FANTASMA
Real Name: Unrevealed (see comments)
Identity/Class: Human technology user
Occupation: Agent of W.H.I.S.P.E.R.; former agent of A.I.M.
Group Membership: W.H.I.S.P.E.R. (Creature from Kosmos/Pilai, Dr. Janos Trovaya, Wasps, others); formerly A.I.M. (Brilliance/Justine, Finesse/Jeanne Foucault, Monica Rappaccini, Seeker/Amber Silverstein, others)
Affiliations: Whirlwind (David Cannon)
Enemies: G.I.R.L. (Priya Aggarwal, Ying Liu, Alexis Miranda, Tai Miranda, Shay Smith, Wasp/Nadia Van Dyne, others), Edwin Jarvis, Mockingbird (Bobbie Morse), Wasp (Janet Van Dyne)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Boogeyman, El Cucuy; impersonated Priya Aggarwal, Maria Pym, Janet Van Dyne, presumably others
Base of Operations: W.H.I.S.P.E.R.'s base in an abandoned hospital in Queens, New York City;
formerly mobile on A.I.M.'s blimp
First Appearance: (As Priya) Unstoppable Wasp II#3 (February, 2019); (as Maria Pym) Unstoppable Wasp II#7 (July, 2019); (Fantasma) Unstoppable Wasp II#8 (August, 2019)
Powers/Abilities: Fantasma wears an armor with some kind of shapeshifting or holographic capabilities that allows the user to perfectly mimic the appearance and voice of other human beings or just screw around and use the helmet to show emojis. It also utilizes stolen phasing technology that allows the user to become intangible for a short period to avoid attacks or walk through walls. The phasing technology makes the armor even during phasing susceptible to electricity, which could render the armor inoperative for a few seconds by overloading it.
Around the armor's neck are four valves that release knockout gas to quickly eliminate threats. While releasing the gas she renders herself immune by becoming intangible. The gas was probably stored in the chestplate.
Fantasma presumably has a higher education or genius intellect.
Fantasma is biologically male, but apparently identifies as female.
Height: Unrevealed (Variable due to the armor's abilities, but she seems to be around 5'6" with the armor while it doesn't mimic others; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed (130 lbs.; by approximation)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blond
History:
(Unstoppable Wasp II#9 (fb) - BTS) - The man later known as Fantasma didn't feel like what he saw in the mirror and decided to create an armored suit that allowed him to look like whatever he felt like (and considering he ran around in the form of women most of the time I assume he identified as one...so from here on out I am going to use female pronouns to align with the apparent intent of the story). She mostly used it for herself, but also in her job. She used a picture to look like Nadia's deceased mother as part of A.I.M.'s plan to tear down Hank Pym's legacy.
(Unstoppable Wasp II#10 (fb) - BTS) - Monica Rappaccini told Fantasma that Nadia was diabolical and dangerous.
(Unstoppable Wasp II#3) - Fantasma participated in A.I.M.'s attack on Pym Laboratories in Cresskill, New Jersey.
(Unstoppable Wasp II#4 (fb)) - Fantasma entered the lab of Priya Aggarwal posing as her after Priya had already entered it beforehand.
(Unstoppable Wasp II#3 - BTS) - Fantasma knocked out Priya Aggarwal in her lab and released a gas inside it. She left the lab posing as Priya Aggarwal.
(Unstoppable Wasp II#3) - "Priya" met up with the other powered A.I.M. agents on the roof. They escaped in their blimp.
(Unstoppable Wasp II#3 - BTS) - Shay and Nadia worked together to save the real Priya from the lab, unaware at the time that the gas had mutated her.
(Unstoppable Wasp II#3) - Fantasma, still in Priya's form, flew off in A.I.M.'s blimp with a smile on her face.
(Unstoppable Wasp II#4 - BTS) - Nadia watched security footage of Priya entering the lab twice, which baffled her.
(Unstoppable Wasp II#8 (fb) - BTS) - The Vision Gloves technology, stolen during A.I.M.'s attack on Pym Laboratories, was incorporated into Fantasma's armor.
(Unstoppable Wasp II#7) - Following Nadia's birthday party Fantasma, posing as Maria Pym, contacted Nadia via video chat on her laptop. Nadia was brushing her teeth when she heard the voice and recognized it as her mother's. When she saw the face of her supposedly dead mother on the screen, Nadia trusted her immediately and talked to her for hours. Nadia told her "mother" everything she wanted to know.
(Unstoppable Wasp II#8 - BTS) - "Maria" stayed in contact with Nadia. She was allegedly held against her will at an unknown black site. Nadia told Mockingbird about it, who went to Siberia with the Winter Soldier to find Nadia's mother.
(Unstoppable Wasp II#8) - Weeks later, during the G.I.R.L. Young Scientist Expo in Hell's Kitchen, "Maria" called Nadia and told her that she had escaped, but was on the run. "Maria" lured Nadia downstairs where she followed a woman into a room. She believed the woman to be her mother, but the woman transformed in front of Nadia into a woman with green armor. Nadia didn't know what was going on until Fantasma revealed that this was a trap and that the walls were electrified. Fantasma then introduced herself as Nadia's personal el Cucuy (the boogeyman).
