Wasp (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Hope van Dyne, also known as Wasp, is a major character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She is a former board member of the company founded by her father, Pym Technologies. When the CEO, Darren Cross, attempted to create and sell a new weapon based on her father's Ant-Man Suit, van Dyne reunited with her estranged father and, along with a thief Scott Lang, stopped Cross. After these events, Pym offered Hope her presumed late mother's mantle as the Wasp. Following the Avengers Civil War, Hope assisted her father and Scott in finding her mother in the Quantum Realm and stopping Ghost. 
She is portrayed by (who also has played Kate Austen in Lost, and Tauriel in the Hobbit trilogy), and Madeleine McGraw (who also has played young Amara Namani in Pacific Rim: Uprising and Gwen Blake in the 2021 horror film The Black Phone) as a child.
==Biography==
===Early life===
Hope's relationship with her father Hank Pym became distant after her mother Janet van Dyne was lost in a subatomic special void called the Quantum Realm. Instead of comforting his seven year old daughter, Pym became lost in his own grief and sent her away to boarding school. In response, Hope took to studying martial arts, becoming proficient enough to later train Scott Lang effectively in only a few days.
===Working for Darren Cross===
Van Dyne cast the deciding vote that ousted Pym from Pym Technologies. She then proceeded to work at Cross Technologies as Darren Cross' assistant. However, as she worked closer with Cross, she discovered he was attempting to replicate her father's designs for the Ant-Man Suit, intending to sell it to the military and possibly to HYDRA. Fearing the consequences, van Dyne contacted her father and convinced him to assist her in stopping Cross.
===Darren Cross' Presentation===
When Darren Cross organized a presentation of his Yellowjacket Suit to potential investors, van Dyne attended and greeted Hank Pym when he arrived, although she refused to call him "Dad" and instead referred to him as Doctor Pym. Van Dyne stayed close as Cross presented the armor and its abilities. Once it was over, Van Dyne spoke to Pym about their plan to stop Cross, and Pym revealed that he had found a person who could assist them in their mission. Van Dyne pushed for Pym to allow her to complete the mission herself; he refused to allow her to take the same risks that her mother had taken.
===Dinner with Cross===
To celebrate his success, Darren Cross invited van Dyne to dinner at a restaurant. There Cross began to rant about both of their fractured relationships with Hank Pym before van Dyne toasted to Cross' accomplishments and Van Dyne told him he deserved everything that was coming to him.
===Recreating Pym Particles===
Back at Pym Technologies, van Dyne and Darren Cross continued their work to complete their version of the Pym Particles. Cross instead of using mice as originally believed, began using lambs in his experiments, however the tests continued to prove unsuccessful and the lambs were crushed under the pressure of shrinking in size; these failures did not stop Cross and he continued to bring out new subjects, much to van Dyne's ever-growing concern.
===Meeting Scott Lang===
Hank Pym chose a thief recently released from prison named Scott Lang to assist them in their mission; however, van Dyne remained skeptical on whether or not they really needed outside help. In order to test Lang, Pym set out a test in which he would give Lang the information needed to break into his home and steal the Ant-Man Suit. Lang completed the task with ease, despite not knowing he was being tested, and went on to accidentally test out the suit, causing him to shrink to the size of an ant. The experience horrified Lang and he attempted to return the suit, but van Dyne used the opportunity to call the police and have Lang arrested as he attempted to leave Pym's mansion.
Pym broke Lang out of prison and brought him back to his mansion; van Dyne kept watch over Lang as he slept, having passed out while riding an ant. When Lang awoke, he questioned why van Dyne was watching him and she explained it was because last time he was there he had stolen something. Van Dyne took Lang downstairs to be introduced to Pym. They explained their mission to him, although van Dyne continued to recommend that they not use Lang and instead allow her to break into Pym Technologies and steal the Yellowjacket Suit from Darren Cross herself. Pym continued to refuse. Pym explained the details of the plan and why Lang was selected and eventually Lang agreed to help them.
