This article is about the original Ant-Man of the MCU Universe. For his successor and current holder of the role, see Scott Lang.
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Overview[]
A brilliant scientist who created size manipulation technology in the Cold War, Hank Pym used his creation to become the size changing hero known as the Ant-Man alongside his wife, Janet van Dyne aka the Wasp. Together, they helped save the world as members of SHIELD. He now functions as a mentor to his successor; Scott Lang the modern-day Ant-Man.
In the 2015 Ant-Man movie, he is portrayed by Michael Douglas with Dax Griffin standing in for him as a younger version in flashback sequences.
Background[]
Hank Pym is a long standing Marvel Comics superhero who has undergone numerous aliases over the decades including Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, Yellowjacket, and the Wasp with size alteration powers and abilities. Dr. Henry Pym who first appeared in Tales to Astonish #26 in January of 1962 as an ordinary lab coated scientist who inadvertently shrank himself to the size of an ant before restoring himself to his original height through his creation of a size-altering gas known as Pym Particles. He was created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby.
The character would return and subsequently jumped onto the superhero bandwagon, taking up the alias of the Ant-Man in Tales to Astonish #35 in September of 1962. Pym would also quickly acquire a female side-kick and love interest, Janet van Dyne as the Wasp. The pair would become founding members of the Avengers with Pym adding the power of becoming gigantic sizes and attaining superhuman strength as well with the refinement of his Pym Particles. Hank Pym is also responsible for the creation of the artifcial intelligence known as Ultron who has gone on to menace the Marvel-verse for decades.
Hank Pym would have a rather turbulent superhero career and over the course of the next few decades would go on to assume numerous aliases over the years including Giant-Man, Goliath, and Yellowjacket before he would marry Janet van Dyne in 1969. However, Pym ultimately suffered a nervous breakdown which led to their divorce and dismissal from the Avengers for a time when it was revealed that he had become physically abusive towards her in 1981.
Despite this, Pym has sought to restore his reputation and relationship with van Dyne and the pair have tentatively sought reconciliation. Pym has also been retconned to suffer from bipolar disorder and other psychological problems exacerbated by his Pym Particles thanks to his radical size changes from insect-sized to giant-sized.
For a time, Pym simply went by his real name as Dr. Hank Pym the Scientific Adventurer as his physiology was no longer capable of withstanding the stresses of physical size changing; he instead relied on a miniaturized arsenal of high-tech devices and equipment that he carried in his pockets.
When Janet van Dyne was later apparently killed in action in the aftermath of the "Secret Invasion" storyline in 2008, Pym would even assume her alias of the Wasp for a time out of tribute to her. Most recently, Pym was forcibly absorbed by his own creation, Ultron. Ultron briefly masqueraded as Pym however was defeated but evidence suggests that he may still be alive, trapped in Ultron's body and fighting his creation for control.
Pym is also directly and indirectly responsible for an entire generation of Marvel Comics size changing superheroes and supervillains who have exploited his Pym Particles and also has a young daughter, Nadia Pym by his first wife, Maria Trovaya who fled the Communist controlled Hungary as a young girl. Shortly before discovering Pym Particles, Hank decided to take his wife to her former homeland, naively believing that his American citizenship would protect her from retribution. It did not and she was arrested and apparently executed. Unknown to Pym, Nadia had been pregnant with his child, Nadia who was raised from birth in a Soviet Union creche in the hope that she would inherit her father's scientific brilliance. Nadia did and used her intellect to escape and has since assumed the identity of the Wasp and seeks to carry on her father's heroic legacy that she has never met.
Various version of Hank Pym in his various aliases and guises have appeared over the years in numerous animated television series and films usually tied into the Avengers.
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Other Versions[]
Related Pages[]
Affiliations[]
- Janet van Dyne
- Bill Foster
- Wasp
- SHIELD
- Pym Technologies
- Avengers
Ant-Man Legacy Characters[]
