Hank Pym, the first Ant-Man was the founding member of the Avengers, he's scientist supreme, and he's one of the wisest men on earth.
Hank Pym has been Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, YellowJacket, Wasp, Giant-Man again,
and now he is Ultron. Well, actually, Hank is dead, and Ultron is using his corpse as his main body.
Unless they pull a twist, Hank is not dead. Ultron just lied so Iron Man wouldn't separate him and Hank.
If you know or don't know, Hank Pym merged with Ultron during Rage of Ultron's story event. We later learn that Hank is dead because when Hank and Ultron joined, it destroyed Hank, and Ultron used his corpse as his main body. So Hank is dead, and it's unknown if the character will come back to life or they will pull a twist, and we learn there's a part of Hank still inside of Ultron, and they can bring him back.
Yeah, this decision made long-time fans unhappy, but some fans say Hank was not a good guy and he should be evil because he is a wife-beater.
The infamous slap is something Marvel regrets doing, the writer regrets,
and the character of Hank Pym regrets doing.
You won't see this Ant-Man 3.
Former Marvel editor chief, Jim Shooter, revealed that it was supposed to come off as an accident in an interview. Hank hitting Janet was supposed to be an accident, not on purpose. That's what they intended that panel to be, but it didn't come out that way. It came out wrong.
Because of this, Hank Pym is now known as a wife beater. The writer of the issue regrets doing that because he turned one of the founders of The Avengers into a wife beater and ruined the character for many fans. It's sad because that will be the legacy of this character, and Marvel regrets it deeply.
Here's the link to the interview.
However, the damage is done. We can all agree that Hank was wrong to do that to his wife, Janet. Spouse abuse is terrible no matter what. You never hit your wife or husband under any circumstance. When you marry someone, you treat them with respect and use your words to work things out. Hank's action cost him everything because seeing the hero, who goes out and saves people, fights criminals, all in the name of truth and justice. Seeing the hero hit his wife makes us not root for him anymore because we are disgusted by his action. It's why Hank never got a solo series again unless it's a team-up book.
We all have heroes we read about or watch about. We always route for them, but sadly they make choices that we, the readers and audiences, don't support, and we lose respect for that character because they're becoming more unlikeable. Still, it usually depends on the writer who is telling that story. Maybe that writer wanted to shock us with this action the character does or wants us to see this character develop, and we see the character go down a darker path and make bad mistakes with their choices that would teach us to be careful with the choices we make in life. Life is all about choices, after all.
Of course, Marvel has attempted to redeem his character after this issue. A good example is when Hank took up the mantle of The Wasp after Janet died during Secret Invasion, which was good because Hank was a significant lead in the Mighty Avengers series. He deeply regretted how he treated his wife, and he worked to be a better man.
As we can see, Hank became the Wasp, he led the Mighty Avengers
And he defeated Norman Osborn during Dark Reign.
Hank fully honored his late ex-wife by keeping her legacy alive.
Most people forget that Hank did redeem himself for his past mistakes, and by that, he celebrated his late wife by becoming The Wasp.
It's also his way to make up for how he treated her too because Hank wasn't a good husband to her, but to him, she was the greatest superhero, as seen in this panel. Janet was even the one who came up with the name The Avengers.
Not to mention in the Avengers Academy comics, he learned that he had a son with Tigra
even though it was a sleeper, Skrull pretending to be him.
However, he still became a father to his son William because his genetics match his still, and he loved Tigra.
So Hank has redeeming qualities, and the character has tried to be a better man. Like I would say, Dark Reign and the Heroic Age really redeem Hank's character because he became more likable, a better-written character, and a better hero.
In the MCU, they made Hank, an old man, because they wanted the film to focus on
Scott Lang instead, which is fine. I love Scott Lang, and he's fantastic. I'm actually glad they went with Scott instead of Hank Pym. I'm also happy the MCU Hank never included the infamous slap, which is a good chance. The Hank Pym in the MCU is a more likeable character, a better character, and a good husband. That's the type of version I would look to for influence to redeem the character. The MCU Hank doesn't have mental health issues because the comic version does.
In comics, they need to redeem Hank's character or, better yet, bring him back to life.
Because Hank deserves to be given a second chance at being a hero again and a better person.