(Unstoppable Wasp II#9) - Nadia was pretty angry and wanted to know why Fantasma posed as her mother. Fantasma mockingly told her that it was Nadia's obvious weakness and as her enemy she had to exploit it. Nadia attacked, but punched right through Fantasma, who became intangible. Nadia hit the electrified wall and Nadia still didn't understand why Fantasma was doing this. Fantasma revealed her codename, her origin and that she was doing this to destroy Hank Pym's legacy. Nadia attacked Fantasma again when she put on Maria's face again, but once again she phased right through her only to be smashed against a cabinet with her head. Fantasma revealed that she would not let Nadia go until her other friends were taken care of. Fantasma kept gloating when Nadia picked up a pipe, but then Nadia revealed that she had seen Fantasma use doors before when she posed as Priya. Nadia correctly assumed that Fantasma was using tech from G.I.R.L.'s stolen Vision Gloves. Nadia used the metal pipe to connect Fantasma to the electrified wall and Fantasma's armor overloaded. She phased through the wall and dropped the ground outside the room, but when Nadia got through Fantasma was already gone.
Fantasma turned into Priya again and ran into Janet Van Dyne and Alexis Miranda. She told them about the attack on the expo and about a trap with knockout gas. Before they realized what was going on, Fantasma turned back into her true form and released the knockout gas from her armor's neck to incapacitate Janet and Alexis before Nadia could reach them.
(Unstoppable Wasp II#10) - Fantasma threatened to put phase her hand right into Janet's chest and stop her heart while Nadia begged her not to do it because Janet had done nothing wrong. Fantasma started to believe that Monica was wrong about Nadia and that the girl was just naive and not dangerous. Fantasma then threatened to phase her hand into Alexis' brain, but before she could do it, Nadia hit her with an electrical blast, overloading the armor's power source. A hard kick sent Fantasma over a railing, but when Nadia looked down Fantasma was already gone.
(Wasp I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Fantasma left A.I.M. and joined W.H.I.S.P.E.R. under the new leadership of the Creature from Kosmos (or Fantasma was part of W.H.I.S.P.E.R. all along and worked with A.I.M. as a double agent).
(Wasp I#1) - Posing as a construction worker Fantasma reported back to base that Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) had arrived at G.I.R.L. to meet with Nadia and that their pawn Whirlwind (David Cannon) could be sent in for the attack on the two Wasps. Whirlwind lost and revealed a branding that had been left on his forehead by his employer.
As Fantasma had expected Whirlwind lacked the killer instinct he once had after all his meetings with prison psychiatrists, but still worked well as bait to bring the Wasps to the Creature from Kosmos and Dr. Janos Trovaya.
(Wasp I#2) - Fantasma led an army of W.H.I.S.P.E.R. agents, all dressed up in old costumes of the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), in a surprise attack on the Wasps (Janet and Nadia Van Dyne). Fantasma, who wore a version of Janet's original costume, shocked the duo with a bio-sting that forced the two heroines to revert to their true height and lock out the Pym-particle effect. Fantasma then ordered the other Wasps to bring in the Wasps dead or alive, but watched in disappointment as they failed miserably against the two female heroes. With only one of W.H.I.S.P.E.R.'s Wasps still standing, Fantasma retreated into the base after telling the last Wasp that he and the others were fired because W.H.I.S.P.E.R. didn't employ failures. The last Wasp was then knocked out by Janet and Nadia, who followed Fantasma only to get caught in an illusory world by the Creature from Kosmos.
(Wasp I#3) - Fantasma posed as Janet Van Dyne and told the arriving Edwin Jarvis that Nadia was still inside the building and needed help. Edwin trusted her and went inside the building and got caught by the Creature from Kosmos as well.
(Wasp I#4) - Janet, Nadia and Jarvis escaped the Creature's illusory world and Nadia told Jarvis to flee before the Creature hurt him to distract them, but Jarvis ran right into the arms of Fantasma, who knocked him out. Nadia found Jarvis and Fantasma, who claimed that she wanted to kill Jarvis in front of Nadia because of something she had done to her in the past. Fantasma easily phased through Nadia's bio-stings, but Nadia counted on that and short-circuited Fantasma's armor by growing back to full size while they took up the same space. Nadia then removed the power supply from Fantasma's armor, leaving her immobile on the ground. Nadia told Fantasma that she could be whoever she wanted to be even without the armor and threatened to end her if they met again and Fantasma continued on her current path.
Comments: Created by Jeremy Whitley & Gurihiru Studios.
Nadia called Fantasma "some creep in a suit," though she was nice enough to call Fantasma her throughout the story. The creep comments still wasn't very woke and should probably get her canceled! The title was canceled a few issues later, but probably not because she forgot to be nice and supportive to the jerk, who impersonated her mother and friends and even threatened to kill them as part of his job with A.I.M., a terrorist organization. ;)
Profile by Markus Raymond.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Fantasma should not be confused with:
images (without ads)
Unstoppable Wasp II#8, p17 (main)
Unstoppable Wasp II#9, p6, pan4 (head shot, presumed true form)
Unstoppable Wasp II#3, p20, pan4 (as Priya)
Unstoppable Wasp II#7, p20, pan3 (as Maria)
Unstoppable Wasp II#8, p16, pan1 (kneeling)
Unstoppable Wasp II#9, p7, pan1 (phasing)
Wasp I#2, p11, pan1 (leader of an army of Wasps)
Wasp I#4, p13, pan5 (suit deactivated)
Appearances:
Unstoppable Wasp II#3 (February, 2019) - Jeremy Whitley (writer), Gurihiru Studios (artists), Alanna Smith (editor)
Unstoppable Wasp II#7 (July, 2019) - Jeremy Whitley (writer), Alti Firmansyah (artist), Alanna Smith (editor)
Unstoppable Wasp II#8-10 (August-September, 2019) - Jeremy Whitley (writer), Gurihiru Studios (artist), Alanna Smith (editor)
Wasp I#1-4 (March-June, 2023) - Al Ewing (writer), Kasia Nie (artist), Alanna Smith (editor)
First Posted: 02/28/2021
Last updated: 11/03/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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