The MCU and the Comics Wasted This Marvel Icon but There’s Time to Make Up For It

Skip to content Marvel Comics was around in the Golden Age, but they didn’t become truly popular until the Silver Age. The House of Ideas went hard on the sci-fi right away, with most of their early characters being involved in some kind of futuristic shenanigans. These characters were what fans wanted back then and they would form the basis of the publisher in the comics and beyond. The Marvel Cinematic Universe did a similar thing, using science fiction right away to get people into theaters. Most of the great early icons of Marvel Comics have appeared in the MCU and most of them have been well-treated by Marvel Studios, becoming pop culture icons. However, there’s one early Marvel legend that no one has done right in years: Hank Pym.

Hank was one of the first Marvel heroes, becoming Ant-Man and introducing readers to his girlfriend Janet Van Dyne, the woman known as the Wasp. Ant-Man was popular enough back then, appearing in Tales to Astonish and would find his home with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers. He became Giant-Man, Goliath, and Yellowjacket in his years with the team, changing costumes and powers. He was one of the most important members of the group, but as time has gone on, he’s become less and less integral to their adventures. It’s gotten so bad for Hank that he didn’t get to be the first Ant-Man that fans met in the MCU; instead they skipped him and went right to Scott Lang, establishing Hank as the older “man in the chair”. Hank has been slandered for decades, but here’s the thing – Pym can be an awesome character. He’s a legend and he can become a star again.

So, let’s start with the white elephant in the room under the neon sign and talk about Yellowjacket slapping Janet. It’s the moment that has come to define Hank in the eyes of numerous fans. It’s the moment that derailed the character completely and you want to know the worst part? It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Writer Jim Shooter didn’t mean for Hank to actually hit Janet, he was just trying to get her away from him in the original script. Artist Bob Hall made the decision to have Hank slap her, leading to decades upon decades of Hank Pym being called a “wifebeater”.

I was a reader of Wizard Magazine back in the ’90s. They were known for their juvenile, edgy humor and Hank Pym became defined in the magazine by this moment. I read so many jokes about this moment before I turned 18, it’s not funny. Eventually, this idea migrated to the comics, as creators like Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Millar started making Pym’s worst moment into the sum total of the character. The Ultimate version of Hank savagely beats Janet in issue #6 and Bendis had characters call Pym “wifebeater” numerous times. An entire generation of fans thought of him as the worst kind of person out there.

It makes sense why the MCU kind of put Hank in the background when you think about it like that. Hank is a complex character, a man with mental issues that have made his life that much harder, but has also made his story more relatable for a lot of readers suffering with similar problems. His bipolar diagnosis became a key part of the character, his more extreme actions while in the grip of bipolar mania. The first time he wore the Yellowjacket costume, he was basically a different person who hated Hank Pym. He created Ultron and panicked, trying to kill his creation before anyone found out and blamed him.

This is what makes Hank such an interesting character in 2026. To begin with, he’s one of Marvel’s smartest super-scientists and as a founding Avenger that has been working at the pinnacle of the Marvel Universe for years. His various costumed identities have proven him to be a potent combatant, whether he’s small or giant, and he’s always had some of the coolest costumes out there. He’s a character-type that Marvel does very well, and his mental issues and how he deals with them are extremely interesting. I think one of the things that messed up Hank was that he was never really defined by anything that stuck in readers’ heads. He was constantly changing and growing (or shrinking) and these changes never gave readers anything to hang on to.

That’s why readers latched onto the “wifebeater” thing; it became his defining moment. However, this is the man who created Ultron. He went inside the Vision. He’s seen the edges of the universe. He helped make the Avengers legends. At this point, I think the best thing for Hank would be something that DC has found great success with – going back to the past. World’s Finest is one of the most beloved ongoing series being published right now, taking readers back to a “modern” (for lack of a better word) Silver Age. It’s a brilliant series. Marvel has been publishing retro miniseries, but have never gone ongoing like that one. They also haven’t reached the success.

Hank Pym and Wasp can change that. Imagine a Hank Pym series that takes us back to the old days of the Avengers, modernizing the history of the team and revealing hidden adventures. Hank became popular because his adventures were a man of science plumbing the depths of the world, which is still a story fans would want to read. These would be exciting adventures and a retro series from someone like Al Ewing (who is amazing at writing Hank) could knock it out of the park. Look at something like The Last Avengers Story; the story focuses on Hank dealing with his sins and it’s fantastic. He’s a better solo character than he gets credit for. However, we need to see Hank without his sins. We need to see why he was a star, give the character something new to define him.

The Avengers are Marvel’s greatest team and Hank Pym has played a key role in its history. Nowadays, Hank is played as a shellshocked scientist trying to do something good for the world after years of screwing up. There’s a sadness to the character that makes sense, but also goes against everything Hank has been. Pym is a character with the history and the name recognition. He should be a superstar or, at the very least, in his old spot as perennial Avenger.

Pym was defined by the worse moment in his life and Marvel has never really put anything else there to replace. In fact, for a long time they played into it. That needs to change and I think the best way to do that is to show readers why Hank got to where he is today. An old school series starring him and the Wasp on adventures between the adventures a la World’s Finest would a perfect way to make fans love him again. Put an A-list team on it. Advertise it heavily. Make it something special. Hank can handle it and more than that, he deserves it. Hank is a brilliant character and it’s about time that he got to grow again.