Hank Pym

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Hank Pym's various identities from Age of Ultron v1 #10AI.

Hank Pym is a male comic superhero that features in Marvel Comics.

Contents

Biography

Origin

The Ant-Man in Tales to Astonish v1 #35.

Henry Christopher Pym was the only son of factory foreman Brad Pym and book keeper Doris Pym. Hank was raised at his family home in East Nowhere in Nebraska. At the age of three, doctors had diagnosed as being smarter than both his parents combined. Despite being a challenging child, it was noted that his parents had loved him though they were unsure how to interact with him. The one person that understood Hank was his father's mother Angela Pym who was a mid-list science fiction writer. His grandmother was close to Hank and he considered her his friend. Pym's parents tried to raise him intellectually with a view towards engineering and medicine whilst concepts such as needs and practicality was stressed. In contrast, his grandmother attempted to foster his creativity, and imagination. As a result, he grew up with a combination of both approaches towards life. By age five, his parents wanted Hank to build practical technology so that they could be rich but his grandmother continued to encourage his self-expression. However, at age seven his grandmother passed away despite Hank trying to build a machine to save her. After that point, he pushed aside his creative side and instead worked on practical technology that he considered dull. He went into higher education on a scholarship with numerous inventions being made whilst professors ensured that he remained focused on making further such creations. (Age of Ultron v1 #10AI)

His activities eventually drew the attention of figures in Russia who wanted to know the secret of the Ant-Man's ability to shrink as they wanted to acquire for themselves. Thus, they dispatched one of their elite covert agent names Comrade X who infiltrated the U.S. to track down the hero. (Tales to Astonish v1 #36)

In his adult years, he became involved with a Hungarian woman by the name of Maria Trovaya. She and her father had been political prisoners till they escaped to the United States. Whilst there, she had met Pym with the two getting married with her being Maria Pym and having their honeymoon in Hungary despite Hank's reservations. Her father was in America working for his new homeland with Maria desiring to see the places of her childhood. During their honeymoon, however, armed men kidnapped Maria and knocked Hank out where they left him on the street. During recovery at hospital, he was informed that the body of his wife was found with her being dead which left Pym grieving. (Tales to Astonish v1 #44)

He later was met by a scientist by the name of Dr. Vernon van Dyne who was accompanied by his daughter Janet van Dyne. (Tales to Astonish v1 #44)

Avengers

One of the reasons he resigned from the Avengers was because he learnt that the size-changing he put on his body placed unimaginable strain for his form and could become fatal. Thus, he stopped operating as a hero but after Janet was kidnapped by the Collector he decided to reveal his secret identity to his former team mates in order to get their help in rescuing the Wasp. In this time, he was provided a new costume by Scarlet Witch and he began to operate under the name of Goliath. (Avengers v1 #28)

During this time, he required brain patterns as a template for the A.I. and used his own for the creation of Ultron-1. (Avengers v3 #22)

Dr. Pym

Returning to scientific research, Dr. Pym looked to solve the secret of disappearing mass that occurred whenever he had shrunk his body as he concluded it was interdimensionally displaced. During this time, he had a research assistant who was a blonde haired woman named Alice Nugent. Whilst showing James Rhodes his research, an armed gunman arrived at the scene and wanted Pym to use his shrinking technology to alter his size. A fight with Rhodey caused both the gunman and Pym to fall through the interdimensional door with Iron Man in pursuit to save them. With Pym's aid, they returned back to Earth but the gunman jumped back into the portal to escape being sent back to prison. (Iron Man v1 #194)

Alongside Bill Foster, Pym worked with creation of a variant of the particle to help enlarge food to solve world hunger issues. This resulted in Project: B.I.G. (Biotechnically Induced Growth) that were a derivative of the Pym Particles. (Avengers v1 #379)

He was kidnapped by Ultron alongside Grim Reaper, Vision, Wonder Man, Wasp and Scarlet Witch when the machine had conquered the country of Slorenia and massacred its populace. This was because the robot had intended to harvest the brain patterns of the six he considered part of his 'family' in order to use them to create a new race of machines to rule the Earth once mankind was wiped from the planet. (Avengers v3 #20)

Mighty Avengers

During this time, the relationship between Hank and Janet began to suffer as he would continue his work whilst she would be out at parties. Whilst in England, he began to teach where he became attracted to a blonde haired female and began to have a secret affair with her when he and Janet had separated. During this time, she asked many questions about his life as an Avenger and his career. On one such day, it was discovered that she was actually a Skrull infiltrator who rendered Pym unconscious and taking him captive. The Skrull then went through a ceremony whereby she took on Hank Pym's form and masqueraded as him as part of a Secret Invasion of Earth. (Mighty Avengers v1 #15) This infiltrator provided Janet with a new version of the growth formula that was an improvement and allowed her to grow to giant size as she continued to work with the Mighty Avengers. (Mighty Avengers v1 #8)

