Wasp Fact — November 6, 2026

Today's Fact

Plenty of heroes inherit a mantle from a stranger. Hank Pym inherited his from the woman he had married, divorced, and never stopped trying to deserve.

WHEN THE WASP ‘DIED,’ HER EX-HUSBAND BECAME THE WASP — HANK PYM WORE JANET’S NAME TO HONOUR HER!

The Featured Fact

Janet van Dyne was presumed dead at the end of Secret Invasion (2008), and Hank Pym answered her loss in the most Hank Pym way imaginable: he redesigned the gear, kept the sting, grew himself a pair of wings, and reported for Avengers duty under a brand-new codename — the Wasp. His debut in the identity came in Secret Invasion: Requiem #1 (2008), framed openly as a memorial rather than a rebrand.

This was no weekend tribute. Pym carried Janet’s name through the whole Mighty Avengers era, founding and bankrolling a new incarnation of the team in her honour and introducing himself to a sceptical roster as the Wasp, full stop. The splash page in today’s gallery is the announcement itself: Hank in black and gold, wings spread, shouting a name that had belonged to somebody else for forty-five years.

He set the name down in Avengers Academy #7 (2011), resuming the Giant-Man identity while he mentored the Academy’s students. Janet, of course, was not actually dead — she had been shunted into the Microverse — and when she finally fought her way home she reclaimed the Wasp name from the one person who had kept it warm for her.

Why It's Obscure

A codename is usually a promotion. For Hank Pym it was an apology he wore on his back, wings and all, for nearly three years of publication time.

The vacancy

A death that wasn’t — Janet’s apparent death in Secret Invasion #8 left the Wasp identity empty for the first time since 1963.

The understudy

Her own creator — Pym built the original Wasp’s equipment in Tales to Astonish #44; decades later he rebuilt it for himself.

The tenure

2008 to 2011 — Hank served as the Wasp across the Mighty Avengers run and into the Avengers Academy era before stepping aside.

The return

Microverse exile — Janet had survived at miniature scale the entire time, which made Hank’s memorial service extremely premature.

Gallery

Janet in flight, the Requiem-era splash of Hank Pym announcing himself as the new Wasp, and a classic portrait of the original.

Wasp Janet van Dyne flying with wings spread comic art — **The original, airborne**Janet van Dyne in flight, wings out — the silhouette Hank Pym would later borrow stitch for stitch.

Hank Pym as the Wasp in black and gold costume with wings comic splash page — **The successor**Hank Pym in his black-and-gold Wasp suit, wings spread under the words ‘THE WASP!’ — the borrowed name worn at full volume, exactly as the story presented it.

Wasp Janet van Dyne classic comic portrait — **The name’s owner**A classic Janet portrait from the years when the Wasp was hers alone and nobody imagined anyone else answering to it.

Sources

Every fact on this page was checked against at least two independent sources before publication.

Bullpen Bulletins

Didja Know… The Original Ant-Man and the Wasp — Marvel.com Marvel’s own history column states plainly that Hank Pym took the Wasp name and equipment after Janet’s apparent death in Secret Invasion.
Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) In Comics — Marvel.com Marvel’s official profile covers Janet’s Secret Invasion fate and her eventual return from the Microverse.
Secret Invasion: Requiem Vol. 1 #1 (2008) and Avengers Academy Vol. 1 #7 (2011) The primary issues: Pym’s debut as the Wasp, and the later issue where he lays the identity down and becomes Giant-Man again.