Jeremy Whitley Makes Marvel’s Wasp Unstoppable With Optimism And Intelligence

It’s easy to forget these days, but the Wasp was one of Marvel’s original Avengers, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Not only that, but she actually gave the team their name. She is one of the most important characters in Marvel Universe history.

Now she has a legacy. And a stepdaughter. Janet Van Dyne is still carrying on as the Wasp in Uncanny Avengers, but there’s a new Wasp on the block, Nadia Pym, and she’s ready to fly solo.

Well, Nadia is also part of the Avengers. She debuted in All-New Avengers and continues as part of the new team in this week’s Avengers #1.

As of January 2017, Nadia Pym will be soaking in the spotlight in Unstoppable Wasp, a new ongoing series from writer Jeremy Whitley. ComicBook.com spoke to Whitley about what fans should expect from the Unstoppable Wasp!

What are Nadia Pym’s defining traits and characteristics? Who is she in your eyes, in your own words?

To my mind, the things that define her are her intelligence and her optimism. So often when we talk about science in the modern world, we think of scientists as pessimists or “realists” but with big scare quotes. Obviously, there are perfectly good reasons for this, but science is also something that’s full of wonder and adventure and excitement. When you look back at older comics like Fantastic Four or Doc Savage or. well. the original “Tales to Astonish” that spawned Hank Pym himself you see science adventurers. That’s what Nadia wants to be and that’s the sort of story I want to tell with her.

It’s easy to think of Nadia’s optimism as being naivety because she’s spent most of her life in a bunker, but this is a girl who has been trained to be an assassin, who has been forbidden from making friends and kept from having fun – but she has come out of it choosing to see the good in the world and choosing to do go herself. I think that speaks volumes of who she is as a person.

We’ve seen an influx of new, young, teen girl heroes lately – Riri Williams, Spider-Gwen, Ms. Marvel, etc. – in comics recently. What sets Nadia apart from the rest?

I think there’s two primary things that set her apart. Probably the biggest is that by all rights Nadia should be a villain. She was taken from her mother at birth. She was raised by a nefarious organization. She was trained to be a killer and a mad scientist, but she chose to do something more. Riri, Gwen, and Kamala were all normal girls who had a gift or responsibility thrust upon them. Nadia has never had anything close to a normal life.

The other big thing that sets her apart is her family. Nadia is part of one of the most controversial, convoluted, and confusing family trees in the Marvel Universe. I mean, she’s technically Ultron’s sister. I mean, she’s Wiccan and Speed’s great aunt. That’s pretty weird, right?

What do you hope to show readers with Unstoppable Wasp on a thematic level? What is this series about beneath the surface? Or are you more interested in the pure adventure of it all

I definitely want to bring a sense of adventure and optimism to the book which should be obvious from the surface. Under the surface, though, I want it to be a story about choice. About choosing to be better, to do more, and to believe in the innate good of people. It’s been a point of contention for me for years that believing in science or not being religious doesn’t mean a person is not a believer. Nadia is a believer in good of both people and science through and through.

Aa Unstoppable Wasp begins, there’s a rift forming between the older and younger generations of Marvel heroes. How does Nadia – being young, but also a legacy character and a member of the senior Avengers – fit into that dynamic?

That’s a tough question. While not really being part of either group, I think Nadia is sort of a bridge between the two. A lot of the older heroes are going to see her as naive, but that optimism is what causes her to have faith in them as heroes as well. She doesn’t see this rift as irreconcilable.

What kinds of stories are you telling in Unstoppable Wasp? Is this a quirky, lighthearted book like Unbeatable Squirrel Girl? More traditionally superheroic? Something else entirely?

I think it’s kind of all three. Nadia certainly has a lot in common with Squirrel Girl as a character, but she is also very tied to the Avengers and to what’s going on in the larger Marvel Universe. In our book, she’ll be setting up her own team and having her own adventures with them, but she’ll still be very much tight to the MU at large. I’m hoping what we get to see is how Nadia with her intelligence and unique perspective can bring something completely new to the sorts o problems that have plagued the Avengers and the MU at large for years.