He later dealt with the aftermath of Janet's death and came to learn of the events that happened after he was abducted by the Skrulls. (Mighty Avengers v1 #20)

Around this time, a Chaos Cascade was impacting the world that was secretly being created by the summoning of Chthon. In order to stop it, it was decided that the divided Avengers needed to assemble with Amadeus Cho and Hercules seeking to find someone to lead such a group. Upon meeting Edwin Jarvis, he took the pair to meet Hank Pym who was honoring his late wife by operating under the name Wasp and was conducting research in his Pym Pocket dimension. Cho helped convince Pym to lead a new team of Avengers to stop the danger that was coming from Transia. (Mighty Avengers v1 #21) Initially, Iron Man sought to take command of the team and despite the world's lack of faith in Pym he managed to aid the heroes by tricking Chthon back into the Darkhold thus defeating the god of chaos along with reversing his chaos magic around the world. Thus, Pym was chosen to head the new chapter of the Mighty Avengers in helping protect the world. (Mighty Avengers v1 #23)

Afterwards, he came to find that his lab had been untethered with it possible the danger of being lost in another dimension. To rectify this, Hank needed the Dimensional Wave Inducer that he and Bill Foster had worked on with the device being in the care of Mr. Fantastic. However, Reed refused to hand the item over as he felt that Pym was showing signs of mental instability. (Mighty Avengers v1 #25) Thus, Hank along with his Mighty Avengers staged an attack on the Baxter Building so that Pym could recover the Inducer. The device accidentally went off and sent Richards along with Pym being lost in other dimensions but by working together they returned to Earth. Hank managed to convince Reed to give him the device and he used it to complete Salvation-2. (Mighty Avengers v1 #26) The laboratory was saved and Hank succeeded in creating the Infinite Avengers Mansion as a base of operations for the team. (Mighty Avengers v1 #27)

He then conducted his next experiment in exploring the higher dimensions where he used a monofilament tether to anchor him to Jocasta as he grew in size to access those realities. This caused him to access Overspace where Hank encountered Eternity with the cosmic being declaring Pym his champion as Scientist Supreme as he sought to make the impossible possible. The encounter led to Hank overcoming his perceived flaws and insecurities over his past actions in order to finally embrace his calling as a hero. As a result, he returned back to Earth where he was informed of an Omega-level threat. (Mighty Avengers v1 #30) Pym joined the various Avenger teams summoned to China in order to battle the threat of the fallen Inhuman king known as the Unspoken. Hank attempted to battle the disgraced Attilan ruler but was unable to match his sheer power though the fight kept the villain distracted long enough for Amadeus Cho and Hercules to commandeer the Inhumans Slave Engine. They then turned its chronal ray against the Unspoken who was aged to the point where he was powerless and harmless to his enemies. Pym then destroyed the chronal ray rather than use its effects to erase peoples knowledge of Hank's past mistakes as he had come to terms with his actions. (Mighty Avengers v1 #31)

Pym then established Avengers Academy tasked with training young powered beings in the use of their abilities in order for them to become superheroes. (Avengers Academy v1 #1) He also established the Janet van Dyne Centers for Women in tribute to Janet to provide shelter and advocacy for those suffering from domestic violence. (Ant-Man & Wasp v1 #1)

He along with the students of Avengers Academy oversaw the transport of the captive Absorbing Man to a secure facility. Creel came to use his control over his wrecking ball to free himself where he used his powers to copy the abilities of the young superheroes. With them, he manifested in a giant state with Hank taking the form of Giant-Man to fight him. Despite his size, he was unable to stop Creel with their battle threatening to cause further damage to the city. To stop further harm, Hank altered himself and Creel's size from the Microverse to then go into Overspace where he was confronted with the abstract entities. Overwhelmed at the thought of such beings, Creel gave up and abandoned the stolen powers allowing for him to be taken into custody to be placed in a special cell at the Raft. (Avengers Academy v1 #7)

