Pym Particles

Pym Particles are subatomic particles that can increase or reduce mass as well as density and strength, and are heavily used by Ant-Man and Wasp. The particles were created in the 1960s by Hank Pym, who used a custom suit to harness the Particles and, alongside his wife Janet van Dyne, become a field agent for S.H.I.E.L.D. during the Cold War. In 2015, Pym's former protégé Darren Cross successfully recreated his own Pym Particles, known as Cross Particles, which he planned to sell to terrorist groups such as HYDRA and the Ten Rings.
After discovering that the Particles were pivotal to entering the Quantum Realm, they were used by the Avengers to travel through time to alternate timelines. In an alternate 2014, Ebony Maw acquired a vial of Pym Particles from Nebula and mass reproduced them, allowing Thanos and his army to time travel to 2023.
== Contents ==
* History
* Discovery
* Cross Particles
* Used by Scott Lang
* Time Heist
* Used by Clint Barton
* Public Knowledge
* Alternate Universe Versions
* Stealing from 1970
* Used by Thanos
* Assassination of the Avengers
* Zombie Apocalypse
* Capabilities
* Types
* Adverse Effects
* Cross Particles
* Appearances
* References
* External Links
== History ==
=== Discovery ===
During the 1960s, Hank Pym discovered and isolated a rare group of subatomic, extra-dimensional particles, which became known as "Pym Particles," that could increase or decrease the size and mass of objects or living beings by shunting or adding it from a subatomic dimension. He formulated the particles inside a special suit designed to harness them and that allowed him to shrink down to the size of an insect. He and his wife Janet van Dyne used these abilities to become the S.H.I.E.L.D. enhanced operatives, codenamed as Ant-Man and the Wasp. However, a tragic incident occurred during a mission to defuse a missile attack. Van Dyne used the Pym Particles to shrink to a subatomic level, which resulted in her disappearance into the Quantum Realm. This caused Pym to abandon the particles and his heroics, swearing to never let anyone get a Pym Particle as long as he's alive.
=== Cross Particles ===
In the meantime, Hank Pym founded his own company, Pym Technologies. However, he was ousted out of his company by Darren Cross and became concerned that he was intending to recreate his Pym Particles and utilize its shrinking ability to market his weaponized Yellowjacket Suit. Eventually, Pym was forced to recruit a new Ant-Man, choosing Scott Lang. Pym then taught Lang how to use the Pym Particles so that they could complete their mission to stop Cross from selling his own version of the Pym Particles, dubbed "Cross Particles," to nefarious organizations.
=== Used by Scott Lang ===
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=== Time Heist ===
In 2023, Scott Lang reemerged from the Quantum Realm and brought the remaining Pym Particles he had to the Avengers Compound. He warned Bruce Banner to be careful when he was inserting a vial of Pym Particles into a new Quantum Realm Exploration Suit as they only had a limited supply. Lang noted that he had enough for one round trip per member and an extra two for test runs but accidentally wasted one. The second one was used for Clint Barton’s test run.
=== Used by Clint Barton ===
Due to his friendship with Scott Lang, Clint Barton was given Pym Particles by him to use in his arrows. In December 2024, Barton used the Particles to enlarge an arrow to a massive size in order to allow him and Kate Bishop to escape the Tracksuit Mafia on the Manhattan Bridge.
When Barton and Bishop go to manufacture new trick arrows, a red Pym arrow is seen among the others created. Later during the battle at the Rockefeller Center, a group of Tracksuits try to run Barton and Bishop over in a truck. However, Bishop pulls out the red Pym arrow and uses it shrink the truck along with the drivers.
=== Public Knowledge ===
Following the Blip, the general public of Earth knew about Pym Particles and their functions. Within the Ant-Man exhibit at the New Jersey AvengerCon, a drink called the Pym Particles Punch was offered, promising to help consumers change their size.
=== Alternate Universe Versions ===
==== Stealing from 1970 ====
Steve Rogers and Tony Stark used the remaining Pym Particles they had to travel the Quantum Realm to an alternate April 7, 1970, to retrieve the Tesseract and acquire more Pym Particles from Camp Lehigh. Rogers made a call to get an alternate Hank Pym out of his office and then infiltrated Pym's lab, taking vials of Pym Particles for the trip home.
==== Used by Thanos ====
After using the Quantum Realm to travel to an alternate 2014, Nebula was captured by an alternate Thanos. Nebula's vial of Pym Particles were then taken by an alternate Ebony Maw, who mass-produced more of them so that Thanos and his army could travel the Quantum Realm to the main timeline's 2023.
==== Assassination of the Avengers ====
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==== Zombie Apocalypse ====
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== Capabilities ==
Pym Particles have the capability to alter the scale, mass, strength, and density of organic and inorganic subjects, most notably to reduce them to the size of an insect while retaining their normal strength density, enhancing it as the subject shrinks. In reduced scale, a subject is enhanced by enhanced density and strength, as well as compressed energy and physical force of the subject, which results in an organic subject to possess unnaturally high levels of physical effort and exertion capability and also astonishing strength and durability. This is done by adding or shunting mass from a subatomic dimension from which the particles gain their abilities.
The process of altering the size and changing mass levels results in extreme physical forces being created and dramatically increases the momentum of an organic subject. Such force can be exerted immediately after changing size. This further increases the physical effort capabilities, as well as the strength and durability, of organic subjects which they can use to perform feats of inhuman physical exertion and strength with similarly inhuman ease; especially right after a human subject uses it while returning to normal size. One example is if a human user is falling from a great height in their small scale, they can utilize the kinetic energy and momentum obtained from falling and exert this force immediately after or while returning to normal size. This will translate as a feat of inhuman strength while in normal size.
