The "Avenging Ant-Man and the Wasp" Universe is an alternate reality where Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne fell through a time vortex into the future, joining the Avengers and saving their daughter Hope from the influence of Taskmaster.
History[]
Stopping Starr[]
The history of this reality was similar to Earth-199999, until the moment when Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne confronted Elihas Starr for his misuse of the Quantum Tunnel. During the scuffle, the nearby soldiers’ gunfire accidentally hit the tunnel, creating a surge of Quantum Energy causing it to overload. Ant-Man then regrouped with Wasp, who had destroyed the plans, only for them both to be caught In the blast of energy knocking Starr unconscious.
Soon, the both of them were caught in the ensuing vortex, swallowing everything into the Quantum Realm. Despite their best efforts hang on for dear life, both Hank and Janet were sucked into the Quantum Realm as the Tunnel exploded, killing both Starr and his wife.
As for Hank and Janet, the two of them tumbled through the Quantum Realm as they went subatomic, holding onto each other for dear life for what felt like the end, until the two of them were both sucked into a nearby Time Vortex, falling into a time unknown as they crashed into a strange-looking facility, falling unconscious upon impact. The last thing Hank sees before slipping out of it, is the face of a man with eyepatch lurking over them.
Lost in Time[]
Hank and Janet eventually both woke up in a strange looking hospital room, hooked up to several different IV’s. After both make sure each other is okay, both wonder what exactly happened to them as well as if Hope is okay. They soon saw a strange old recording being played on TV, which tipped them off that something was wrong.
Suddenly, a strange-looking woman entered the room they were in, greeting them both good morning. When both Hank and Janet deduced that this was a fake room, they immediately asked what was going on, as dozens of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents came in to reprimand and restrain them. Hank and Janet quickly knocked out the guards before asking the woman to tell them where their suits were.
The two then ran through the facility, before finding their suits in a nearby storage closet. After getting suited up, they manage to escape through a nearby vent to the outside, only to be cornered by dozens of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents surrounding them. The two then resize themselves as Nick Fury attempted to talk them down, but neither was fully convinced at the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s statement's. That's when both heroes were shocked to see an older version of Bill Foster step forward from the crowd of agents, confirming something was wrong. After seeing Bill in his current stat, Hank looked at Janet before the two of them stood down, agreeing to listen to Fury's words.
For the next few hours, both Hank and Janet listen to what Bill and Fury said about the past 24 years, with Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton present as well. After Hank and Janet went missing in 1987, Bill took in both Ava and Hope, looking after them from them on. While Ava was treated by Dr. Foster using their Quantum Technology, Hope went on to join S.H.I.E.L.D. as a field operative in Ava's place, becoming close allies with Nat and Clint. The two then unfortunately learn that Hope was killed on an assignment with Nat outside Odessa by the Winter Solider. Her death led to them uncovering and exposing of H.Y.D.R.A.'s moles inside S.H.I.E.L.D.
As both Hank and Janet grapple with the revelation of their daughter's death, Nat comforts them by telling them it wants their fault, and that Hope wouldn't want them to blame themselves for her choice.
Lost Time[]
After they are fully tested for any quantum side-effects, Bill then drives Hank and Janet back to their old home in San Francisco. As they reenter the home they've been away from for so long, Hank remarks how it looks like it always used to. Bill then tells them he paid for the house and kept everything inside as per Hope's wishes. He then gives Hank and Janet some contact information and tells them if they need anything, he's there for them.
Janet thanks him as he exits the home, turning back to see her husband in despair. She sits next to Hank, telling him she's just as hurt as he is, but that neither of them are alone. Both of them agree to put the hero lifestyle behind them and just try to move on with their lives, as hard as it may be.
Small World[]
For the next year, Hank and Janet attempt to adjust to the new century. Hank does his best to start up a new company with Pym Technologies, focusing on the mass manufacturing of Pym Particles for global usage, while Janet pursued a career in fashion design, starting up the Winsome Fashion line and quickly becoming a social icon. She spent some of her time whipping up some new suit ideas for her and Hank.
Eventually, the two of them were temporarily pulled out of retirement due to the Battle of New York, in which they fought alongside the Avengers to defeat Loki. before they returned to their normal lives. They became close friends with the recently revived Steve Rogers, bonding over how the world had changed for them since their disappearance.
Hank and Janet soon have a second child, Henry Pym Jr., who despite his young age, took well after his father's scientific style.
