Wasp (character)

The Wasp (Janet van Dyne) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee, Ernie Hart, and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Tales to Astonish #44 (June 1963). Janet van Dyne is usually depicted as having the ability to shrink to a height of several centimeters, fly by means of insectoid wings, and fire bioelectric energy blasts. She is a founding member of the Avengers and the one who gave them their name as well as a longtime leader of the team. She is also the ex-wife of Hank Pym and the stepmother of Nadia van Dyne. The Wasp has been described as one of Marvel's most notable and powerful female heroes. The character appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Ant-Man (2015) in a cameo role, portrayed by Hayley Lovitt, while Michelle Pfeiffer portrays Janet van Dyne in the films Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023). An original MCU Wasp, Janet's daughter Hope van Dyne (named after Hope Pym), is portrayed in each film by Evangeline Lilly. Janet van Dyne debuted in Tales to Astonish #44 (plotted by Stan Lee, scripted by H. E. Huntley, and drawn by Jack Kirby, June 1963) as Henry "Hank" Pym's partner, becoming the Wasp to avenge the death of her father, scientist Vernon van Dyne. She co-starred in Tales to Astonish from issue #44 to issue #69 (1963–65). She was also the star of her own backup feature in issues #51–58 (1964). She was a founding member of the Avengers, appearing in the first issue and giving the team its name. It is with the Avengers that Janet became most well known. At first she was the weak link of the team, but later on became one of the smartest and craftiest of its members. Though she takes leaves of absence throughout the series, she is one of the longest active members and has acted as leader of the team for longer than anybody besides Captain America. During her absences from the core Avengers book, Janet appeared in various other publications, including appearing as a main character in Marvel Feature issues #6–10 (1972–73).