Ultimate One Universe: Season Two Application
Character You're Applying For: Hope Van Dyne, the Wasp
Powers And Abilities:
Size Manipulation: Hope was able to reduce herself to the size of an insect by using Pym Particles in the belt of the suit to distance her atoms, effectively compacting her physical structure and allowing her to shrink down whenever necessary. She still maintained her regular sized strength and durability while in a reduced scale as the process amplifies the amount of force she can generate and increases her density. Basically, Hope is granted super strength and durability while shrunk. Additionally, the process of altering size compresses force and energy, manifesting as brief shockwaves of vibration around the target, which briefly augments her force and momentum as she returns to normal size.
Flight: By utilizing four artificial insect-like wings, Hope could fly at impressive speeds and maneuver with great agility with ease.
Energy Projection: Hope can fire bolts of energy from the wrists of her gauntlets. They are powerful enough to blast burning holes in reinforced materials and knock a man unconscious.
Van Dyne Prodigy: With her parents both being geniuses in discovering Pym Particles and paired with a college education, Hope is very intelligent in matters of science, Pym Particles, and business.
Training Exercises: With her being ousted from the business and losing custody of her daughter, Hope found solace in training herself for long portions of the day. She prepared herself for the day that she would become the Wasp.
Origin And Backstory:
There was a time when Hope had an ordinary life but that began shaping her into something more was the death of her mother. No thirteen year old should have to see their mother die slowly from cancer and it was this belief that drove Hope to do something about this. She excelled in school and got into Ivy University, a prestigious scientific school. From there she took a series of difficult medical technologies curriculum, still determined on developing that cure to cancer.
Her time at the university had brought on another event that shaped her life drastically. Raymond Palmer a man of equal potential had been Hope’s classmate and close friend throughout her grueling years of academia. Their relationship would only blossom into something more, falling in love and eventually marrying shortly after graduating. They had a child, Nadia, early in their marriage. For a nearly a decade, they had happily developed Pym Industries together alongside Hope’s father. Pym Industries had flourished into a serious medical developer and had become a household name for the medical profession.
Despite life going well, Ray Palmer wanted more out of life believing his brilliance was wasted by not expanding upon the original idea of Pym Particles. It was about this time that Darron Cross came into the picture, suggesting and influencing Ray to pursue weaponizing Pym Particles. He manages to design a suit that is capable of shrinking and effective weaponry to be used alongside the suit. In an attempt to convince Hope, he tried presenting the suit and the untapped capabilities of Pym. Hope despises the idea, the two argue, and in a desperate attempt to control the meeting, Ray accidentally fires a shot from the suit that hits Hank’s chest. The shock to Hank’s system put him in cardiac arrest and he died before help could be administered.
Hope would try and move on from that event in her life, confiscating Ray’s work and trying to keep him honest. However, Ray developed a new suit in secret and was planning on defecting to Darron Cross’s company. Hope tried to stop Ray but failed initially due to his new suit, forcing Hope to wear the prototype suit to pursue. The two would fight a miniature battle out in the street, people unaware of what was occurring around them. Hope accidentally caused Ray’s death by knocking him into a the tire of a moving car where it was presumed he was squished. She was arrested on suspicion of murder and forced to resign in the company. Despite Hope’s reservation against weaponized Pym, she feels it is the only option to stop Darren Cross from obtaining original schematics left over by her father and husband.
What Makes This Character 'Ultimate'?:
So I did a lot of reading to get to this point but I think I have a story that utilizes some very interesting avenues. I did some research and put together a group of shrinksters and then built a story, and by extension Hope’s character, around those individuals.
Ray Palmer, the Atom from his original story and Yellow Jacket in the Ultimate version, is the villain to Hope’s origin story. With similar motivations as Yellow Jacket in the movie, he became obsessed with Pym Particles wanting to militarize this technology. Naturally the Hank and Hope would disapprove as they wanted to work on developing medical applications in honor of Janet with the most iconic development being shrinking tumors down to become virtually non-existent. There was never any intention on weaponizing Pym but Ray Palmer worked in secret, developing a prototype and revealing it to Hank and Hope looking for approval. He wouldn’t get that approval and in a fit trying to demonstrate the usage of Pym Particles, he killed Hank.
Obviously this would traumatize both, Ray and Hope, and in an effort to make amends Ray promised he would give up his obsession. However, their marriage was never the same scarred by that event and in anger Ray would turn to the whispers of Darron Cross, promising to reveal the secrets of Pym application. Ray’s resumed obsession would have him working on a new suit to present Darron which would go noticed by Hope and when confronted, he would reveal his intention saying he was through with her. In an attempt to stop Ray, Hope would use the prototype suit to confront him. There confrontation leads to Ray’s accidental death.
