Janet van Dyne
Janet van Dyne is a female comic superhero that features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Janet van Dyne was the daughter of the famous scientist Dr. Vernon van Dyne. (Tales to Astonish v1 #44) Her family was notably wealth due to the successful business of her relatives textile magnate Blaine van Dyne and fashion designer Amelia van Dyne that contributed to their fortune by 1939. (1939 Daily Bugle v1 #1) At some point, her mother sustained traumatic brain injury as the result of a car accident where for years she lived in a vegetative state. (Avengers Academy v1 #7)
The Wasp
Hank and Janet then attended the first meeting of the recently formed Avengers at the mansion. During this time, the team had to contend with a shapeshifting member of the Space Phantoms who attempted to cause dissension in their ranks by turning them on one another. Ultimately, the entity defeated by the in-fighting resulted in the Hulk deciding to depart the group. (Avengers v1 #2)
She later went on a date with Tony Stark with the two engaging in a romance. This was until he was forced to reveal that he was actually Iron Man with Janet not wanting to be with a fellow team mate after Hank Pym was in prison. (Avengers v1 #224)
She along with her fellow Avengers that remained behind were then attacked by a horde of Ultron duplicates. Despite putting up a fight, Wasp alongside Vision, Scarlet Witch, and Wonder Man were captured where they were taken to Ultron's headquarters in Slorenia. The machine revealed that they alongside Hank Pym and the Grim Reaper were essentially part of Ultron's family with the robot deciding to harvest their mental patterns to create a new race of machines that would inherit the Earth after they exterminated mankind. (Avengers v3 #20)
During the Civil War, she was chosen by Tony Stark to join the ranks of the Mighty Avengers that were being led by Carol Danvers. (Mighty Avengers v1 #1) They fought against the forces of the Mole Man only for them to encounter Ultron who had transformed Iron Man's body into a facsimile of Janet van Dyne. (Mighty Avengers v1 #2) New York was later attacked by a Symbiote bomb that infected the populace with the parasites where Janet tried to contain it by transforming to giant size only to be taken over by one of the creatures who used her as a host until Iron Man brought an antidote that cured all the infected people. (Mighty Avengers v1 #8)
She joined the heroes in the battle against the Skrulls where the infiltrator Criti Noll who had been disguised as Hank Pym activated a hidden trap on the Pym Particles he had given Janet causing her to grow uncontrollably as she became a living bomb. (Secret Invasion v1 #6)
Return
In reality, Janet did not die but rather she was shrunk and displaced into the Microverse where she fell into the sub-atomic realm of Lord Gouzar. This led to her going on the run from the warlord who felt that she challenged his rule. Janet then took time to find he necessary equipment that could broadcast her Avengers distress beacon with this attracting Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and Hank Pym to investigate the call. Upon seeing her, the group were overjoyed at her survival and aided her in battling Lord Gouzar though they were defeated. Whilst captured, they managed to escape with Wonder Man arriving in the sub-atomic dimension to aid in their escape. They fled back to Earth with Gouzar following them as he intended to conquer their world but he was defeated and sent back to his universe. In the aftermath, a public celebration was held at Avengers Tower over the return of the Wasp. (Avengers v4 #34) Janet then came to join the ranks of the newly formed Unity Division that were to consist of Avengers and X-Men as a sign of cooperation between the two superhero communities after the Phoenix incident. (Uncanny Avengers v1 #5)
Jarvis later brought Nadia the daughter of Hank Pym and his first wife Maria Trovaya to meet with Janet van Dyne. (All-New, All-Different Avengers v1 #10) Together, the pair spent some time together with Janet happy to share the name Wasp with the young Nadia as she had grown to like Hank's daughter. (All-New, All-Different Avengers v1 #12) It was then that officials seemingly from the Russian government had come intending to take Nadia back to their country. Janet later learnt that the officials were fake as they were really agents of W.H.I.S.P.E.R. intending to kidnap her. It was both Janet and Nadia working together did they defeat the attempted kidnappers. (All-New, All-Different Avengers v1 #14)
She greeted Scott when he came to visit her which was when she received signal from Hank's old laboratory that came from the other dimensional world of Thaloom. The rebels there that were inspired by the Ant-Man and Wasp required aid to fight the Living Eraser with Janet enlisting Scott's help. Together, the pair travelled to that world where they successfully stopped the alien villain thus saving the people from his tyranny. (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Living Legends v1 #1) She was then invited to Stark Unlimited in order to help check Jocasta's brainwaves as she was based on Janet where during this time van Dyne resumed a romantic relationship with Tony Stark. (Tony Stark: Iron Man v1 #4)
As Chairman of the newest incarnation of the Avengers, King T'Challa decided that the team required an extensive support network and formed the Agents of Wakanda for this task. Among its first recruits was Janet van Dyne due to her old ties to the Avengers and also because of her experience. (Avengers v8 #12) Among her first assignments was to journey to Castle Dracula to rescue Blade whilst offering a place among the Avengers. (Avengers v8 #10) She was also responsible for finding and rescuing Morbius, the Living Vampire who was the target of Dracula's vampires as a civil was brewing among the undead. (Avengers v8 #12)
Overview
Personality and attributes
She adored her mother who she found to be a creative and vibrant person. However, a car accident left her in a vegetative state and Janet saw her wither away until she eventually died years later. She came to spend hours looking at her mothers eyes and saw nothing. (Avengers Academy v1 #7)
One of the reasons she never had children was because she found them terrifying. (All-New, All-Different Avengers v1 #14)
Powers and abilities
Hank later provided her with a new and improved growth formula that allowed her not only to shrink but grow to giant size. (Mighty Avengers v1 #8)
Initially, Hank Pym provided her with a weapon to aid her against enemies with this being labelled the Wasp's Sting which was an wrist mounted compressed airgun. (Tales to Astonish v1 #57)
She was the owner of her own corporate brand that was Van Dyne Design Studios that developed a number of clothe lines. (Mighty Avengers v1 #2)
Notes
- Janet van Dyne as the Wasp was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby where she made her first appearance in Tales to Astonish v1 #44 (June, 1963).
