Relationship Spotlight: Hope van Dyne & Hank Pym (Ant-Man)

The MCU features all kinds of familial relationships – plenty of the “the family you make” variety, naturally, but also lots of actual family ties as well, such as brothers (Thor and Loki,) sisters (Gamora and Nebula,) brothers and sisters (T’Challa and Shuri,) and fathers and sons (Ego and Peter.)  But when it comes to the Ant-Man franchise, their thing is definitely fathers and daughters.  For the films, they all but have the market cornered on this relationship – there’s also technically Thanos and Gamora-Nebula, but that’s a whole other thing.  Ant-Man is driven by Scott’s desire to regain his visitation rights with Cassie, and another major relationship in that movie, as well as Ant-Man and the Wasp, is the one between Hank and Hope (some Hope-Hank spoilers.)

Our introduction to Hope in the first film features an icy exchange between her and her father at Pym Technologies, where we’re given the information that she was the deciding vote in kicking Hank off his own Board of Directors.  Not everything is quite as it seems – Hope and Hank are making plans together to steal Hank’s technology from Darren Cross, the company’s new CEO, and they play up the antagonism between them to help deflect Darren’s suspicion.  To the outside observer, there’s nothing to suggest that these two would be working on anything together.

But it’s not all an act, either.  There’s been a rift between Hank and Hope ever since they lost Hope’s mother Janet and Hank wouldn’t tell her what happened.  Hope has grown up believing her mother is dead but knowing her father is hiding something about it, while Hank throws himself into researching the Quantum Realm into which Janet disappeared rather than raising his grieving daughter.  The way Hank handled this situation left distance between them, and it left Hope with scars not easily healed.

Janet’s disappearance fuels the other main source of conflict between them:  Hank’s initial refusal to let Hope wear his suit and take on the main role in their planned heist of Pym Technologies.  It’s why Scott is brought into the picture at all, because Hank wants someone else in the suit.  After what happened to Janet, he’s terrified of losing Hope too and would rather risk the mission by sending in someone less trained than risk his daughter, but of course, he doesn’t tell any of that to Hope – Scott is instead the one who realizes and explains his expendability to her.  And without that explanation, Hope only sees her father putting his trust and weight behind an unknown element, a convicted felon with no training, instead of someone with her skills and expertise.  No wonder she’s at first so bitter about being tasked with training Scott.

Ant-Man allows them to get some of these issues out in the open – and, significantly, features a post-credits scene in which Hank unveils the Wasp suit to Hope, proving once and for all that he believes in what she can do and is ready to see her in action.  So, by the time Ant-Man and the Wasp comes around, Hope and Hank are in a much better place.  It again involves Janet, but this time, it brings them together rather than keeps them apart.  Scott’s experience in the Quantum Realm in the first film have ignited their hopes that Janet can be found and retrieved, and together, they throw their time and energy into their search.  Their working partnership is a lot more solid than it was in the first movie, and what’s more, they also lean on one another emotionally.  They both open up more, and as they face the monumental prospect of recovering Janet, they hope/strive together instead of suffer separately.

Relationship Spotlight: Hope Van Dyne & Scott Lang (Ant-Man and the Wasp)

Even as I enjoyed the heck out of the first Ant-Man, loved Scott, adored Hope, and couldn’t wait until Ant-Man and the Wasp, it would’ve been hard for me to believe, prior to seeing the new movie, that it would get me shipping Scott/Hope.  Big kudos to the production for righting this ship (see what I did there?) in a major way (a few spoilers.)

Romance in Marvel movies has always been hit-or-miss.  I’d previously have said that their best romantic relationship was Cap and Peggy, and that benefits from the frozen-in-amber aspect of ending before it properly starts, leaving it as this lovely might-have-been tinged with wistfulness.  I still like Peggy/Steve, of course, but now there’s a more tangible ongoing relationship in Hope/Scott to give them a run for their money.

As I said, I loved the first Ant-Man, as well as Scott and Hope.  Scott/Hope, on the other hand?  Not so much.  While I liked their interactions and how they came to understand each other, the last-minute makeout shot felt to me like the epitome of out-of-nowhere.  Not even that the dynamic the film was setting up didn’t have any potential for romance – I could see it, but given what we’d seen so far, it was way too soon.  The moment felt irritatingly tacked-on, and I wasn’t a fan.

Cue my surprise at watching Ant-Man and the Wasp and finding myself loving Hope/Scott together almost as much as I love them both individually.  Possibly, it helps that the film starts with them on the outs, as Scott’s escapades in Civl War have gotten them both in trouble (plus Hank,) and Hope and Hank have been on the run while Scott has been unable to contact them as a condition of his house arrest.  In a way, it resets the somewhat-more-combative vibe they had for much of the first movie, which I think works.  Not because I think happy couples are inherently boring, though – rather, I think it works because it’s a chance for the film to back up on these two and bring their relationship forward more organically this time.

Even as Hope starts off being cold to Scott and he’s initially wary around her, you can see that it’s not exactly like it was before.  Hope is angry that Scott’s impulsiveness blew up her and Hank’s life, but she’s also hurt that he didn’t trust her to back him up in Civil War, didn’t ask her to join him.  There’s an investment in her anger that’s sharper than it would be if she didn’t care about him, and it hints at the relationship they had offscreen in between movies; we see the shape of it in Hope’s disappointment that it wasn’t everything she hoped it was.

This provides groundwork for their eventual reconciliation when circumstances bring them back together for a mission.  It’s more than just their previous “they spar (verbally and otherwise,) but they’re also kind of hot for each other!” dynamic, which is fine but fairly typical and, like I said, not all that fleshed out.  Instead, we get this tug between him, watch them dance slightly around each other as they work together again. 

Scott tries to apologize, and Hope blocks him.  Hope makes overtures, and Scott gets honest.  Hope throws up walls, and Scott tries to ease the tension.  And as they get into the rhythm of their mission, both of them suited up, relying on each other and sharing ideas, we see them start to fall back into what they must have been as a couple.  The edges soften, their sparring becomes more playful, and you can hear the care in their voices as they urge the other to watch out.  Then, almost as quickly as it starts, someone (often Hope) pulls back again, and they’re on their guard once more.  But each time it happens, the new distance they build between them isn’t quite as far as it was before, and they’re ever so gradually making their way back to each other.

Additionally, I love that Hope has equal footing in the partnership.  This is something Marvel has been moving toward in its recent movies (see also T’Challa/Nakia and the possible Thor/Valkyrie,) with the “love interest”/potential “love interest” standing beside the hero instead of behind him, but I think Ant-Man and the Wasp is the first movie where that’s fully achieved.  I love seeing a man and a woman fighting alongside each other, both of them strong, smart, and capable, the two of them sharing the lead, and, yes – them having romantic feelings for each other as well.  I hope that this pairing provides a new framework for Marvel romances going forward.

Favorite Characters: Hope van Dyne (The Avengers)

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.