The character Ghost in Marvel's Iron Man VR may not be immediately recognizable to many video game players. Ghost actually has a very long history in comic books that dates back to the 1980s and was even the main antagonist of 2018s Ant-Man and the Wasp. Those who want to a better understanding of this character's role in Iron Man VR may want to know a little bit of the their background.
Iron Man VR is not connected to the MCU or comic books in anyway. The game tells a completely original story, but that doesn't mean that the characters featured don't have some similarities to those featured in the pages of comics or on the big screen. This is definitely the case when it comes to Ghost.
Ghost originally appeared in Iron Man #219 back in 1987. Unlike the game and movie versions, the comic book Ghost is a man and his name is never revealed during any of his appearances. Ghost is notoriously anti-capitalist and tries to bring down different organizations that he believes are oppressive. This means that he typically spends a lot of time fighting against people like Tony Stark or Norman Osborn that he believes are a part of the capitalist elite.
Iron Man: Ghost's Comic Book History
While his name is never revealed, Ghost does detail his backstory a little bit as the Iron Man comics progressed. He originally worked as a programmer for a tech company called Omnisapient. After designing several groundbreaking technologies for the company, Omnisapient tried to trick and manipulate Ghost to stick around.
After he discovered their underhanded activities, the company tried to assassinate him with a bomb. In a bout of insane comic book logic, the flux capacitors he had wired into his body enabled him to survive the explosion and gave him the ability to turn intangible at will. After this the unnamed man became Ghost, a murderous vigilante intent on bringing down corrupt corporations.
Iron Man: Ghost's Role in Ant-Man and the Wasp
Ghost's very first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe happened in 2018's Ant-Man and the Wasp. This version of the character is actually very different from the one that comic book fans were used to. Ghost is now a woman named Ava Staar who has a completely different backstory. Staar is the daughter of one of Hank Pym's old research partners who was shamed and blacklisted out of the industry. Her father continued experimenting with quantum energy on his own, despite how dangerous that could be. Eventually an experiment went wrong and killed both of Ava's parents, but not before altering Ava's body permanently. This allowed her to manipulate quantum energy to become intangible.
This came with a major downside for Ava though. S.H.I.E.L.D realized that her new power could turn Ava into a powerful weapon, so they created a suit to help control her powers and used her as an assassin. Ava then became the Ghost and worked for the organization for many years before leaving after the collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D. due to HYDRA. At this point Ava realized her condition was slowly killing her, and she worked incessantly to discover a cure. She eventually comes to the conclusion that she must use the Quantum Tunnel that Hank Pym created to drain quantum energy and fix herself. This puts her up against Ant-Man and the Wasp, and, after fighting several times, Ava is eventually healed when Janet van Dyne gives Ava some quantum Energy.
Iron Man: Ghost's Role in Iron Man VR
The version of Ghost that players are shown in Iron Man VR is a combination of both the comic book and movie versions. Once again Ghost is a woman, but, rather than searching for a cure, she is instead trying to fight against oppressive capitalists like Tony Stark. Without going into any spoilers, players will have to fight against Ghost as she tries to bring Stark down for the horrible mistakes that he made in his not so distant past. PlayStation 4 players will need to pick up a copy of Iron Man VR to see how Tony Stark can bring this villain down.
Marvel's Iron Man VR is available now on PlayStation 4.