Sting beneath her wings
The Wasp finally takes flight on the silver screen this week in Ant-Man And The Wasp.
AFTER the monstrous epic that was the Avengers: Infinity War, it seems appropriate that the next film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) would go the other extreme, by going small, VERY small.
Ant-Man And The Wasp opens this week with Paul Rudd returning as Ant-Man and Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne, who will finally be making her debut as The Wasp.
For long-time Marvel fans, especially those who have been following the Avengers comics since the very beginning, however, one of the most exciting reveals of the movie is that Michelle Pfeiffer will be playing Janet Van Dyne, who was actually the original Wasp in the comics.
Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Ernie Hart, Janet made her debut in 1963’s Tales to Astonish #44 as the daughter of wealthy scientist Vernon van Dyne, who was killed by a monster unleashed during one of his experiments.
Swearing to avenge his death, Janet decides to ask his associate, Dr Hank “Ant-Man” Pym, for help, and goes through a biochemical procedure that allows her to shrink in size AND grow wings as well.
Wasp can also fire “stinger blasts” from her hands, and, like Ant-Man, she can also grow in size, though she usually prefers to stay small rather than go big.
After she and Ant-Man defeat the monster and avenge her father, Janet stays on as Hank’s partner, having fallen in love with him, and together, they co-starred in Tales To Astonish from issue #44 to #69.
They would later help form the Avengers together with Hulk, Thor and Iron Man. Fun fact: Janet was the one who coined the name “Avengers”!
Rocky relationships
Hank and Janet’s relationship would turn sour later when Hank began to exhibit signs of a mental breakdown. He succumbed to schizophrenic episodes and adopted a new identity, Yellowjacket, fooling the Avengers into believing that he had defeated Goliath and killed Hank Pym!
During this time, Hank and Janet’s relationship went to the next level – they got married in Avengers #59 and #60, with Janet later revealing that she had known that Yellowjacket was Hank all along.
In 1981’s Avengers #214, however, the Pyms’ marriage came to an end in the worst possible way, with Hank physically abusing Janet, a horrifying blot on the character’s career which resulted in him being court-martialed and thrown out of the Avengers, and Janet filing for divorce.
After that terrible episode, Janet left the Avengers for a couple of issues, only to return in Avengers #217 proposing that the Avengers elect a new leader. After nominating herself, the rest of the Avengers then unanimously vote her in as their new leader!
Janet proved to be quite capable at the helm, and is one of the longest-serving leaders of the Avengers, second to only Captain America.
She also made sure to increase the number of female heroes in the team, first recruiting She-Hulk and Monica Rambeau (then known as Captain Marvel) in her early days as leader.
Secret Invasion
During the Secret Invasion event, a Skrull posing as Hank Pym gives Janet a refined-growth serum as an “anniversary present”, which supposedly allows her to grow to giant size. However, when Skrull Queen Veranke is supposedly killed, the Skrull-Pym presses a button that makes Janet increase in size rapidly, turning her into a bio-bomb.
Thor is then forced to use Mjolnir to create a spatial warp that seemingly disintegrates Janet.
After the war with the Skrulls is over and the real Hank Pym is rescued, he decides to take up Janet’s role as the Wasp in her honour.
It is later revealed that Janet did not die during Secret Invasion after all, but was merely stuck in a Microverse. Using her Avengers communication card, she manages to send a distress signal, prompting Hank (in his Giant-Man persona), Captain America, Thor and Iron Man to go into the Microverse to rescue her.
There, they find her alive and fighting the evil Lord Gouzar, who has conquered the Microverse. Together, they defeat Lord Gouzar and return to the normal world.
Wasp has since played important roles in the Marvel universe. Joining the Avengers Unity Squad, she defeated the resurrected Banshee and Sentry during the Inhumanity event (Uncanny Avengers #15). However, in a major plot twist, the Earth is destroyed (again) and Wasp ends up being the last surviving human, and actually has a daughter, Katie, with the X-Man Havok.
They later form an alliance with Kang to prevent the destruction of Earth by projecting their minds back into their past selves, with Kang taking Katie outside of time to prevent the changes in history from affecting her. The couple eventually separates after the Axis event, which saw Havok being “inverted” into an evil character.
Nadia van Dyne
Although Janet remains active today, the attention has shifted to a younger Wasp: Nadia van Dyne.
To clear up any confusion, the Hope Van Dyne in the movie, who is the daughter of Hank and Janet, was actually created for the MCU.
Nadia, however, is actually the daughter of Hank Pym and Maria Trovaya, who was abducted and supposedly killed by foreign agents.
Nadia was then raised in the Red Room (the same assassin-producing programme that created the Black Widow), but due to her scientific genius, she was able to recreate a Pym Particle sample and escape.
After learning about Hank’s current situation (long story short, he’s merged with Ultron and is currently on an alien planet), she uses part of his costume to create a new Wasp suit for herself.
With her eternally positive and cheerful persona, she manages to win the Avengers over. Jarvis later takes her to meet Janet. After spending the day together, Janet decides to help Nadia achieve her true potential by helping her gain US citizenship, and setting up G.I.R.L. (Genius In action Research Labs), a programme for like-minded young female geniuses to work together.
Realising that she doesn’t really have any connection with Hank or her real mother, Nadia decides to take the last name Van Dyne, as Janet was the one who has been there for her the most.
She now stars in a new ongoing comic book series, Ant-Man And The Wasp, along with the current Ant-Man, Scott Lang.