Another
great Avengersverse character – to date, Ant-Man
is her only credit, but there’s Ant-Man
and the Wasp to look forward to, as well as the hope that we’ll see even
more of this awesome woman in future MCU films (some Hope-related spoilers.)
The
quasi-estranged daughter of brilliant scientist/former Ant-Man Hank Pym, Hope
is a cool, capable woman who comes honestly by the large chip on her
shoulder. Hank drifted emotionally out
of her life when she was a child after they lost her mother, and when Hope
became an adult, his continued silence on the subject led her to make that move
more than just emotional. Sitting on the
board of Pym Tech, Hope was the deciding vote in her father being ousted from
his own company. There’s a ton of hurt
here, and it runs deep.
Fast-forward
to the present, when Hope realizes that the current incarnation of Pym Tech is
close to replicating Hank’s work, she reaches out. She knows that Hank buried the Ant-Man suit
because of the technology’s dangerous potential, and she feels that keeping
this knowledge under wraps is more important than that fraught state of their
relationship. So, putting the past aside
for the moment, she teams up with Hank to shut down Pym Tech’s research. Or at least, that’s how she envisions it
going down. In reality, Hank brings in a
ringer, Scott, to actually put on Hank’s old suit and do the miniaturized heavy
lifting. His apparent distrust in Hope’s
ability to handle herself in the field doesn’t do anything to lessen her
resentment of him.
And
okay – Hope is pissed that Hank doesn’t think she can do it, when she totally (totally) can. That’s part of it, and it’s a majorly valid
one. Seriously; Hope proves herself time
and again with her fighting skills, her understanding of the suit, her
knowledge of Pym Tech’s layout and security, and her ant-wrangling abilities
(if you haven’t seen the movie, just know that this last bit is way less dumb
than it sounds.) No way no how is she
lacking in the competence department, and I’m glad that she doesn’t appreciate
seemingly being passed over for Scott.
But I also like that it’s not just
about that. More than anything, Hope
knows that it’s about the mission, and she believes (with good reason) that she’s what the mission needs. Scott is a complete rookie to the suit and
the whole operation, and with Pym Tech’s launch of their own suit getting
closer every day, Hope doesn’t see any godly reason why they should waste time
they don’t have training a novice when she’s good to go.
As I
said in my review, the in-story reason given for Hank recruiting Scott makes
sense – the death of Hope’s mom can actually be blamed on a suit of her own,
and Hank would rather tank the mission by sending in someone less capable than risk
Hope’s life – but it still bugs me that she’s so sidelined, because again,
she’s awesome. She’s so great that she makes you question
Scott’s presence on the team just as much as she does; I mean, yeah, he’s a
neat guy and we like him, but he is not
the logical choice for this mission.
Very glad that, as the film reveals at the end, Ant-Man and the Wasp intends to remedy that. Because Hope in a suit? Are you kidding me? I am all
over that.
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