Janet Van Dyne has been a major part of Nadia’s life since she arrived in the states, but now Janet is running with the Unity Squad in Uncanny Avengers. How will that change Nadia and Janet’s relationship?

It won’t, not really. Janet’s connection to Nadia is both personal and of their own choosing. Granted, they have Hank very much in common, but there is no obligation for Janet to take Nadia under her wing. Janet has done it because…well, first and foremost that’s the kind of person Janet is. She sees a girl with no friends and no connections, set loose in a strange world for the first time and she wants to help. But beyond that, she sees pieces of Hank in her – the good pieces. Hank has always had problems, but you don’t stop caring about people you care about just because they fail.

Jarvis is another character we’ve seen caring for Nadia. Will he play a role in Unstoppable Wasp? What kind of larger supporting cast in place?

Jarvis will play a very large part in the book, especially in the first arc. In a lot of ways, he’s Nadia’s tie to the real world. She doesn’t have parents or siblings and Jarvis has sort of taken it on himself to look out for her. Being the daughter of a person he cared about and for so long, Jarvis feels a paternal tie to Nadia as well. Unfortunately for Jarvis, he doesn’t quite function at the same energy level as Nadia and may find himself run ragged trying to keep up with her.

Will we see Nadia dealing with the recent events concerning Hank’s merging with Ultron and return to Earth?

Well, that’s still a bit up in the air. We say in ANAD Avengers that Janet and Jarvis made a calculated choice not to talk to Nadia about Hank’s return or about Hank’s dark side beyond that. I’m sure it would be a subject of great interest to Nadia, but as far as she knows, Hank is still dead.

Elsa Charretier is drawing Unstoppable Wasp. She’s worked on DC Comics heroines like Starfire and Harley Quinn before. What makes her style ideal for Unstoppable Wasp?

She has such a knack for expression, both in the face and body of characters. When we took on Nadia, the biggest thing I wanted to be sure of is that we had an artist who could really give us the look of a sixteen-year-old girl who has decided to be a superhero. Part of what makes Nadia fun is her style and whimsy. As we say in ANAD Avengers, she built herself a palace in the microverse inside of her necklace. Elsa’s runs on Starfire and Harley have shown what a knack she has for drawing women of all shapes and sizes as well as capturing the superhero aspect without robbing a character like Nadia of her eccentricities.

What kinds of threats and antagonists do you have lined up for Nadia?

Well, she’ll be facing a big threat all her own in this first arc, but we’re also going to see some classic Marvel villains. I love the idea of putting Nadia up against some of the same threats that have plagued Hank and seeing how she handles them differently. And boy will she.

Should we expect to see many Marvel Universe guest stars in Unstoppable Wasp? Possibly The Winter Soldier or Black Widow, given their shared background? Or are you more interested in establishing Nadia as a solo hero for now?

Both, actually. We’ll definitely see some visits from Marvel characters in the first few issues. In fact, in the first issue alone we’ll get to see both Ms. Marvel and Mockingbird jumping into the fray alongside Nadia. I’d love to explore her history with both Winter Soldier and Black Widow, but that’ll have to wait a little bit. Both of those characters have a lot going on themselves right now.

Nadia’s name was mentioned by the Maker in connection to WHISPER in New Avengers #17. What can you say about how this factors into Nadia’s future?

I can’t, sorry! But we did already see WHISPER make an attempt to snatch Nadia right from Janet’s house in ANAD Avengers.

You’re best known for the Eisner-nominated series Princeless, another series about an adventurous young girl. How much DNA is shared between Princeless and Unstoppable Wasp?

I think there’s a good chunk of that DNA in…well, frankly all of my writing. Especially when I write a book about a hero I know will appeal to young girls, I tend to keep my own daughter in mind. I think about both what she loves and what I want her to read and try and meet somewhere in the middle. Unstoppable Wasp isn’t a book that’s targeted just for a younger audience, but I would like it to be something that can be a gateway for younger audiences into the Marvel Universe