| Nadia van Dyne | |
|---|---|
 Nadia van Dyne as depicted inThe Unstoppable Wasp #1 (March 2017). Art by Elizabeth Torque. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance |
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| Created by |
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| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Nadezhda "Nadia" van Dyne |
| Species | Human mutate |
| Team affiliations | Avengers All-New, All-Different Avengers Champions G.I.R.L. |
| Partnerships | Wasp (Janet van Dyne) Ant-Man (Scott Lang) |
| Notable aliases | The Wasp |
| Abilities |
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Nadezhda "Nadia"van Dyne (néePym) is asuperhero appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. Created byMark Waid andAlan Davis, the character first appeared inFree Comic Book Day 2016 Civil War II (July 2016), and was loosely inspired by theMarvel Cinematic Universe characterHope van Dyne, played byEvangeline Lilly, in-turn loosely inspired by theMarvel Comics 2supervillainHope Pym.
The daughter ofHank andMaria Pym, Nadia was raised as anassassin of theRed Room before escaping with the use of her father'sPym Particles and becoming theUnstoppable Wasp. Like her predecessor and stepmother,Janet van Dyne, Nadia is depicted as having the ability to shrink to a height of several centimeters, fly by means of insectoid wings, and fire bioelectric energy blasts, while like her biological father, she hasbipolar disorder. She is a founding member ofG.I.R.L. as well as a longtime leader of the organization.
Nadia van Dyne first appeared inFree Comic Book Day 2016 Civil War II in July 2016 and was "created as a comic version ofEvangeline Lilly'sHope van Dyne".[1]Mark Waid noted that they wanted to introduce a character who was "a nod toAnt-Man's Hope van Dyne without in any way minimizing Janet's role in the Marvel Universe".[2] The name "Nadia" is of Slavic origin and translates to "Hope".[3]
She briefly had her own comic,The Unstoppable Wasp, but it was cancelled after eight issues. A second series with the same title debuted in October 2018 but was also cancelled after ten issues.[3] In May 2020,Disney Books published a young adult novel written bySam Maggs titledThe Unstoppable Wasp: Built On Hope.[4]
Throughout her appearances, writerJeremy Whitley pushed for Nadia to be portrayed asasexual, first implied inThe Unstoppable Wasp #2 (2017).[5] Whitley noted that he was unable to explicitly show Nadia as asexual in his original run due to her "being a character who owed so much to a movie franchise" in reference to theMarvel Cinematic Universe's Hope van Dyne.[6][7] InMarvel's Voices: Pride (2023), Nadia's asexuality was confirmed.[8]
Nadia is the child ofHank Pym and his first wife,Maria Trovaya, who was abducted and supposedly killed by foreign agents. Nadia was raised in theRed Room until she obtained a Pym Particle sample and escaped.[9] Initially intending to meet her father, Nadia learns that he is believed to be dead, and instead uses parts of his costume and other materials to create a Wasp suit,[10] hoping to obtain the admiration of her father's allies.[9] She later meetsJanet van Dyne, and they get along quite well, with Janet feeling that she has the potential to become a true hero.[11][12]
Nadia soon joins theAvengers and gainsU.S. citizenship. Upon realizing thatS.H.I.E.L.D.'s index of the world's most intelligent people does not list any women above 27th place, she starts the program G.I.R.L. (Genius In action Research Labs) to look for women with genius intellects.[13] When choosing a legal name, Nadia takes Janet's surname due to their bond, her support, and not knowing much about her birth parents.[14]
She also aidsScott Lang — who is in outer space at that time — in an attempt to return to Earth, which results in a sequence of bizarre adventures in theMicroverse. In the process, the two of them becamequantum-entangled with each other.[15] Nadia is later diagnosed withbipolar disorder, similar to her father, and learns that he is still alive and merged withUltron.[16][17][18] Hank Pym splits from Ultron by creating a separate body for himself.[19]
Similar to Janet van Dyne / Wasp, Nadia can alter her size at will using Pym Particles, fly via bio-synthetic wings, and generate bio-electric blasts.[12][10][20] Additionally, she is a skilled martial artist and acrobat due to her Red Room training, particularly inKrav Maga.[21][20]
| Title | Material collected | Publication date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Unstoppable Wasp Vol. 1: Unstoppable! | The Unstoppable Wasp #1–4 andAll-New, All-Different Avengers #14 | September 12, 2017 | 978-1302906467 |
| The Unstoppable Wasp Vol. 2: Agents of G.I.R.L. | The Unstoppable Wasp #5–8 andTales to Astonish #44 | March 13, 2018 | 978-1302906474 |
| Ant-Man and the Wasp: Lost & Found | Ant-Man and the Wasp #1–5 | November 20, 2018 | 978-0785194620 |
| The Unstoppable Wasp: G.I.R.L. Power | The Unstoppable Wasp #1–8 | April 2, 2019 | 978-1302916565 |
| The Unstoppable Wasp: Unlimited Vol. 1: Fix Everything | The Unstoppable Wasp (vol. 2) #1–5 | May 7, 2019 | 978-1302914264 |
| The Unstoppable Wasp: Unlimited Vol. 2: G.I.R.L. VS. A.I.M. | The Unstoppable Wasp (vol. 2) #6–10 | September 11, 2019 | 978-1302914271 |
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