Ant-Man and the Wasp

Ant-Man and the Wasp, comic strip superheroes created for Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Ant-Man debuted in Tales to Astonish no. 27 (January 1962), and the Wasp first appeared in Tales to Astonish no. 44 (June 1963).

Dr. Henry (Hank) Pym—a brilliant, if reckless—scientist has discovered a group of previously unknown subatomic particles, which he dubs “Pym particles.” He isolates them into a serum that allows him to shrink to the size of an ant (a second serum restores him to normal size). Pym later develops a helmet that enables him to communicate with and control ants and to amplify his voice when he is shrunken so that humans can hear him. With a supply of shrinking fluids (later capsules) in his belt, he tackles crime as Ant-Man, facing some of Marvel’s more colourful villains, including Egghead, the Porcupine, the Human Top, and the Living Eraser. He is later accompanied by Janet van Dyne, the spoiled daughter of a gifted scientist, who partners with Pym to avenge the death of her father. Pym subjects her to a process that grants her the ability to shrink and grow insectoid wings. Calling herself the Wasp, she and Ant-Man defeat the alien who killed her father and banish it to another dimension; this adventure lays the groundwork for the professional—and, sometimes, romantic—relationship that the two subsequently share. In September 1963 Ant-Man and the Wasp became founding members of the Avengers, and much of their success over the following decades would be tied to that team.

Pym subsequently discovers (in Tales to Astonish no. 49 [November 1963]) that by adjusting his serum he can grow rather than shrink, and he adopts the alias Giant-Man. He then assumes the name Goliath, and he and the Wasp learn that extended exposure to Pym particles has conferred upon them the ability to change size at will, without having to rely on a serum. Pym begins to experiment with robotics and artificial intelligence; one of his creations, a being known as Ultron, later becomes one of the Avengers’ most-enduring foes. This is just one of numerous personal setbacks for Pym. After being exposed to chemicals in a laboratory accident, he has a mental breakdown. He adopts the alias Yellowjacket and, exhibiting an uncharacteristic boldness, proposes marriage to van Dyne. The two promptly marry.

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Throughout the 1970s Yellowjacket and the Wasp were occasional members of the Avengers. Clint Barton, the costumed crime fighter known as Hawkeye, “borrows” Pym’s growth serum and becomes a new Goliath. Pym’s lab assistant Bill Foster becomes the size-changing Black Goliath for five issues of his own comic.

In the 1980s the Wasp achieves a more prominent role in the Avengers while Pym’s mental state continues to decay. In a sequence of events starting in The Avengers no. 213 (November 1981), he has another mental breakdown, strikes van Dyne, and is dismissed by the team. Van Dyne divorces Pym, and she is elected chairman of the Avengers as a sign of her teammates’ respect for her skills and leadership abilities. Pym’s descent continues, and a series of events sees him imprisoned for treason; he is eventually cleared and hired by the West Coast Avengers as a scientific adviser.

Meanwhile, Pym’s frequent name changes mean that the Ant-Man persona has lain dormant for more than a decade, so a new one is unveiled in Marvel Premiere no. 47 (April 1979). This new incarnation is Scott Lang, a reformed criminal who steals one of Pym’s old Ant-Man costumes as part of a plan to save his critically ill daughter. Following his first successful outing as Ant-Man, Lang is given the suit permanently by a very understanding Pym. Lang later serves as a member of both the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, and his daughter Cassie, who has gained the ability to alter her size because of long-term exposure to Pym particles, adopts the name Stature to fight crime as a member of the Young Avengers.

In the late 1980s Pym begins to rebuild his life and reconciles with van Dyne and his other former teammates. Subsequent years see the romance between Pym and van Dyne repeatedly flare and fade, a cycle that appears to meet its end in 2008 as a result of Marvel’s “Secret Invasion” event. Pym is kidnapped by the Skrulls, a shape-shifting alien race, and van Dyne is apparently killed in battle. Pym adopts the Wasp identity as a tribute to her and gathers a new group of heroes known as the Mighty Avengers. Pym also establishes the Avengers Academy, a school to train young superhumans. It is eventually revealed that van Dyne is alive, albeit microscopically small, and Pym is part of a team that recovers her from the so-called Microverse. Upon her return, she reclaims the mantle of the Wasp and joins the Uncanny Avengers.

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The live-action Ant-Man (2015) took place in Marvel’s cinematic universe and cast Paul Rudd as Scott Lang and Michael Douglas as an aging Hank Pym. Although it marked something of a departure from the formula established in Marvel’s other big-screen offerings, the superheroic heist film was praised by critics for its brisk pace and wry humour. Rudd’s Ant-Man delivered a scene-stealing turn in the climax of Captain America: Civil War (2016), and Ant-Man’s sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), also received favourable reviews. That film was praised for expanding the role of its female protagonist, Hope van Dyne (played by Evangeline Lilly), the daughter of Pym and Janet van Dyne, to become the new incarnation of the Wasp. Rudd returned as Ant-Man for Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023).