He came to work with the Secret Avengers where he and Hank McCoy helped construct a secret headquarters for them in the Lighthouse that was a shrunken space station whose occupants were in a small state until they deployed on a mission. (Secret Avengers v1 #22) Pym later conducted surgery on the Venom Symbiote in order to sever its synaptic coupling centre that would leave it in a more controllable state for a period of 24 hours. This was so that Flash Thompson could join the team as Agent Venom. (Secret Avengers v1 #23) Afterwards, the team returned from their battle with the Descendants though the Human Torch was heavily damaged to the point he was inoperable. Hank kept Jim Hammond in stasis whilst attempting to find a means of repairing the damage done to his body. (Secret Avengers v1 #25)

Overview

Personality and attributes

When he returned to the Avengers, he abandoned the name of Giant-Man and at the suggestion of Captain America he began to use Goliath. (Avengers v1 #28) After the apparent death of Janet, he created a new suit and operated under the code name of Wasp. (Mighty Avengers v1 #21) In an apparent encounter with Eternity, he was labelled as the Earth's Scientist Supreme who served as Eternity's champion. (Mighty Avengers v1 #30) He believed that the reason he adopted so many different identities was usually due to his neuroses. (Avengers Academy v1 #7)

He was counted among the seven smartest human beings on the planet. According to Pym, magic was simply science that he had not managed to explain yet. (Mighty Avengers v1 #21)

When he initially joined the original Avengers, Hank did not feel he measured up against the other superheroes. But after Loki's defeat, he came to regard himself as the smartest member on the team. This position was changed greatly when he accidently discovered that Iron Man was actually Tony Stark and he came to question himself on being the smartest member on the team. (Mighty Avengers v1 #21)

After his initial accident with his formula, he never knowingly stepped on an ant due to the fact that he owed his life to one small ant. (Tales to Astonish v1 #27) Hank claimed to be a big believer in second chances and giving a person another opportunity to prove themselves. (Mighty Avengers v1 #28)

He was noted to had loved his first wife Maria Trovoya with him becoming restless after her death with these being bitter memories. Janet van Dyne he noted for resembling Maria but being much younger and for a time he regarded her as a child. (Tales to Astonish v1 #44)

Such was his love for Janet that he was prepared to reveal his secret identity to others in order to get their help in saving her after she was kidnapped. (Avengers v1 #28) It took a long time but he looked to rebuilding his relationship with Janet with them keeping a fragile romance with one another for a time. (Avengers v3 #20) Hank said that he always missed Janet even before she was believed to had been killed in the Skrull invasion. He and Janet agreed not to have children together due to the dangers of being superheroes as well as due to Hank's fragile mental state. They had attempted to restart their relationship but the two ended up being miserable with Hank believing that she was no longer the young girl who loved him so much and that he could never undo the actions that threw away her love. (Avengers Academy v1 #7)

He was once romantically involved with Jocasta. (Mighty Avengers v1 #26)

Hank had a low opinion of himself and he could understand no one wanting him as a father figure. (Avengers Academy v1 #7) After being abducted by the Skrulls, an infiltrator took his identity and embarked on a relationship with Tigra. This led to her becoming pregnant and bearing a son though Pym revealed that genetically the child was actually both Tigra and his son with no trace of Skull DNA in the offspring. Despite this, Tigra wanted to raise the child on her own but said that if anything were to happen to her that she wanted Hank to look after William Greer. (Avengers Academy v1 #7) Unknown to him at the time, his first love Maria Trovoya was pregnant with his child who was named Nadia. (All-New, All-Different Avengers v1 #9)

Hank did not believe in the concept of Heaven or in God though he admitted in meeting extradimensional god-like beings such as Thor and Hercules. However, these encounters were said to had reaffirmed Hank's faith in science and he said that he would not have any other gods before it. He claimed to had found no evidence of a soul nor the existence of God. (Ant-Man & Wasp v1 #2)

Hank was noted to had suffered a number of mental breakdowns in his life. The first stemmed from the loss of his first wife that led to him suffering from considerable strain. He came to be mentally weakened during the incident that led to the creation of Ultron-1 with him not recovering from that event when he inhaled experimental gases in a laboratory explosion. The strain of the second breakdown caused him to develop into his more aggressive Yellowjacket persona which was when he married Janet. He then succumbed to a third breakdown when Ultron captured him and reverted him back to his Ant-Man identity where he was sent against the Avengers. This led to a period where he fell into depression where he devalued his own life with this erupting into his fourth breakdown where he hit Janet. (Avengers v3 #20) It was later revealed that the trauma of learning that Ultron was based on his own mind led to him adopting the Yellow Jacket persona. (Avengers v3 #22)

The creation of Ultron weighed heavily on the mind of Hank Pym with the villain haunting his mind. Pym came to consider that every death and act of devastation created by the machine being his own fault. (Avengers v3 #22)

Powers and abilities

Turning into Giant-Man in Avengers Academy v1 #7.