The Red Wasp[]
In 2014, 3 years after landing in the future, Hank and Janet have so far managed to adjust to their new lives here with Henry Jr. However, things become complicated when Hank receive a call from Nick Fury about something found from Rogers' latest mission at the Lemurian Star. After leaving Henry Jr. in the care of Scott, the two quickly suit up and fly over to the Lemurian Star, where Rogers, Barton, and Romanoff stand waiting for their arrival. The two of them lead Hank and Janet to the cargo hold, where they find a modified Cyrostasis Chamber containing someone wearing a black and red Wasp suit.
As Janet examines the tank, Natasha shows them the information they were bale to pull from the ship's database regarding the mystery figure, confirming her as an operative codenamed "Orphan". Their conversation is interrupted however, as the tank suddenly explodes, knocking everyone back. The others get up to see the Red Wasp in question now standing conscious, before shrinking and attempting to escape.
Hank and Janet give chase, following her through the ship and engaging with the foe as the others follow behind. During the ensuing fight, Barton manages to shoot the Red Wasp in the mask, knocking her back. The group looks in shock as the Red Wasp is revealed to be a still alive yet brainwashed Hope underneath the mask. Putting her mask back on, the Red Wasp flew upward, raining a barrage of resizing discs on the ships's compartments, forcing the others to jumped in the water to escape. As they resurfaced, Hope was gone, and both Hank and Janet knew this just got a lot more complicated.
Bug-Bitten[]
Back at the Triskelion, both Hank and Janet confronted and berated Nick Fury about the reveal of their daughter's false death. Fury explains that S.H.I.E.L.D. tracked down any rumors of Hope's survival for years, but every lead they found came up dry. Rogers asked how Hope could have been brainwashed if H.Y.D.R.A.'s Winter Soldier program was shut down. Romanoff suggested maybe the Red Room had instead brainwashed Hope and were using her as a pawn to commit their terroristic acts as revenge for Romanoff killing Dreykov. After coming to terms with the mission to save Hope from the Red Room, Hank asks what Hope's target was, to which Fury reveals it is none other than Bill Foster.
Down in the lower levels of the Triskelion, Dr. Foster is working with Ava to stabilize and reverse her condition, when Rogers, Barton, and Romanoff storm in, telling the both of them that they need to move before the Red Wasp gets to them. The moment was interrupted as Ava spots something in the reflection of her Quantum Chamber. Cap manages to shield Bill from a barrage of oncoming Widow Bites, before being knocked back by a resizing Hope.
Clint and Steve get Bill to safety while Natasha and Ava attempting to subdue the Red Wasp. Their attempts prove unsuccessful as Hope overpowers Natasha and flies away, only to be cornered by her parents. Hope, Hank and Janet then fought in the hallway as they attempted to reach their daughter attempted to through the wall the building and into the sky. Janet managed to then turn Hope's Widow Bites against her, incapacitating her as Janet and Hank manage to bring her in carefully.
Family Reunion[]
With orders from Fury to trace this attack to it's source, Hank, Janet, Steve, Clint and Nat work to find a cure for Hope. Upon further examination of the transmission of the Lemurian Star, they find a secret message embedded within the transmission, with coordinates to St. Petersburg. They travel to the home of Melina Vostakoff, finding it in ruins.
The team slowly approaches the house. wondering what to expect, only to get surprised by a sniper on the rooftop firing a warning shot. Natasha steps forward telling whoever's there that they mean no harm, and that they received a transmission send them here. The sniper steps out from the shadows, unmasking herself a none other than Yelena Belova. They quickly bring Hope inside the house and restrain her to the table, where Yelena fills them in on the whole situation. When H.Y.D.R.A. fell, the Red Room took whatever they could from the organization's remains, including Hope.
During her time as the Red Wasp, hope was paired up with dozens of Black Widow operatives, including Yelena herself. She says on a mission to retrieve the Red Dust from Oksana, Yelena was freed by none other than Melina, who then informed her that Taskmaster had ulterior motives for the Dust.
However, before she could tell her, both Melina and Oksana were killed by Hope, who Dreykov sent as reinforcement. Yelena attempted to use the Dust on Hope to free her too, but the Red Room's Pym Particle's effects on her brain chemistry prevented it from fully taking effect. After managing to escape by disabling Hope's wings, Yelena went on the run for sometime, using her skills to evade capture from the other Widows before ending up here.