Now with two mysterious deaths/disappearances being centralized around Hope, she would be arrested and then tried. With no intent on revealing Pym applications, she had little evidence to support herself. Darron was likely involved in some shady dealings to get Hope hit with the book but due to some clever work by Pym Industries paid lawyers, Hope got off easy. Unfortunately she lost custody of her daughter but Ryan was there, ready to adopt to keep Nadia close.
Ultimately, Hope is on her own dealing with stress and grief of her past. However, she knows that Pym Industries is in good hands with Ryan and besides, she still suspected Darron hadn’t given up his own obsession with Pym Particles. In an effort to stop him as well as redeem herself and the weaponized Pym, Hope tries to take the mantle of the Wasp.
Supporting Characters:
Hank Van Dyne: Father (
deceased)
Former S.H.I.E.L.D scientist, he left to join Pym Industries to work alongside his daughter. He is credited for the discovery of Pym Particles and the many medical applications that came after it. He lost his life in an effort to stop Ray Palmer.
Janet Van Dyne: Mother (
deceased)
She passed away from cancer shortly after Hope’s thirteenth birthday and her memory became Hope’s motivation to find that elusive cure for cancer.
Ray Palmer/Yellow Jacket: Ex-Husband (
deceased)
Ray Palmer was a long time friend of the Van Dyne family ever since meeting Hope in college. Hope and Ray would eventually marry and produce a daughter, Nadia. He joined Pym Industries and helped Hank, his now father-in-law, to develop uses for the Pym Particles. However Ray’s work with Pym Particles consumed him and eventually turned against Hope and Hank. He is presumably deceased after Hope confronted him.
Nadia Van Dyne: Daughter
At only fifteen years old, Nadia is the daughter of Hope and Ray. Following the events of her father’s death, Hope was adamant about changing their names back to Van Dyne in light of Ray’s betrayal. Due to legal reasons, Hope is not allowed custody of her daughter but was adopted by Ryan Choi.
Ryan Choi: Friend
Hope’s business partner for Pym Industries, he managed the business end of the company while Hope, Hank, and Ray lead the development of the Pym applications. He was instrumental in keeping Pym Industries operating after the Ray Palmer incident and one of the few that knows the truth. He still assists Hope in whatever way he can.
Darren Cross: Business Rival
The potential corrupting influence of Ray Palmer by promising massive amounts of wealth for military applications of Pym. The failure of Ray Palmer had caused him to become quite bitter towards Pym Industries, vowing that he’ll ruin them eventually.
Character Picture:
Sample Post:
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!”Andy Williams quietly caroled from the speaker of a small hand radio. Trapped in a small lab, this cherished Christmas song became background noise that broke the silence in between the quiet mutterings and sounds of delicate work taking place. Hope Van Dyne had been so preoccupied in her work that she hadn’t realized someone approached from behind.
“Even on Christmas Eve, huh?” Ryan Choi queried with a friendly smile, getting a bit of satisfaction from Hope’s surprised lurch from her seat.
“Ooh God--Ryan! You scared the shit out of me!” Hope exclaimed as she pressed an open hand on her chest.
“Seriously, why do you even do that to me?”Ryan shrugged,
“Someone has to keep you on your toes. More importantly, it is the smallest amount of punishment I can give you for not being with Nadia on Christmas Eve. You should spend time with your daughter.”Hope’s gaze dropped, failing to meet Ryan’s as she turned away and back to the bench where her suit laid.
“...I know I should but she is being so difficult lately. I can hardly get a conversation out of her.”“She’s a teenager with a dead grandfather, a dead father, and a distant mother. Why wouldn’t she difficult?” Ryan’s reply left the two of them in a prolonged silence as they considered the weight of that statement.
“I feel like… she blames me for all of it. She never explicitly says it but-” Hope began, taking a pause as she tried word her feelings but Ryan quickly interjected.
“I’m going to stop you right there and say I honestly believe she doesn’t. You want to know why I know? It is because she still asks about you, like you are going to be there at Christmas Eve dinner. She is a smart kid, just like her mother. It would take more than paid off judge to fool her.”Hope winced at her friend’s words, suppressing her urge to breakdown here and now. Her hand covered her eyes as she took a deep breath.
“...Thank you, Ryan.” It was all she could find the strength she could find to say without breaking down. It would have been easy to become a mess, complaining about her reality.
She felt Ryan’s hand press on her shoulder, squeezing it as he came to her side. The two remained in silence for a moment as Hope considered just throwing herself into his arms but she still felt she was required to appear strong. Thankfully it was Ryan who pulled her out of any desperate action with his amused observation.
“Look at this!” He chimed as she picked up a sleeve of Hope’s new and improved suit.
“It’s like your a real superhero now! Hurry up and start saving people from burning buildings and stopping bank robberies so I can say I’m friends with someone the likes of Superman.”Hope turned to him, smiling now,
“Come on, me? A superhero?” Hope asked sounding like she couldn’t believe it herself. However the thought had her heart lurch forward in excitement for just a brief moment...
