Hank Pym, Marvel’s first Black Widow. While the Red Room specialized in producing spies, assassins, and saboteurs, Nadia had an even more unique upbringing in the infamous facility, thanks to her genius-level intelligence.
While Nadia was taught multiple languages, acrobatics, military tactics, and martial arts (even possibly receiving training from the Winter Soldier), her instructors soon realized her vast intelligence would be more useful in their science division. As a result, she was encouraged to hone her skills in engineering, physics, and bioengineering. However, when the Red Room asked her to replicate her father’s Pym Particles, Nadia gained a sample and used it to escape. Aware of her true lineage, Nadia made her way to the United States, hoping to meet Henry Pym. Unfortunately, by the time she got there, Pym had been killed. Undaunted, Nadia resolved to follow in his heroic footsteps by becoming the new Wasp (despite the fact that Janet Van Dyne was still using the identity) and performing heroic deeds.
In doing so, Nadia displays a major difference from fellow Red Room graduate Natasha Romanoff (aka the Black Widow). Where Natasha can adopt a ruthless and sometimes cold attitude due to the trauma she experienced in her Red Room training, Nadia makes the conscious decision not to be defined by her past. In her view, if she spends her time being bitter and angry over her experiences in the Red Room, that means she will never truly escape her past, so she resolves to embrace life and find joy in her relationships with the new people she meets.
One of these people turned out to be Janet Van Dyne, who Nadia began seeing as a surrogate mother. Eventually, she even takes on Janet’s last name and becomes “Nadia Van Dyne.” Janet herself ires Nadia greatly and respects her choice to be her own superhero. However, Nadia’s greatest contribution is not her commitment to heroics but her desire to give intelligent women like herself a safe space to express their gifts. This leads her to found G.I.R.L (Genius in action Research Labs), a program where girl geniuses can not only create advances to save the world but change it for the better. One of the girls in her program is Ying, another student of the Red Room who Nadia and the others helped free, showing how Nadia has even been able to make something positive out of her time in one of the worst places on Earth, much like Black Widow before her.
Nadia’s enthusiasm, genius, and genuine desire to help others makes her a highly effective superhero and loyal friend, while her roots with various Avengers make her a true second-generation Marvel hero. However, her optimism and high intellect also come with some downsides. Despite (or possibly because of) her isolated childhood, Nadia remains remarkably innocent and often naively believes science can solve all problems. She also suffers from bipolar disorder like her father Ant-Man, which causes her to go through periods of mania followed by deep lows. Never one to ignore a problem, however, Nadia has sought treatment for her condition so it won’t take over her life, revealing why she’s called the Unstoppable Wasp.
