Ant-Man? Who's that?

Ant-Man was the first heroic identity of Hank Pym, a founding member of the Avengers in the comics. He is a scientist and had the power to shrink, due to the size-changing properties of Pym Particles, and control ants. There’s supposed to be some sort of Ant-Man movie coming out at some point but that may feature Scott Lang in the title role, which he took over after Pym moved onto other identities.

After a time, Pym discarded the Ant-Man identity and became Giant Man and then Goliath, each of whom had the power to grow as a result of the Pym Particles. During a period when he was amnesiac and mentally unstable, he became Yellowjacket, who could shrink. Then for awhile he was just uncostumed Dr. Hank Pym, who could shrink inanimate objects. Then he became Giant Man again and then Yellowjacket again. For awhile, he was the Wasp, in honor of his missing ex-wife.

So as you can see, Hank has had many code names.

Pym is infamous for creating Ultron, the homicidal adamantium robot. This was an artificial intelligence that quickly turned against its creator, developed an Oedipus complex, and would vex the Avengers for years. In 1999, Ultron went from a menace to a genocidal menace when it massacred the entire population of the fictional nation of Slorenia. Pym saved the day and destroyed Ultron but was discomfited by owning up to the fact that he had based Ultron’s brain patterns on his own so Ultron may have been acting as Pym would have. (This robot-brain-based-on-human-brain is a common thing in Marvel. Ultron created Jocasta, with a brain based on the Wasp’s gentle personality. The Vision’s personality is based on Wonder Man’s. Together they form a twisted sort of family, which I find one of the more fascinating aspects of Pym’s story.)

Does that make Pym a genocidal murderer? The comics have recently argued that it might, given that something he created killed so many people. However, I would argue that Ultron’s personality could have evolved past Pym’s so he was not acting as his creator would. I would also argue that Ultron created the heroic Vision, so Pym was indirectly responsible for saving lives through the Vision. Avengers 2 will apparently have Tony Stark creating Ultron and it’s a shame to do this and strip Pym of his most potent story. Sure, let’s give something else to Stark to do since he doesn’t have nearly enough spotlight.

Hank Pym is also closely connected to his ex-wife Janet Van Dyne, the fashion designer and heiress also known as the Wasp. Unfortunately, he is also notorious for hitting her during one of his mental breakdowns. It was unfortunate that Marvel went in this direction with Yellowjacket since it cast a shadow over one of its oldest heroes that lingers until this day. Once Hank hit Jan, it wasn't like they could sweep it under the rug and to their credit, the writers immediately showed the consequences of the slap. Jan showed up to an Avengers meeting with a black eye, having divorced him off-panel right after the fight. Hank was exiled from the Avengers for years so it’s not like he didn’t face any consequences. (In contrast, Spider-Man once punched Mary Jane — and he has super strength — in a fit of madness and nobody ever said anything about it. So maybe it’s only the unpopular heroes like Hank who face consequences for that sort of thing.)

Hank and Jan were out of touch for awhile but later started dating on and off, although they never remarried. They always had a weird marriage even before the abuse. Hank had frequent mental breakdowns and was amnesiac when he took the Yellowjacket identity and married Jan. She knew it was really Hank and married him anyway, which seems like kind of a bizarre way to begin things, but that was the Silver Age for you. I believe Hank has a child with Tigra now. Either that or the father of her baby is the Skrull that took Hank’s place during Secret Invasion.

Speaking of the Wasp, where is she in the movie Avengers universe? She has never been a heavy hitter or even had her own series but I have a soft spot for Jan. She was part of “my” Avengers and grew from being kind of a dingbat into one of the team’s most effective leaders. There’s speculation that she’ll be dead even before the Ant-Man movie begins, which would be a shame. The Wasp helped found the Avengers and even named the team and it seems disrespectful not to do anything with her. She has a sunny personality that would do well in balancing out sometimes-serious personalities like Captain America and Thor.