- In Modern Masters Volume 2: George Perez, artist George Perez revamped the characters costume a number of times with him commenting, "It became a joke. In the case of the Wasp, I noticed that she has so many costumes that eventually I said "Why not?" I think I was on the book long enough what was once just a little bit of idiosyncrasy about the character became fully part of the character's persona."
Alternate Versions
- The Marvel Adventures: The Avengers, an alternate world setting was shown whereby a younger Janet van Dyne became the size growing Giant-Girl.
In other media
Television
- In The Avengers: United They Stand, Janet van Dyne as the Wasp was a cast member in the animated series where she was voiced by actor Linda Ballantyne. The series established that her father was a munitions maker leading to him creating countless weapons used for wars around the world. This made him incredibly rich with Janet leading a luxurious life in her youth. During these years, her father was noted to been a business partner of Cornelius Van Lundt with the two working together on a project. Her father later died and Janet later came to be horrified at his munitions work with her deciding to sell his company when she inherited the business.
- In The Avengers, Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Janet van Dyne as the Wasp was a cast member in the animated series where she was voiced by actor Colleen O'Shaughnessey.
Films
- In Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow, the Janet van Dyne Wasp was referenced and appeared in flashbacks in the animated film in a non-voiced role. She and Ant-Man had served as heroes with the pair being part of the Avengers. At some point, she had a son named Henry Pym, Junior who she had to send her child away to safety after she and her husband were killed by Ultron.
- In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Janet van Dyne made multiple appearances in the shared continuity setting.
- In Ant-Man, Janet van Dyne made an appearance in the live-action film where she was shown in flashbacks with actor Hayley Lovitt providing her a non-speaking uncredited cameo appearance. She was the wife of Hank Pym and mother of Hope van Dyne who was secretly a superhero operative called the Wasp where she worked alongside her husband Ant-Man on missions. During the Cold War, she and her husband were on assignment to stop a missile launch that was heading to the U.S. and they boarded the weapon but were unable to break through the casing. The only option was to break their suits regulator and go subatomic with Hank's device being damaged. This led to Janet using her regulator and shrinking to the point where she bypassed the casing and knocked out the internal components thus stopping the missile. However, the damage to the regulator meant she became lost in the quantum realm and it was believed she had been killed. In grief, Hank Pym withdrew from his life leading to him becoming distant with his daughter leading in turn to Hope blaming him for her mothers death. It was later believed that Janet had not died but had become lost within the quantum realm but having no way to return back to full size.
- In Ant-Man and the Wasp, Janet van Dyne appeared in the live-action film sequel where she was portrayed by actor Michelle Pfeiffer. It was said that she had been a scientist that worked alongside Hank Pym in his experiments in shrinking with the two later getting married and having their daughter Hope where she was a loving mother to her. She also secretly worked alongside her husband as a superhero operative as the Wasp where she became lost in the quantum realm. It was shown that when Scott Lang went subatomic that he inadvertently met Janet van Dyne who had been trapped for decades in the quantum realm and had developed powers as a result of exposure to its energies. This allowed her to save Scott Lang and she implanted a signal in his mind through quantum entanglement so that she could be rescued. This led to Scott Lang working alongside Hank Pym and Hope van Dyne in saving Janet in the quantum void by building a quantum tunnel to rescue her. After her rescue, she helped heal Ava Starr with her new abilities as the young woman's body was molecularly unstable due to a quantum phase experiment long ago. Janet then joined her husband and daughter as they remained on the run from the law.
Video games
- In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, the Janet van Dyne Wasp appeared as a playable character in the setting of the Facebook video game.
- In Marvel: Future Fight, the Janet van Dyne Wasp appeared as a playable character in the setting of the mobile video game.
- In Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, the Janet van Dyne Wasp appeared as a playable character in the video game where she was voiced by actor Kari Wahlgren.
Appearances
- Tales to Astonish v1: (1963)
- Avengers v1:
- Avengers v3:
- Mighty Avengers v1:
- Secret Invasion v1:
- Avengers v4:
- Uncanny Avengers v1:
- Unstopppable Wasp v1:
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Living Legends v1:
- Tony Stark: Iron Man v1:
- Avengers v8:
External Links
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