Breaking Free[]
Yelena shows them one of the vials leftover from her recovery mission, saying that she sent the secret encryption in the Lemurian Star's message to bring Hank and Janet here, as they may be the only ones who can help stop this.
Soon Hank gets to work on synthesizing the formula, using his expertise with the Pym Particle to isolate the properties needed to treat Hope's effects. As Hank continues his work, Janet looks over the now restrained and unconscious Hope, feeling guilty for leaving her behind. Nat consoles her, telling her that all that has happened was because of Dreykov, and that she did all that they could to protect her.
Eventually, Hank finishes modifying the Red Dust, telling the team that it's time. After disabling her suit and making sure she can't shrink away, Steve, Clint, Nat, Yelena, ready themselves as Hank and Janet shrink down, flying into Hope's brain through her ear.
The sudden shock immediately wakes up Hope, who immediately begins fighting it out with the other the others manage to hold her down as Hank and Janet make their way to her brain. Once they finally arrive, Hank activates the modified Red Dust into her brain nervous system to free her.
However this doesn't fully stop Hope, as she continues to pummel Natasha until she has her in a chokehold. That's when Hank confirms there is an additional control device somewhere on Hope that's interfering with the process. That's when Clint spots finds a control hip on the back of her neck, using a taser arrow to short-circuit it. Hope then collapses to the ground unconscious as the Red Dust finally takes effect. Steve checks her pulse, confirming that she's alive.
Dust in the Wind[]
After about an hour of watching and waiting, Hope finally awakens, free from the Red Room's influence. After sharing a tearful reunion with her parents and catching them up on everything they've missed, she tells them everything. She reveals that when Natasha killed Dreykov, his daughter Antonia survived, rising to become the Red Room's new leader Taskmaster. When the Winter Soldier shot her in Odessa, Taskmaster then kidnapped and brainwashed her, giving her a new alias as "Nadia."
Taskmaster sent her to retrieve the Red Dust in a plot to not only corrupt the its effects, but also use their reverse-engineered Pym Particles to evolve it into a widespread agent against possible Red Room rebels. When Steve asks why they sent her alone, they all suddenly soon realizes the answer. Looking through Hope's former control chip the team finds a tracking device Taskmaster installed inside the chip.
The lights then go out, with other Widows from the Red Room stunning and incapacitating the others. Te Pym van Dyen family attempts to fight off the Widows, only to be subdued by a barrage of Widow Bites. The last thing they manage to see until they are all knocked out is the face of Taskmaster, glaring down upon them.
Rush Hour[]
The family awakens to find themselves in cuffs inside of Taskmaster's office, with Antonia standing menacingly over the three insects. Janet asks if they are in the Red Room right now, to which Dreykov confirms, welcoming back Hope into the fold as Nadia. Hope spits in her face, telling her that she used them to hurt her friends and her family. Taskmaster retorts, saying it's retribution for her friends making her like this, brandishing her scars as a symbol of her past. Hank asks why she kept them alive, to which Taskmaster explains she saw the potential in the Pym Particle for the Red Room program, and that she allowed Yelena to send the encryption to bring the both of them here for her plan.
She then reveals her plot, and how she plans to use the Pym Particles to spread her corrupted Red Dust worldwide, saying that after so many years of being used like a puppet by her father, now she gets to be the puppet master. Janet tells her she'll never win, to which Antonia says she already has. She then whips out a vial of the corrupted Red Dust, spraying it directly in Hope's face to revert her to the Red Wasp. She struggles to fight off the corrupted Dust as her parents beg for Taskmaster to stop, watching in horror as their Hope struggles to fight back.
After some struggling, Hope finally stands, seemingly under Antonia's influence, who orders her to execute her parents.
Breakout[]
Down in the holding cells of the Red Room, Steve, Clint, Nat, and Yelena are sitting silently, contemplating their next course of action. Soon, a squad of Taskmaster's Widows walk into the cells, prepared to end them only for the lights to flicker mysteriously as gunshots and shouts can be heard.
The Widows turn their weapons to where the noise came from, only to be taken out one by one by none other than Ava and Bucky, who free the team from their holding cell. When Steve asks where the Pyms are, Nat tells them they should be in Dreykov's office. The team then splits up; Steve, Clint and Yelena go to retrieve the Dust, while Bucky, Ava, and Nat storm through the facility to get to the Pyms.