===Training Scott Lang===
Van Dyne was tasked with training Scott Lang on how to fight with the Ant-Man Suit to cause the most effective but non-lethal damage. Lang initially scoffed at the idea as he claimed that his three years in prison had taught him how to fight; to prove this he invited van Dyne to show him how to punch, which she did by punching him in the face. Lang accepted van Dyne's help after this and together they trained hard, fighting each other without holding back until van Dyne was satisfied with his abilities.
In a key stage of the training, Hank Pym taught Lang how to master using the Ant-Man Suit by jumping through a small key-hole and emerging large on the other side. Van Dyne stood with Pym as Lang failed time after time until he finally mastered the skill. She later joined her father outside as he introduced Lang to the many breeds of Ants which would be assisting him in his mission. They became amused as Lang would often panic at the size and scale of the ants and regrow to his original size while inside the tunnels.
One skill Lang still struggled to master was the skill of communicating with the ants to get them to do his bidding. This continued until van Dyne became frustrated and stepped in, demonstrating her own skills with the communication, telling Pym that she should be the one going on the mission in Lang's place; however, she appeared to almost lose control of the ants, summoning far more than required to complete the simple task of placing a cube of sugar in a cup of tea, until her father stepped in to refocus her attention.
With this, van Dyne left the mansion and sat in her car. Lang joined her and tried to comfort her, she explained to him how Pym had been holding her back ever since her mother, Janet van Dyne's death. They discussed Lang's daughter Cassie Lang and how he was doing the mission for her. van Dyne softened and taught Lang a new technique for communicating with the ants, allowing him to make them pick up and spin a coin.
===Learning the Truth===
Returning to the house, they found Hank Pym sitting in his chair. Pym finally relented and told Hope about the day that Janet van Dyne had died, explaining that in the 1980s, they worked as a superhero team with her taking the mantel of Wasp. He told her how they had been sent on a mission to intercept a missile which was going to destroy a major city and Wasp had sacrificed herself by shrinking into the missile. However, she became lost within the Quantum Realm, which Pym had spent the next few decades trying to understand. Van Dyne hugged her father and their relationship finally began to rebuild once again, although the moment was somewhat ruined by Scott Lang's comments.
===Duel at New Avengers Facility===
In order to test Scott Lang's new abilities with the Ant-Man Suit, van Dyne and Hank Pym sent Lang on a mission to one of Howard Stark's old facilities to locate a small device for their heist. Lang quickly realized that the base was now the New Avengers Facility and van Dyne ordered him abort the mission. Lang chose instead to continue and was confronted by Falcon, who tried to force Lang to leave, when Lang introduced himself as Scott, van Dyne was horrified at the blunder. The two engaged in a brief fight which ended with Lang managing to damage Falcon's suit and escaping, impressing Hope somewhat by displaying martial arts moves she had taught him during his brief training during the skirmish.
===Darren Cross Visits===
While the team rested from the mission and discussed their next step, Hank Pym stepped into the next room only to be greeted by Darren Cross, who had seemingly broken into the mansion. Cross claimed he had come in simply because the door was open and calmly spoke to Pym. Van Dyne and Scott Lang realized in a panic that Cross could easily see their plans for their break into Pym Technologies and if he did he would likely murder Pym. Lang managed to use the Ants to hide the plans while Cross invited Pym to come to the presentation for the Yellowjacket Suit, which Pym agreed to.
Once Cross had left they discussed what had just happened and the risks involved; van Dyne questioned whether or not Cross had known she was in the house, as if he had seen her then her position in the company would be in danger. This question was seemingly answered when Cross phoned her and asked where she was, to which she lied and said she was at her home, Cross seemed to accept this answer and ordered her to increase security at Pym Technologies ahead of the Yellowjacket Suit Presentation. With this now changing the details of their plan, Lang suggested that they increase their team to include his former team-mates Luis, Dave and Kurt, to which Pym disagreed.
===Building the Team===
Despite Hank Pym's protests, Luis, Kurt and Dave were brought into the plan and invited to the house where Van Dyne brought them coffee. Luis thanked them and commented on how unusual it was for them to be invited back to a house they just robbed; van Dyne spoke to Scott Lang and questioned if they could handle the job which Luis and Lang insisted they could. Van Dyne watched amused as Lang demonstrated the capabilities of the Ant-Man Suit, causing Luis to flee from the room in fear when Lang jumped on his shoulder.
