#3) - Arriving moments after a battle between Lang and a merged Ultron/Henry Pym with Lang still holding the Time Master's damaged aging ray that he had used against Ultron/Pym, Zayn pulled Lang back to Earth-14831, where the All-Father Ultron had the Henry Pym Ant-Man in his grasp.

(Ant-Man III#4) - Zayn then watched as Lang immediately went to Pym's defense. When Ultron revealed that Pym was still merged with him, Zayn watched as Lang commented that if Ultron was merged with the true Henry Pym, Pym would not rest until he used the All-Father power to remove himself from Ultron. Only momentarily thrown off-balance by Lang's comments and the possibilities it presented, Ultron quickly fought back, knocking Lang aside and hitting Zayn with an electrical charge. Suspecting that Ultron could not destroy him without destroying his own past, Henry Pym powered up Zayn's Time Platform once more and hit the button for a time scoop.

(Ant-Man III#2) - In Earth-616's past, the Time Platform appeared before Eric O'Grady during a battle against the alien Skrull Criti Noll (then posing as Henry Pym) and O'Grady was transported to Zayn's home reality of Earth-14831. Upon arrival, O'Grady saw the time-displaced Henry Pym Ant-Man and attacked him, assuming him to be the Skrull he was previously fighting and not noticing the downed, time-displaced Ant-Man (Scott Lang) and Zayn himself.

(Ant-Man III#4) - As the All-Father Ultron focused on the time and reality-displaced O'Grady, Zayn got back to his feet and rushed to assist the downed Henry Pym Ant-Man. Pym then revealed that he had been playing possum following the attack from O'Grady in an effort to find something that could stop Ultron and he revealed to Zayn the nearby damaged aging ray belonging to his enemy, the Time Master. Figuring the aging ray was part of Zayn's supposed collection of Ant-Man memorabilia, Pym was informed that nothing of his time period had survived into Zayn's future and Zayn admitted he had no idea how the aging ray had gotten there. Not complaining about the good luck, Zayn had his nano-ant swarm surround the aging ray, repair it on a molecular level and ferry it back into Zayn's hand. Before Zayn and Pym could use the aging ray against Ultron, however, Scott Lang appeared and revealed to Zayn and Pym his theory that his usage of the aging ray in his earlier battle against Ultron/Pym might have been what had granted Ultron the All-Father power in the first place since Ultron/Pym had been sealed in an Asgardian coffin.

Having dealt with the distraction of Eric O'Grady, Ultron soon turned his attention towards Zayn, Pym and Lang. Realizing he had to use the aging ray regardless of the risk, Zayn set the aging ray to reverse and fired on Ultron, effectively reversing the process that had granted Ultron the All-Father power and sending Ultron back through his various iterations, eventually leaving nothing but a smoking crater on the ground where Ultron once stood. Scott Lang immediately remarked that he was going to be in so much trouble and Zayn offered to vouch for Lang when he sent him back to his proper time period. Pym interrupted and remarked that he was still curious about not only what Zayn had earlier meant by "service to humanity" but also the other Ant-Men. Eric O'Grady gladly introduced himself to Pym, who recognized him as a pestering kid that had bugged him during a movie prior to him being pulled from time, and Zayn warned against them each learning too much about their own futures. Scott Lang assured Zayn they would be careful and commented on the momentous moment of having all of the Ant-Men together in one place. Zayn reluctantly relented and introduced himself to the other Ant-Men, commenting that time would take care of itself.

Comments: Created by Al Ewing and Tom Reilly.

    I HIGHLY recommend the 2022 Ant-Man mini-series. It accomplishes so much in just a few issues from nods to old obscure Silver Age villains in Pym's story in #1 to tying several loose ends including the origin of the All-Father Ultron seen in the Ultron Forever one-shots from a few years ago and possibly even the Hank Pym/Ultron merger, as the use of the aging ray against All-Father Ultron would have temporally transformed him back into previous incarnations from prior to Earth-14831's divergence from Earth-616. If one goes back in time into various past Ultron incarnations, that would theoretically also de-merge Ultron from Hank Pym since Ultron was transformed into a form prior to the merger. That's just my hopeful opinion though...following Ultron's exposure to the aging ray, we the readers are eventually only shown a smoldering crater where Ultron was so Ultron could've been destroyed entirely but let's be real, folks, when has Ultron ever stayed destroyed? Until we know for sure in another story, I remain hopeful that Pym is no longer merged with Ultron on Earth-616 (again, Ultron was shown deaging into forms that predate Earth-14831's divergence from Earth-616). In addition to potentially tying up those loose ends, we also see Ant-Man-related characters in the other issues including Black Ant, the LMD Eric O'Grady, Criti Noll the Skrull Hank Pym and Stinger (Cassie Lang). Overall, it's just a really great mini-series and I (as of 11/30/2022) am looking forward to Al Ewing's upcoming Wasp mini-series!

    This profile was completed 12/03/2022 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Earth-14831's Ant-Man should be distinguished from:

images: (without ads)
Ant-Man III#1, p20, splash page (Ant-Man, main image)
Ant-Man III#1, p1, pan3 (Ant-Man, unmasked headshot)
Ant-Man III#1, p2, pan2 (Ant-Man traveling through time)
Ant-Man III#1, p8, pan2 (Ant-Man emitting scanning rays from his hand)
Ant-Man III#4, p17, pan4 (Ant-Man directly his nano-ant swarm)

Appearances:
Ant-Man III#1 (September, 2022) - Al Ewing (writer), Tom Reilly (art), Darren Shan (editor)
Ant-Man III#2 (October, 2022) - Al Ewing (writer), Tom Reilly (art), Darren Shan (editor)
Ant-Man III#3 (November, 2022) - Al Ewing (writer), Tom Reilly (art), Darren Shan (editor)
Ant-Man III#4 (December, 2022) - Al Ewing (writer), Tom Reilly (art), Darren Shan (editor)

First posted: 09/15/2026
Last updated: 12/03/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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