There's Always Hope[]
Back in Dreykov's office, Hope stands over her parents, readying her bracelet to execute them against their pleas. Despite Janet's attempts to appeal to Hope's humanity, Antonia tells them it's pointless, as her as long as her corrupted Dust can access her nerves, Hope will remain under their control.
With that information revealed, Hank gives Hope the signal, who turns her Widow Bites on Antonia, shocking her with a stun blast. After removing the stun disc from her armor, Taskmaster furiously asks how this is possible, to which Janet reveals Nat told them that Antonia might try this, so she and Hank shrunk down and secretly severed the nerve, preventing her from being infected by the Corrupted Dust.
Angered, Taskmaster sicks her Widows on the family, before retreating to escape. Despite their best efforts, the other Widows managed to pin them down, beating them to a pulp. Thankfully, they were soon saved by Bucky shooting smoke grenades filled with the Red Dust into the Room, freeing the others and the Widows. After helping them up, Nat takes the other Widows to escape, while Hope reveals she stole Dreykov's ring during Taskmaster's threatening, using it to hack into the Red Room database to download their data and contact S.H.I.E.L.D. with their position before fleeing the scene with Hank and Janet.
Red Room Rebellion[]
As the Red Room's troops began rebelling and escaping the facility, Cap, Hawkeye, and Yelena manages to break into the facility's science center, stealing back the Red Dust before destroying all of Taskmaster's contaminated variant with one of Clint's explosive arrows.
The group then made their way towards the exit as they heard the sound of the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier overhead of them, engaging with the facilities defenses. However, they were soon stopped by Taskmaster, who shot at them with an arrow. Not amused, Clint grabbed the arrow and shot it back at Antonia as the three heroes engaged with the enemy, who managed to best them beat by beat. As she was about to crush Yelena's windpipe, she was then blasted back by a barrage of Wasp Stings and Widow Bites as Hank, Janet, Hope, and Ava enter entered weapons blazing.
Taskmaster engaged with the heroes, using every tactic at her disposal to gain the upper hand. But before she could stab Hank through his helmet, Ava was able to use her powers to phase into her brain to disorient her long enough for Hank to kick her blade and shield away and shrink them beyond use as both Janet kicks her away and Hope hits her with a resized undercut swing.
The team stands defensive for a moment before the wall of the room they are standing in gets blown open, as a jet flown by Bucky and Nat hovers closeby. Janet tells Antonia to back off as S.H.I.E.L.D. has the Red Room in their sights. Though vastly outnumbered, and angered about Barnes, Natasha and Yelena's desertion, Taskmaster demanded Hope's return, and provoked her by threatening to have her parents and baby brother Henry Jr. executed.
Hope leaped into the fray to battle Antonia, even as her father pleaded for her to stop. Eventually, Hope managed to use her sizing abilities to leap over and dislocate Taskmaster's arm. Antonia then goaded her, saying if Hope doesn't she'll never fully be free and if she does, she'll be no better then the parents who abandoned her. Hope hesitates for a moment, but one look at her parents convinced to let Dreykov live, telling Antonia that she doesn't get to do anything family ever again. As she attempted to walk away, Taskmaster grabbed one of her spare knifes and leaped in to kill Hope for good, only to be knocked out by a resounding double-timed punch by Hank and Janet, leaving her unconscious on the floor.
The team finally board the jet and leaves the Red Room as S.H.I.E.L.D. overtakes the facility and arrest Taskmaster. While on board, the family finally reconciled their past, and Hank and Janet apologized for leaving her behind her, assuring her that it was finally over.
Aftermath[]
Sometime after this, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers have been taking point on the remaining Red Room, with Nat and Yelena leading the search for any remaining Widows under Taskmaster's command. Hank and Janet have so far retired from the hero life, opting to make up for lost time with Hope, who has moved back into her old home and started to get along quite well with her new baby brother Henry Jr. However, not wanting to leave the Avengers without at least one shrinking hero on the team, Hank decides to leave the mantle of Ant-Man to Scott Lang for now.
Residents[]
|
|
Locations[]
- Mount Vernon, Ohio
- North Institute
- Rowley Residence
- Siberia, Russia
- Seventh Circle Prison
- Red Room
Notes[]
- This universe is based on an episode pitch of What If...? for the events of Black Widow and Captain Marvel, due to the coinciding year they are set in.
Trivia[]
- This reality and its premise is similar to Earth-199999 and Earth-616 with some noticeable differences.