Tony and Janet visit Hank, which should be a simple enough deal except Hank has grown increasingly withdrawn and hostile. Just to make things worse, Hank's entire lab is blown up, which is ascertained by Nick Fury to be a murder attempt. Soon after, the Serpent Society that the Avengers and Hank in particular have had problems with start dropping like flies, thanks to the new hero in town, Yellowjacket. It takes Janet barely a minute to figure out what everyone else can barely accept — that Yellowjacket IS Hank.
Tropes:
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Constrictor openly pleads with Yellowjacket and offers to give him anything he wants in exchange for being spared.
- And the Adventure Continues: JARVIS reports Mole People are attacking Madison Square Garden, so the team heads out.
- Anti-Hero: Hank leavs behind his idealistic nature of Ant-Man and takes on a more aggressive persona: Yellowjacket.
- Armor-Piercing Response: Yellowjacket derides Hank as the Avengers' weakest link.Wasp: You don't know anything about him!
Yellowjacket: I knew enough to get rid of the guy. - Break the Cutie: Yellowjacket asserting That Man Is Dead is this for Wasp.
- Call-Back: Thor is seemingly vaporized by an invention of Hank Pym's, while Wasp, Cap, Iron Man, Hawkeye, and Black Panther watch. The similarity is so clear that Yellowjacket briefly loses his cool.
- The Cameo: Attendees of the funeral include the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage.
- Cassandra Truth: Wasp believes that Yellowjacket is Hank due to his use of insects, but everyone knew Hank as a pacifist. It takes an unmasking to reveal the truth to them.
- Deadpan Snarker: After Yellowjacket explains how he's going to use his signature, Black Panther's ID card, and Iron Man's reactor to escape the prison.Hawkeye: Yeah, sure, why didn't I think of that?
- Defiant to the End: The news plays a clip of Bushmaster leaping towards Yellowjacket before getting blasted. King Cobra is later cornered and, while frazzled, outright refuses to beg for mercy.
- Dramatic Unmask: Wasp pulls off Yellowjacket's mask in front of the others.
- Due to the Dead: Hank's funeral is well-attended, with assorted heroes and colleagues packing the seats. Tony delivers a moving eulogy (which he credits to Pepper).
- Enemy Mine: After finding themselves trapped in Hank's unstable prison, Iron Man tries this with the recently captured Serpent Society. Too bad they aren't interested, even in as much danger as the Avengers.
- Exact Words: After learning that Hank is alive, Tony says he's more than happy to bring him back to the Avengers. However, he refuses to bring Yellowjacket. Jan convinces him that they need Hank as much as he needs them, no matter what his new hero identity is.
- Faking the Dead: Hank does this to disappear from the grid. At first, it's seen as an accident and later a murder.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Yellowjacket losing his cool over Thor seemingly being vaporized tip viewers off that Wasp is right about his true identity.
- Flat "What": Wasp's reaction to Yellowjacket taking credit for getting rid of Hank.
- Heroic BSoD: Hank unwittingly endangering his friends and the world makes him a bit unsettled since he left. He soon decides to take a more aggressive approach against villains.
- The Needs of the Many: Escaping the prison requires tapping into Iron Man's Arc Reactor. Black Panther warns he could die from this attempt, but Iron Man says everyone will die if they don't try this.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Hank's new microprison uses something other than Pym particles (making it that much harder to suss out his involvement), able to reduce the incarceration area to microscopic scale — a process that proves unstable.
- No Sympathy: Yellowjacket has no compunctions about seemingly vaporizing his targets. He's actually sending them to a microprison, but Iron Man (observing the conditions) calls it outright sadistic nonetheless and completely at odds with Hank's original motive of rehabilitating villains.King Cobra: I'm not going to beg for mercy!
Yellowjacket: You wouldn't get any. [opens fire] - Not Quite Dead: Yellowjacket didn't kill the Serpent Society or Thor; his gun just sent them to his new microprison.
- Oh, Crap!: Wasp when she examines one of Yellowjacket's weapons and realizes who made it.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Iron Man just can't believe that Yellowjacket is Hank Pym, due to the violent methods.
- Parting-Words Regret: During the funeral, Wasp regrets never telling Hank how she really felt about him. Cap tries to reassure her that Hank did know and felt the same way.
- Race Against the Clock: The microprison is too unstable and continuing to shrink, but the people inside it aren't shrinking with it. They'll soon be crushed to death and, without Yellowjacket's pistol, they need to find another way to escape. The escaping Serpent Society members choosing this moment to attack makes things even harder.
- Sanity Slippage: Hank in The Teaser has become more unbalanced since we saw him last. It, of course, gets worse.
- That Man Is Dead: Yellowjacket insists he is everything Hank Pym couldn't be.Wasp: He doesn't know what he's doing. Please, just stop it, Hank.
Yellowjacket: Hank Pym is dead.
Iron Man: Sorry you feel that way, Yellowjacket. [opens fires] - This Cannot Be!: Thor's reaction to his hammer seemingly being destroyed. He ends up being right; it was just transported to the microprison before he was.
- Villain Ball: The Serpent Society chooses to fight the Avengers, despite Yellowjacket's miniature prison collapsing around them. The Avengers lampshade it.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Death Adder is shown making a run for it in the subway, but he gets blasted by Yellowjacket mid-jump.
- We Used to Be Friends: When Wasp asks for Yellowjacket to be added to the team, Iron Man is reluctant to say the least.Wasp: He's your friend.
Iron Man: Was. Yellowjacket is crazy as a hornet's nest and a loose cannon, to boot. - Wham Line: "The explosion in Pym's lab wasn't an accident. It was murder."
- What Happened to the Mouse?: While the other members of the Serpent Society are prominently featured, Madame Viper is nowhere to be found, nor is she even mentioned.
- Who Are You?: Constrictor's response to Yellowjacket effortlessly deflecting his attacks.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: "We need you, Hank Pym."
