Warning: Spoilers for Avengers Inc. #5!Marvel Comics has officially given a new role to the new Wasp of their universe, effectively rewriting the MCU’s portrayal of Hope van Dyne. While Michelle Pfeiffer was cast as Janet van Dyne beginning in Ant-Man and the Wasp, the main Wasp of the Ant-Man trilogy was an original character played by Evangeline Lilly named Hope van Dyne. Hope was never in the comics, though Marvel did create a character loosely inspired by Hope, named Nadia Pym, Marvel’s new Wasp.
Nadia makes her return to Marvel with a more direct connection to Hope van Dyne in Avengers Inc. #5 by Al Ewing, Leonard Kirk, Alex Sinclair, and VC’s Cory Petit. The issue serves as the finale of the series following Avengers Inc.’s abrupt cancelation. As it goes out with a bang, the series reintroduces Nadia Pym as she meets her father, Hank Pym (newly back from the dead), for the first time.
The dialogue directly connects Nadia to the word “Hope.” It’s a slick MCU reference that also showcases how Marvel can take something from another medium and make it feel fresh.
The Unstoppable Wasp Finally Meets Her Father
Nadia Pym is one of the newer heroes to join the Marvel Universe, introduced as the secret daughter of Hank Pym and his first wife, Maria Trovaya. Years prior, Maria was kidnapped before Hank could learn she was pregnant, forcing Nadia to be raised in the same Red Room that Black Widow was raised in. By reverse-engineering her father’s Pym Particles, she not only escaped but created a new Wasp suit out of scraps of her late father’s Ant-Man suit.
She never had the chance to meet her father before his apparent demise during Rage of Ultron. But they finally have their first interaction in Avengers Inc. #5 when she’s among the heroes called upon to help him face down a newly assembled Lethal Legion. In awe of his daughter’s brilliance, Hank utters, “You…you’re Nadia, aren’t you? Maria named you Hope” (Nadia means “Hope” in Russian). Later he says, “We have Hope.” Much like the relationship between Hank and Hope in the MCU, Hank is proud of his daughter’s abilities as a scientist in the comics.
Nadia is More Than an MCU Copy
Thanks largely to how similar her appearance is to the MCU Wasp, readers rightfully assumed that Nadia was a pastiche of Hope van Dyne. However, this brief interaction between Hank and Nadia during the battle already sets her up to be so much more. With the return of Hank Pym, Marvel has the opportunity to redefine Hank through the daughter he never knew he had, and vice versa. Marvel is able to freshen up the mainstream version of the Wasp and situate herself firmly in the 616 as something fresh even outside the original Wasp.