They worked out a new plan which involved Luis, Kurt and Dave to get Lang into Pym Technologies through the water pipes. Luis remained confident on his role as the man on the inside posing as a security guard, excitedly commenting on how beautiful van Dyne was and mistaking her for Lang's girlfriend. Despite their enthusiasm, van Dyne and Pym remained unconvinced that the plan could be pulled off due to their unprofessionalism.
===Stealing the Yellowjacket===
On the day of the Yellowjacket Suit Presentation, van Dyne arrived first at Pym Technologies and assisted Luis in gaining access to the restricted areas. Once everything was in place for Scott Lang to enter the facility, van Dyne went to the presentation, along the way she was greeted by Darren Cross, who nervously asked how he look in his suit.
When Hank Pym arrived at the building, Cross greeted him warmly and invited him and van Dyne to speak to him in private in the demonstration room. Once they were alone, Cross' guards immediately took Pym and van Dyne hostage at gun point. Cross revealed that he was fully aware of their plan to steal the Yellowjacket Suit and planned to kill them all for their betrayal. Cross trapped Scott Lang within the glass enclosure and took the Yellowjacket Suit; he then welcomed Mitchell Carson into the room and introduced him as the representative from HYDRA to whom he intended to sell the Yellowjacket. Pym and van Dyne implored Cross to reconsider but he refused to listen.
Cross ordered his men to execute Pym before changing his mind and deciding to kill his mentor himself. Before Cross could exact his revenge, Lang broke out of his glass enclosure and he and van Dyne began fighting Cross' guards. In the chaos, Cross was able to shoot Pym in the shoulder before escaping with the Yellowjacket Suit. With Cross' guards defeated, van Dyne and Lang ran to Pym's aid, as he was bleeding heavily from his wound, but Pym ordered Lang to chase down and stop Cross before he could get away with the Yellowjacket.
===Saving her Father===
While Lang battled Darren Cross, van Dyne attempted to lift Hank Pym to safety as the entire Pym Technologies facility had been rigged to explode, but Pym knew that he would be unable to run. However, rather than accepting death and telling van Dyne to escape, Pym revealed that the tank key-ring he carried with him at all times, was not a key-ring at all, but a USSR Tank he had shrunk down years earlier. They transformed the tank to its original size and used it to escape, smashing through the side of the building at landing outdoors, much to the alarm of everyone present.
Van Dyne ensured that Pym was getting medical attention from a near-by ambulance before they witnessed the entire Pym Technologies building imploding due to the C4 which Scott Lang had planted inside. While van Dyne stayed with her father as his wound was treated, Lang tracked down and fought Cross. Eventually Lang was able to kill Cross by damaging his suit's internal mainframe, briefly teleporting him to the Quantum Realm before he was able to return to normal size.
===Aftermath===
With the crisis now over, Van Dyne and Hank Pym spoke to Scott Lang about his experiences within the Quantum Realm, although Lang insisted that he had no memory of his experience and could tell them nothing. Van Dyne walked Lang out of the mansion, before they could exit however, Lang kissed her. The moment was interrupted when Pym walked through the door and caught them, Lang denied any wrong doing and insisted it was van Dyne who had kissed him before making a speedy exit.
===Wasp Suit===
Hank Pym revealed to Hope that before Janet's disappearance into the quantum realm, he and Janet van Dyne were working on a prototype for a new upgraded version of the Wasp Suit, which had been hidden behind a secret vault in his basement for decades. Although he had always believed it had been for her mother, Pym told Hope that he now knew they had in fact been designing it for her. Van Dyne accepted the suit without hesitation, noting that it was about time that she was given a suit.