He had learnt judo and was knowledgeable in its practice. (Tales to Astonish v1 #27) As a scientist, he knowledgeable on molecular cell transition and cell specialization. (Tales to Astonish v1 #44)

The cybernetic helmet sent electronic-wave commands that could send messages to hymenoptera. (Tales to Astonish v1 #44) He later looked to expand this by creating a comm-network that was based on insect hive communications. (Avengers v3 #13)

The perfected serum allowed him to change the size of any object. (Tales to Astonish v1 #27) In time, his nervous system became conditioned in the use of the Pym Particles allowing him to change size on mental command. An issue that began to emerge that size changing was dangerous as it placed the body under incredible strain with prolonged improper use capable of leading to death. Thus, for a time, he had to restrict his size to certain points with the strain causing him to fall unconscious. (Avengers v1 #28)

Another piece of equipment developed by Hank was the Toolbot that could be shrunk and enlarged to fit in his hand. It contained the top nine hundred tools he used all of which were shrunken down to fit into the handle. A smart-chip present on it was used to provide the necessary tool that Pym needed at any given time. (Mighty Avengers v1 #21) During his time as the Wasp, he built a pistol known as the Stinger that focused his bio-energy into a stun beam. (Mighty Avengers v1 #22)

He later began to experiment on shrinking portions of space and time creating what he termed as Pym Pockets that were large regions of space that existed within a small area. These Pym Pockets were also able to link to different points of space-time allowing a user to go through a door to any part in the world. (Mighty Avengers v1 #21) From within PymSpace, he could operate a laboratory and construct machines that could not exist in normal dimensions. (Mighty Avengers v1 #25) From there, he operated a laboratory that could be anchored anywhere such as Chicago whose doorways could link to various sites such as the Avengers Mansion. The tether to the world was capable of being severed to prevent entry by outsiders but losing this link meant that slowly the Pocket would disappear in less than 48 hours. This meant that an untethered Pym Pocket could still make use of the doors but slowly these would disappear until the laboratory itself was also lost with everyone inside stranded outside of space and time. (Mighty Avengers v1 #24) He once created a Pymporter that could teleport a person from across dimensions instantly. (Secret Avengers v1 #22)

He was known to had collaborated with Bill Foster on a number of technological projects together. The pair worked on one such initiative spearheaded by Hank were he was evolving virtual consciousness with lifelog software that allowed the mind to live beyond the body. With it, he could create an immersive reality that operated as a kind of artificial heaven. (Ant-Man & Wasp v1 #1) The iHeaven Halo lifelog software could allow others to journey into this virtual world. (Ant-Man & Wasp v1 #2) One of the last projects he worked with Bill Foster with was a Dimensional Wave Inducer. Foster had pioneered the technology that allowed the user to alter the vibrational frequency at the exact moment Pym Particles shunted through dimensions. (Mighty Avengers v1 #25)

For his various equipment, Hank placed a Pym Tracer to track them down if stolen though these could be disabled. (Ant-Man & Wasp v1 #1)

Hank later developed a science surrounding shrinking with an aspect of it being the Third Law of Molecular Compression. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #789) Pym later discovered that he could use his abilities to grow into the theoretical Overspace that was another dimension that lay above all other realities. (Mighty Avengers v1 #30) This was shown as being the realm of the abstract entities. (Avengers Academy v1 #7)

Through quantum physics and M-Theory, Hank was able to create an extradimensional space that served as a base of operations. This became the Infinite Avengers Mansion that was inhabited by Jocasta's artificial intelligence that was countless miles long with a matter replication system to generate rooms along with dimensional doors to any location in the world. (Mighty Avengers v1 #27) This mansion existed in its own dimension with its own physical laws with the structure being far bigger than any on Earth itself. Access could be achieved by a subatomic key that as implanted in a person's palm allowing them to summon the mansion's door. (Mighty Avengers v1 #28) It was tied to Underspace that lay at the bottom of the Multiverse even below the Microverse. (Mighty Avengers v1 #35) The structure served as a substitute nervous system for the being that was believed to had been Janet van Dyne and prevented her from fading away. (Avengers Academy v1 #7)

Notes

  • Hank Pym was created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby where he made his first appearance in Tales to Astonish v1 #27 (January, 1962).
  • Mighty Avengers v1 #26 (2009), Jocasta referred to him as Henry Jonathan Pym.