The Particle's ability to warp mass and size can transport said mass, and also objects and living beings, into what is known as the Quantum Realm, a subatomic dimension of space that holds any mass of those who have shrunken with the use of the Particles. The mass, while still part of the shrunken subject, is shunted inside the Quantum Realm until returned. As the blue Pym Particle Discs have demonstrated, mass can be added onto a subject of the Particles and allow the subject to increase their size rather than shrink it.
==== Types ====
There are two types of Pym Particle serums: blue and red. They are used to power the Ant-Man Suit but the red serum also powers the Yellowjacket Suit and the Wasp Suit. They are also used to weaponize Pym Particle Discs. As the effect shown when the disks hit its targets:
* Red Pym Particles shrinks and gives increased strength.
* Blue Pym Particles enlarges thus growing mass and gives increased strength and weight as depicted by the enlarged Thomas the Tank Engine toy and the ant that Cassie Lang kept as a pet.
==== Adverse Effects ====
There can be negative side effects with the use of Pym particles without safety measures. Being exposed to and using Pym Particles over a protracted period of time can cause extreme levels of mental instability, as it alters the chemistry of the brain. Hank specifically designed the Ant-Man Suit's helmet to protect the user from this suffering brain damage while using the particles.
The Pym Particles seem to have an adverse effect onset after continuous use on humans. Without proper protection such as the Ant-Man Suit, living beings turn into a protein goo outright. Even with the protection of the suit, Hank Pym stated that continuous use of the suit had taken its toll and thus further using the suit and shrinking could cause some hazardous health problem to him.
Also, forcing to shrink after a certain threshold, such as deactivating the regulator on the suit that limits the user from shrinking beyond the size of an insect, will cause the user to continuously shrink until they reach a point where they become subatomic and reach the Quantum Realm. At that point, time does not hold any sway and concepts of space are irrelevant. Once there, they will be frozen in time, unable to age, but also be in a state of unconsciousness or half-consciousness, barely aware of their surroundings. They can try to fight this, but they will eventually succumb to it and be unable to act. Scott Lang found the will to fight the effects of the Realm, as sound could still travel through it and he was able to hear calls of his daughter a few feet away from the point of where he went subatomic. His daughter's calls motivated him to find a way to restart his regulator by inserting an enlarger formula disc into it and switching it back on, thus allowing the enlarging controls on his suit to work again. This allowed him to return to his normal size, but he could not remember what happened while he was inside the Realm. Pym theorized that the human mind could not comprehend the experience.
Using the Particles to become giant also seems to cause a large amount of physical strain to the user. The Ant-Man suit's "Giant Man" function seems to require manual activation and Scott Lang was visibly exhausted and strained after using it for only a few minutes. He also mentioned that the first time he activated the function he was "nearly split in half". His use of the "Giant Man" function during the Chase for the Mobile Laboratory ended with him collapsing due to exhaustion; Hope van Dyne was forced to shrink Lang manually to prevent him from drowning in the San Francisco Bay.
Using Pym Particles to travel across time through the Quantum Realm is also highly volatile. When Hulk ran a time travel test on Scott Lang, Scott was repeatedly aged and deaged uncontrollably.
== Cross Particles ==
Pym's former protégé Darren Cross worked for years to try to recreate shrinking technology on his own but grew upset as he slowly realized that Pym always possessed the technology but had hidden it from him. Cross's research eventually developed to the point that he could shrink inanimate objects, but trying to shrink living organisms reduced them to miniature piles of goo. After a great deal of trial and error, however, Cross was able to develop Cross Particles for use in the Yellowjacket Suit, which were stable enough that they would not kill a human being in the shrinking process.
While the perfected Pym Particles used by Hank Pym were red when in a suspended solution, Cross's Cross Particles were yellow. While they came close to matching the functions of Hank Pym's version of the technology, they lacked certain refinements that Pym had made to counteract health damage caused by prolonged exposure, i.e. altering the brain chemistry and leading to mental instability.
Exposure to the Cross particles made Cross increasingly unhinged, and he eventually revealed that he intended to sell the technology to HYDRA. While Cross was stopped by Ant-Man, and his laboratory destroyed along with all computer files, S.H.I.E.L.D. turncoat and HYDRA representative Mitchell Carson was able to flee with a sample of the Cross Particles.
== Appearances ==
* Avengers: Endgame (alternate universe)
* Ant-Man (flashback)
* What If...?
** Season One
*** What If... The World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes? (alternate universe)
* Ant-Man
* Captain America: Civil War
* Ant-Man and the Wasp
** What If...?
*** Season One
**** What If... Zombies!? (alternate universe)
* Avengers: Endgame
* Hawkeye
** Season One
*** Echoes
*** So This Is Christmas?
* Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
* Ms. Marvel
** Season One
*** Generation Why (mentioned)
== References ==
The Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Pym Particles.
# ↑ Russo Brothers reveal Ebony Maw reverse-engineering Pym Particles
# ↑ Ant-Man Prelude
# ↑ Jump up to:3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Ant-Man
# ↑ Jump up to:4.0 4.1 4.2 Avengers: Endgame
# ↑ Hawkeye: 1.03: Echoes
# ↑ Hawkeye: 1.06: So This Is Christmas?
# ↑ Ms. Marvel: 1.01: Generation Why
== External Links ==
* Pym Particles on Marvel Database