HANK PYM
The Dark Side of Marvel’s
By David Crow
Viewers were shocked when Marvel’s Disney+ series What If…? revealed Hank Pym as a villain, but the character has a disturbing history in the comics.
In the third episode of Marvel’s What If…?, Nick Fury had to solve a murder mystery when the Avengers started dying unexpectedly.
Fury eventually uncovered the killer as Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) who was out for vengeance after his daughter Hope van Dyne died in the line of SHIELD duty.
Pym was decked out in the Yellowjacket suit that we saw Darren Cross wear in Ant-Man.
But in the pages of Marvel Comics, it was originally Pym that became Yellowjacket, and not Cross.
His Yellowjacket transformation occurred during a lab accident, and altered his brain after he dropped some vials containing dangerous chemicals.
Later, Pym was caught dealing out unnecessary violence, and he plotted to attack the Avengers.
He’s also been known to be physically and emotionally abusive towards his wife, Janet van Dyne.
In the comics, it was Pym who created Ultron and not Tony Stark, and he was increasingly haunted by Ultron.
Eventually, Pym and Ultron fused together, manifesting as the horrifying “Pymtron”.
The Pymtron managed to acquire the Soul Stone, likely condemning Hank’s soul and perhaps letting Ultron take over their combined body forever.
Though Pym is often grouchy and belligerent in the main MCU timeline, he’s essentially a “good guy” and helps Scott and Hope out of various jams.
And he’s recently been reunited with his beloved wife Janet, who was lost in the Quantum Realm for decades.
But What If…? might not be the last we see of Evil Hank Pym.