===Rescuing Janet van Dyne===
Van Dyne and her father are now in hiding due to Lang's actions against the Sokovia Accords in 2016 and has cut ties with him. However, they seek his help after they discover a way to bring back Janet from the quantum realm, with Lang having seen dreams of van Dyne's childhood experiences with her mother Janet van Dyne, having unknowingly come into contact with Janet van Dyne in the Quantum Realm. Van Dyne and Lang once again team up as Ant-Man and the Wasp and rekindle their relationship as they fight to keep their quantum technology away from other rival parties, such as black market dealer Sonny Burch, as well as Ava Starr and Bill Foster, who want to use it to cure Starr of her fatal molecular instability. After Pym successfully brings Janet back from the quantum realm, they along with Hope and Lang plan to harvest quantum energy to cure Starr's condition. However, van Dyne and her parents disintegrate after the initiation of the Blip.
===Battle of Earth===
In 2023, Van Dyne is restored to life and materializes onto the now empty parking lot. She is met by Masters of the Mystic Arts who inform her to suit up and she is transported via portal to the ruins of the New Avengers Facility in New York to join the final battle against an alternate timeline version of Thanos. During the battle, she meets up with Lang. 
==Personality==
Hope van Dyne demonstrated a focused and determined personality when she was able to utilize the EMP Communication Device to control the Ants with ease and proved herself a hyper-competent hero when compared to Scott Lang. Hope is also very snarky, as shown when she mocks Lang by calling him "princess" or "useless" when he acts incompetent. Hope is generally self-assured and blunt, being brutally honest about Lang's poor hero skills and his friends' unimpressive thieving reputation. In spite of her candid demeanor, she does try to motivate Lang by encouraging him, tutoring him, and telling him that he's not that much of a failure when he does eventually improve. Hope even grows to respect Lang and becomes proud of him when he demonstrates that he learned what she has been teaching him. She eventually became romantically affectionate towards Scott, but showed slight embarrassment for it.
==Powers and Abilities==
===Powers===
*Size Manipulation: Similar to the Ant-Man's suit, Hope was able to reduce herself to the size of an insect by using Pym Particles in the belt of the suit to distance her atoms, effectively compacting her physical structure and allowing her to shrink down whenever necessary. She still maintained her regular sized strength and durability while in a reduced scale as the process amplifies the amount of force she can generate and increases her density. Additionally, the process of altering size compresses force and energy, manifesting as brief shockwaves of vibration around the target, which briefly augments her force and momentum as she returns to normal size.
**Superhuman Strength: When decreased in size, Hope possessed a certain degree of superhuman strength, able to easily overpower enemies when shrunken down. The momentum of her attacks also appears to be increased. As she shrinks and regrows in an instant, the power behind her attacks, combined with her already superhuman strength and combat skills, allow for her to defeat the most skilled of combatants within a fraction of a second.
**Superhuman Durability: When decreased in size, Hope is much resistant to injury, enough to survive falls from great heights and other impacts that would injure or kill even normal sized humans. She was notably capable of taking blows from the extremely dangerous Ghost.
*Flight: By utilizing four artificial insect-like wings, Hope could fly at impressive speeds and maneuver with great agility with ease, as evidenced when a knife was thrown at her while she was shrunken down. She was able to fly from the center of San Francisco to Fisherman's Wharf in a matter of minutes. She can also use the wings at full-size as blunt-force weapons.
*Energy Projection: Hope can fire bolts of energy from the wrists of her gauntlets. They are powerful enough to blast burning holes in reinforced materials, incapacitate the Ghost mid-phase, and knock a man unconscious.
*Insect Manipulation: Through the use of the EMP Communication Device given to her by her father, Hope can use electromagnetic waves to communicate and control insects, primarily ants. The device uses electromagnetic waves to mimic pheromones and stimulate the olfactory nerve center of insect-sized organisms.
===Abilities===
*Expert Scientist: Raised by Hank Pym, Hope was trained in the sciences.
*Expert Martial Artist: Hope trained Scott Lang in combat skills and fighting techniques, enabling him to become Ant-Man. Hope employs a mixed martial art including elements of Muay Thai, Brazilian jiu jitsu, judo, and aikido.
==Trivia==
*Hope is the second character to take the mantle of a hero in the MCU, the first was Scott Lang, becoming one of the successors in the MCU, the others being Spider-Man and Falcon.
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