Comics

Writer Jeremy Whitley Talks Marvel’s The Unstoppable Wasp – Interview

Sarah

November 19, 2016

Check out our interview with Jeremy Whitley, one of the writers of the upcoming comic book, “The Unstoppable Wasp” featuring Nadia Pym, the new Wasp.

The Unstoppable Wasp Vol. 1 will be released on January 4, 2017!

BSCkids: Jeremy Whitley

The new series will focus on Nadia Pym, the daughter of Hank Pym, can you tell us a little bit of her personality and how she gained the moniker “the unstoppable wasp?”

Sure! Nadia’s personality is actually what drew me to the character first. Despite having a past where she was basically raised inside of a bunker and trained to be an assassin and scientist by an international criminal organization, Nadia is an eternal optimist. She strives to see the good in people and is always excited to face the next adventure. Nadia could be a character tied up in anger and regret, but she has chosen to seize the reins of her own story and be sure that the next sixteen years are better than the first sixteen.

That’s ultimately why we went with the title “The Unstoppable Wasp”, because despite everything that’s been done to her and everything that’s gone wrong – she doesn’t even let it slow her down. She may not be a physically unstoppable force like, say, The Juggernaut but the things that make her unstoppable are perhaps even stronger than that.

Will Nadia share any traits with her genius parents?

Absolutely. Nadia is not only a super-genius like her father Hank (Ant-Man), but she shares his creativity and determination. Nadia’s not just smart, she has a gift for seeing things differently than others. She doesn’t let the fact that a problem is unsolvable stop her from solving it. Unfortunately, like her father, this also makes her prone to obsession. Nadia has already shown in her time in All-New All-Different Avengers that she will try to solve human problems with science, even when it becomes very clear that science is not the solution.

Can you tell us if the new series will have any storyline ties to the original Ant-man or Wasp series that older fans will recognize?

Absolutely. The story is brand new and specific to Nadia, but that doesn’t mean that fans won’t see important figures from Hank’s life pop up. Both Janet Van Dyne and Jarvis will be acting in a sort of mentor capacity to Nadia. For all of her intelligence, Nadia has very little experience with the practical elements of living in the real world – something that often eluded Hank as well. And as Nadia was able to replicate Hank’s experiments in Pym particles, Ant-Man fans are likely to see a lot of the dangers and wonders of Hank’s life presenting themselves to Nadia.

Can you tell us what some of the biggest hurdles Nadia or Nadia as the wasp may be encountering over the first few issues?

Well Nadia has a pretty unique slew of problems, starting with immigration and continuing on to mad scientists in robots and giant rats. Nadia is going to have a very busy first few issues.

So Nadia is a genius, a girl, and a superhero. Why do you think it’s so critical right now that many comic books are portraying young girls as so powerful?

We’re at a pretty serious crossroads for young girls right now. There are more paths open to them than there ever has been, but at the same time there are a mounting number of obstacles. To say there are some philosophical differences when it comes to the place of young women both in comics and in the world may be understating it a bit. The reality is that many young women have the ability to save not just themselves, but the rest of the world. And I am a firm believer in that idea that representation helps people to be the thing they see. So, if we’re going to be dependent on a generation of young women to save the world, we have to let them know they can do it.

What is the message you hope to achieve or impart with “The Unstoppable Wasp” series?

Science, intelligence, and optimism are things that come naturally to kids. My daughter, who is five, loves science. But you look at the number of girls who excel at science in school and you look at the number of girls who take up careers in science and something doesn’t add up. We actively discourage girls from valuing their own intelligence and enjoying things like science. And then we do our best to chase that optimism out of them. I want people to see these things as the values of heroes. Science is ultimately a force for good and progress and we lose sight of that. I think that these traits in Nadia are the right combination of things we need to make a better world.

Do you think young girls will be able to look up to Nadia as she navigates superhero-hood and life?

I hope so. I hope young girls read the book and it inspires them to see the heroes in themselves. I would be lying if I didn’t say that I hope this book reaches girls who find themselves writing these books in the next fifteen years.

Do you think this series will have any crossovers with any of the other upcoming marvel comic series like the new Iron Man featuring a teenage girl taking over the role?

I hope so! We already have a couple of upcoming guest appearances from Ms. Marvel, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, and even Mockingbird (a female hero and scientist that’s been around a bit longer). I’d love for our team to stretch out and get a chance to work with the other teen heroes and heroines of the Marvel Universe. We’ll have to see what happens next!

As one of the writers, what has been the hardest part writing this series?

I think maybe the hardest part is seeing the Marvel Universe with fresh eyes. Nadia is new to all of this and knows a lot more about science than she does about superheroes. I have a lot of knowledge about the Marvel Universe that Nadia doesn’t have. She has no preconceived notions of who is good and bad, so I have to make sure she comes in unbiased and optimistic to every confrontation, no matter how sure I would be that it will end poorly.

What are you most looking forward to about the series launch or your continued writing for it?

Marvel has given us some nice elbow room to create new characters for the series and that’s been really amazing. I look forward to people finally getting to see what we’ve been building and falling in love with our girl geniuses the same way we have.