Size isn’t always the most important thing. As many people who read comics already know, size doesn’t matter when it comes to taking down powerful threats. Over the years, characters like Batman and Captain America have both faced down enemies who are far greater in size than themselves.
However, some characters are often seen manipulating their size to their advantage. Both Ray Palmer’s Atom and Hank Pym’s Ant-Man are known for their incredible ability to shrink down to a microscopic size. Since both men are also incredibly smart, fans have often imagined how a battle between the two would play out. Looking at specific factors for consideration, here are our thoughts on Atom vs Ant-Man, and which tiny character is the bigger hero.
11 Enemy Power Level: Ant-Man
One of Hank Pym’s biggest failures is in his creation of Ultron. Though he always had good intentions behind his creation, it didn’t take long for Ultron to turn against his maker. From there, Ultron’s intelligence grew rapidly and he came to believe that all human life must go extinct. As a result, Ultron became one of the Avengers’ biggest and deadliest villains of all time. Though his intentions were good, Ultron would become one of the biggest blemishes on Pym’s reputation.
However, for as many times as the Avengers have taken on the sentient robot, Pym has almost always played a role in taking him down. Atom, on the other hand, doesn’t really have any villains of his own. While he is certainly useful to the Justice League, Ultron has posed a far greater threat to mankind than anything Ray Palmer has created, making Hank Pym the winner of this round.
10 Main External Power: Ant-Man
Though both characters are famous for their ability to shrink down to impossible sizes, Hank Pym also has the ability to grow to incredible sizes. In DC comics, that ability is reserved for characters like Atom Smasher, rather than Atom himself. Unfortunately, Ray Palmer is only limited to shrinking.
Typically, the biggest he can get is his own, original size. While it has still proven to be an incredibly useful ability, shrinking still only lets the individual accomplish so much. Because of this, Ant-Man is able to accomplish a lot more as a superhero, simply because he has the extra power. As a result, this round goes to Ant-Man.
9 Brain Power: Tie
Ray Palmer and Hank Pym are both some of the smartest men in their respective universes. Though neither is the smartest, there is no denying the contributions that the two have made to science. Because of their technology, others in both DC and Marvel have come to expand on Palmer and Pym’s science going on to create some new heroes, or even deadlier weapons.
No matter the use, the good that has come out of their inventions far outweighs the bad, and has contributed a lot to the two’s successors, Ryan Choi and Scott Lang. Though Ryan Choi is far smarter than Scott Lang, each of them has arguable proven themselves to be the better version of their respective hero. For everything that both Atoms and Ant-Men have accomplished, none of it would have been possible without Ray Palmer’s or Hank Pym’s technology.
8 Allies: Atom
Even if Pym is on good terms with his Avengers colleagues, he would still have a hard time facing off against Ray Palmer and the Justice League. Unfortunately for the Avengers, the Justice League just packs much more firepower on their expansive roster than the Avengers could hope to match.
Granted, while some members of the Avengers could easily take down certain members of the Justice League, the League is simply just far more powerful, faster, and smarter than the overall Avengers. Because of this, it is pretty easy to say that Atom’s friends would beat up Ant-Man’s friends.
7 Experience: Ant-Man
Ant-Man undoubtedly has far more experience than Ray Palmer. Though Palmer as a character is actually a full year older than Pym, Pym has accomplished far more in his time as a character. Aside from creating Ultron, Pym has been one of the more important members of the Avengers for years.
Likewise, Pym has also undergone significant changes to his personality, even getting dark enough to form a whole, villainous alter ego. However, Pym has also grown a lot from his experiences in the past and has evolved into a much better person. Though he is still far from perfect, his experiences as a character have certainly changed him and had a far greater impact than anything the Atom has faced.
6 Personality: Atom
Because of the changes Pym has experienced to his personality, Ray Palmer is the far better person. Throughout his history, Hank Pym has not only switched sides to be a full-blown villain, but also has a reputation for beating his wife, Janet. As a character, Pym just has a significantly darker backstory than Palmer, giving Palmer an edge in this regard.
While Ray has still been through some dark moments over the years (like learning his ex-wife murdered a member of the Justice League), he himself has yet to sink that far down. Ray is more of a simple man of science just trying to make the world a better place. While it could easily be argued that Pym’s backstory makes him the more intriguing character, it doesn’t change that Palmer has proven to be the better person throughout the years.
5 Biggest Size: Ant-Man
Since Ray Palmer can only shrink, this category has to go to Hank Pym. Even comparing Pym to the likes of Atom Smasher though, Pym has been seen to grow to a far greater size. As Giant-Man, Hank got to a point where he reached hundreds of feet tall.
During the Old Man Logan storyline, Pym’s skeleton is discovered in one section of Logan’s journey, showcasing just how Giant he got in his final moments. Pym’s body was so large at this point that he was impossible to move, resulting in everyone just leaving his body where it fell. Though Atom Smasher has also gotten to be incredibly tall, he never quite measured up to Hank Pym.
4 Smallest Size: Atom
Even though Hank Pym has grown to the larger size between the two, Ray Palmer has achieved the smallest size. For years, Palmer was absent from the DC Universe due to his exploration of the microverse. According to Palmer, there are intelligent organisms so small that there are several smaller universes existing right under our noses. To get to them though, an individual must shrink down to an incomprehensible size. Though Pym has made similar discoveries of his own, Palmer has been seen to continually get smaller and smaller, making him the winner in this regard.
3 Equipment: Tie
Both characters rely heavily on their equipment to operate as a superhero. Hank Pym of course, has Pym Particles and Ray Palmer has his signature belt. While Pym has easily designed some of the more effective equipment, he, himself tends to not utilize it as much as he could. Likewise, many of Palmer’s own inventions don’t ever stick around long enough for them to really have an impact on his character. As a result, this round results in a tie between the two.
2 Biggest Feat: Ant-Man
While it may not be a feat exactly, Hank Pym has left a far greater mark on the Marvel Universe than Ray Palmer has left on the DC Universe. From his role as an Avenger, to creating Ultron, to becoming a villain, to redemption, Hank Pym has been one of the most dynamic characters Marvel has to offer.
For all of his troubles, failures and mistakes, he always seems to find a way to bounce back. Though it may be hard to pin down Hank’s biggest feat, there’s no denying that he has accomplished far more than ray Palmer.
1 Winner: Ant-Man
Hank Pym is far from a perfect person. However, the impact that he has had on the Marvel universe still makes him one of Earth’s mightiest heroes. While Ray Palmer is a much better example of a heroic character, he simply just hasn’t left as big a legacy as Hank Pym has. Both men are incredibly intelligent inventors and capable of impossible things. In a one-on-one battle though, Hank’s darker side, combined with his more powerful creations, make it easy to see how he would be the victor if the two were to ever actually square off.
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