Alternate Versions

  • In Avengers: United They Stand v1 (1999), an alternate version of Hank Pym based on the animated television series appeared in the world designated as Earth-730834. He was shown to had developed insectile robots used to aid him and for training with these being called Antdroids.
  • In Thor: The Mighty Thor v1 (2010), an alternate version of Hank Pym resided on this world. It was shown that he had a mentor in Professor Lew Stephens who was later killed by Mr. Hyde.
  • In What If: Age of Ultron v1 (2014), a version of Hank Pym was shown who was married to Wasp but Janet was later killed. This led to a depressed Pym creating a more brutal version of Ultron earlier to replace the Avengers in order to prevent another such trajedy. Hanks creation then took over the world and converted Pym into a Cyborg named Ultron-1321 that served Lord Ultron.

In other media

Television

  • In The Avengers: United They Stand, Hank Pym as Ant-Man appeared in the animated series where he was voiced by actor Rod Wilson.
  • In Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes, Henry Pym made an appearance in the episode "World's Tiniest Heroes" where he was voiced by actor John Payne. He was shown to be operating as Ant-Man and a noted expert in molecular reduction as well as a friend to Reed Richards. Ant-Man discovered a microscopic universe that he called Sub-Atomica though Mister Fantastic preferred the Microverse. Hank Pym arrived in the Baxter Building to assist the Fantastic Four who had been affected by atoms from the Microverse causing them to shrink constantly. Reed was shown to hold a friendly rivalry with Pym on learning the secrets of the Microverse.
  • In Iron Man: Armored Adventures, the character did not appear but a Pym Industries was mentioned in the episode "X-Factor".
  • In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Hank Pym made an regular appearance where he was voiced by actor Wally Wingert.
  • In Avengers Assemble, Dr. Pym was referenced in the animated television series fourth season Secret Wars in the episode "Prison Break" with the Wasp referring to her father by name and that he always underestimated her.

Films

  • In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hank Pym made multiple appearances in the shared continuity setting:
    • In Ant-Man, Hank Pym made his first live-action appearance where he was portrayed by actor Michael Douglas. Dr. Hank Pym was a scientist who discovered the Pym Particle that allowed a user to shrink and manipulate their size. With it, he constructed the Ant-Man Suit and operated as an American superhero agent where he was active in the 1980s. During this time, he married Janet van Dyne and the pair had a daughter named Hope. Janet later participated on missions with Hank where she wore her own suit and the pair were involved on a mission where Communist forces launched a missile towards the United States. On the rocket, Pym's regulator was damage which prevented him from shrinking further to damage the missile's circuitry. As a result, Janet used her regulator to enter the quantum realm and succeeded in stopping the missile but it led to her being lost in that subatomic universe where she was presumed dead. In grief, Dr. Pym attempted to study the quantum realm to find a means of bringing her back but distanced himself from his own daughter who was sent to boarding school in this time. Hank's time as a hero came to an end when he learnt that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been attempting to replicate the particle's formula and abandoned his time as the Ant-Man. He kept the suit and the particle a secret whereupon he formed Pym Technologies where he took on a young protégé by the name of Darren Cross.
    • In Ant-Man and the Wasp, Hank Pym made a return appearance in the live-action film where he was portrayed again by actor Michael Douglas.
    • In Avengers: Endgame, Hank Pym appeared in the live-action film where he was once more portrayed by actor Michael Douglas.

Video games

  • In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, Dr. Henry 'Hank' Pym appeared as a hero character in the Facebook video game. His backstory noted him as being quite possibly the smartest man in the world but his battle with mental illness which kept him in the shadow of Tony Stark and Reed Richards. Hank's discovery of the Pym Particle was listed as among his many scientific achievements with him using his genius to operate as a hero to fight injustice.
  • In Marvel Heroes, Hank Pym wearing the original Ant-Man costume appeared in the game where he was voiced by actor Wally Wingert. He was shown to serve as an vendor at Avengers Tower who upgrades gear and as an alternate skin for Ant-Man.

Appearances

  • Tales to Astonish v1: (1962)
  • Avengers v1:
  • Iron Man v1:
  • Avengers v3:
  • Mighty Avengers v1:
  • Avengers Academy v1:
  • Ant-Man & Wasp v1:
  • Secret Avengers v1:
  • Age of Ultron v1:
  • Avengers AI v1:
  • Avengers: Rage of Ultron v1:
  • Uncanny Avengers v3:
  • Secret Empire v1:
  • Tony Stark: Iron Man v1:

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