A To Z Blogging Challenge 2024 - Villains! - Y Is For Yellowjacket

 Another sort-of-cheat, but not really. “Yellowjacket” refers to inventor Hank Pym, the original Ant Man, who wears a yellow suit to shrink. Hank appears in three live action Marvel films, in which he definitely isn’t a villain, but also in an animated episode of Season 1 of What If…? It’s the third episode, titled What If…The World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes? 

In this, Nick Fury, director of SHIELD, is planning to recruit superheroes for his Avengers Initiative, but … each and every one of them is murdered as he meets them. Tony Stark is killed by a syringe. Thor is shot and killed accidentally by Clint Barton, Hawkeye, who dies in custody. Hulk blows up. Natasha Romanoff is murdered when she figures it out.

So, who is behind all this? 

It’s a grieving father wanting revenge on SHIELD, especially Nick Fury. In this alternative universe, Hank Pym’s daughter Hope was a SHIELD agent on a mission overseas when she was killed, instead of falling for new Ant Man Scott Lang and joining him as the Wasp, formerly her mother’s role. Hank uses his Yellowjacket suit to shrink and carry out those murders of potential Avengers. 

Okay, we can understand why he is upset, but what did those heroes do to him? Or even to his daughter? 

Loki comes to Earth with an army, to avenge Thor, and defeats Hank. Fury rustles up a couple of recruits who haven’t been killed.

There is another Yellowjacket villain, Darren Cross, who had once worked for Hank Pym, but tried to sell the Pym Particle formula on the black market. He put on the Yellowjacket, but shrank down way too far and ended up in the “Quantum Realm”, with an oversized head, where he was working for real supervillain Kang the Conqueror(Ant Man And The Wasp: Quantumania). Everyone had thought he was dead. In the end, he is reconciled to Pym.

The Villains Wiki which I consulted for this also mentioned the Yondu Ravager clan, which pillaged around the galaxy and was commissioned to steal living planet Ego’s children, including Peter Quill, who eventually became leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Yondu didn’t know, at the time, that Ego was killing off his children if they weren’t what he needed them to be.

I personally don’t think either Yondu or his followers were too villainous. Klutzy, maybe - in What If… T’Challa Became A Star Lord? they picked up the wrong kid, T’Challa, but brought him up anyway, as he was only too pleased to get out of his father’s kingdom and see the galaxy. They could have returned him. Yondu himself was okay with his adopted son becoming the Ravagers’ leader and changing their ways. The live action Yondu sacrifices himself for Peter. At the end of the third  film, alternative universe Gamora is a member of the group, her found family. So they can’t be that bad.

But worth considering. After all, they are crooks! 

Tomorrow the final post in this year’s A to Z. Hope you have been enjoying!