He's done wrong. In fact, almost every marvel hero we know and love has done terrible things.
This is how I would bring him back and make him a better person.
Let's say Marvel brings him back to life, and the character is alive again. The character thinks about all the horrible things he's done in the past especially creating Ultron, merging with Ultron, hitting Janet, and many more. Hank wants to fully become a better person even though he's done good things, but he's done more harm than good, and he wants to fully atone for his crimes. In the story, he decides to go back as Giant-Man with Raz Malhotra still being called Giant-Man but gets a new costume. We can have two Giant Men like we have two Goliaths and two Wasps.
Hank also spends time with his daughter Nadia and his son William is one good example; he's trying to be a good father to them and spend time with them as much as he can. I would make Hank more of an active parent in his children's lives. He rekindles his relationship with Tigra, one of his ex-girlfriends, and spends time with his son William.
He and Janet have a heart-to-heart talk over everything that's happened, and he acknowledges to her that he has done wrong all his life. Janet tells him he's done good things too, despite his wrongs, and he's always made it right. Janet tells him to get out there and be a hero again. Instead of talking about it, she tells him to be a hero again. What she says motivates him that he can't just be feeling sorry for himself and telling everyone he's sorry for his wrongs. If he wants to be a better man and a hero again he's got to go out there and prove himself.
Hank would have nightmares of Ultron laughing at him and saying he is just like him, everyone hates him, and he was always the villain. We have this sideline story of H being haunted by Ultron in his dreams and trying to stop the nightmares.
When Hank does come back, many are happy to see him again, but some aren't after he merged with Ultron because they still don't know if they can trust him or not. Hank is fully back, and he's been tested by Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man. They confirm he is Hank Pym with no one bit of Ultron in him. However, Hank understands why people don't trust him, but he intends to earn their trust by being a hero again.
So what Hank does is he becomes Giant-Man again and goes out and saves people from criminals. Still, he has trouble being a hero as people still fear him as Ultron, and he's called wife-beater at one point. Hank is met with Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and Vision. They talk, and Cap understands where Hank is coming from after the Hydra crap. Hank is offered to join the Avengers, but he turns it down, for he is not ready to be an Avenger again. Not until he fully redeems himself and proves himself as a hero again. Cap, Iron Ma, and Thor understand, but they tell Hank they always consider him brother and are glad to have him back. After Cap, Thor, and Iron Man leave, Vision remains with Hank. They have a good talk with each other. After their discussion, Vision suggests putting together a new team but not an Avengers team. Vision tells him of the Ultimates team and says they could bring it back after T'Challa and the other core members disbanded it. He also explains the Ultimates were Earth 1610 universe's Avengers team. This idea from Vision makes Hank decide to reform the Ultimates, and he believes it will help.
So I would relaunch The Ultimates with Hank as the lead character of the series. The Ultimates team rooster would be.
(Google Image)
Hank Pym/Giant-Man Team Leader of The Ultimates.
Tigra would join the team as she and Hank rekindle their romance.
Hulk would be a member of the team, seeing how he and Hank were founding members of the Avengers. Hulk also understands where Hank is coming from because he, too, has done wrong but made it right.
The vision would be the first to join the team as Hank was his creator, and he wanted to save Hank from Ultron; he joined with his creator to help him become a better man and his team. Hank names Vision second in command of The Ultimates.
Valerie would join the team; now, this one is Runa. She would join the Ultimates under Thor's request. She does so and becomes a member of the team. However, Runa admits she's not keen on working with Hank not just because of Ultron but because he's a wife-beater which he understands why she's not so big on working with him, but if he proves himself an excellent leader to her, then she won't regret working with him.
Captain Britain would join the team, and this would be Brian Burdock as Captain Britain. Brian agrees to join the team as requested by Hank as they were Secret Avengers together.
Hank assembles his team and the Ultimates missions will be to fight threats from outer space and travel to different planets. Their first mission is to stop the Brood from invading Earth. It's a simple story of Hank Pym working to be a better man and atone for his past mistakes from creating to merging with Ultron, and of course hitting his wife. Like we saw in Mighty Avengers we see Hank become a leader and we see him at his best. This story about second chances, forgiving yourself, and being a better example of what a hero is. As well Hank's mental health problems will be gone after he is brought back to life.
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