Warning: contains spoilers for Mech Strike: Monster Hunters #1!
A key Avenger has finally avenged her own worst death in one of the most-reviled stories in the Ultimate Marvel universe's history. The fan-favorite character is a Marvel mainstay, appearing in the 60s and still saving others as an A-list superhero today. But the Wasp also fell victim to one of the most horrific and needlessly-bloody deaths imaginable - and in Mech Strike: Monster Hunters #1, Marvel finally owns up to one of its worst mistakes.
As Ant-Man's partner, the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne and later Hope Van Dyne) has the same shrinking technology and is perhaps more agile than her male counterpart. Armed with wings, she can be used as the Avengers' spy, as arial reconnaissance, or simply another flyer (albeit one with the power to shrink and evade danger). But even her many abilities couldn't keep death at bay for long; in the miniseries Ultimatum, she was memorably eaten alive by the Blob during the event, in a sequence that still sickens fans of the character even today.
In Mech Strike: Monster Hunters #1, written by Christos Gage with art by Paco Diaz, four villains - Doctor Doom, the Green Goblin, Venom and Loki - are armed with dangerously-powerful new technology that transforms them into monstrous new forms. To combat the threat, Iron Man brings back his old massive mech suits for the entire team - including a new one for the Wasp, who wasn't present during the original Avengers: Mech Strike event. The subsequent battle goes well until the Goblin grabs the shrunken Wasp and attempts to eat her whole. "Even for a lunatic like you, Osborn," says the Wasp as she frees herself by firing directly into the Goblins' mouth "eating your enemies is pretty off the rails."
Such was the main fan complaint concerning the Wasp's death in Ultimatum. While the Ultimate Marvel universe was considerably more violent than its 616 counterpart, the longstanding X-Men villain Blob actually eating his opponent was perhaps a bridge too far. To add insult to injury, the death was just one of many during the event, most of which were senseless and added nothing to the actual narrative of the story beyond a bodycount and simple shock value. Perhaps the writer of this 2022 series is aware of Ultimatum's reputation and took pains to avoid a similar moment.
Comics still kill superheroes and villains to surprise the reader (even DC killed their entire Justice League this year as an example), but this practice is old and known among the many Marvel faithful. Killing the Wasp at the beginning of the series would have been an interesting callback, but a better one is subverting Ultimatum entirely. Since the Wasp herself chastised the Green Goblin for his attempt to eat her, it can be surmised that the Avenger has finally avenged her own death in another universe.