Maria Trovaya (Earth-616)

Maria Trovaya was the daughter of Dr. Janos Trovaya, a Hungarian geneticist and entomologist.^[1]

Maria and her father were political prisoners in their native Hungary, but they managed to escape to the United States of America. Her father started working for the United States, though it was not clarified whether he was an employee of the United States Government. Maria felt that her father was safe in the United States. She herself felt nostalgia for Hungary, the country where she had spent her childhood.^[1]

Maria became Henry Pym's first wife. She convinced Henry to leave his scientific work for a honeymoon in Hungary and Henry's first vacation in several years. Henry expressed some concern about her safety, citing her past as an escaped prisoner. Maria was convinced that nobody would recognize her, and that nobody would suspect that Maria Trovaya and Maria Pym were the same person.^[1]

During their vacation, Maria teased Henry about his supposed laziness. She commented that Henry was "not an industrious ant", and quoted her father as always saying "Go to the ants, thou dullard".^[1]

While in Hungary, Henry tried to stop a passing vehicle which he thought was a taxi cab. The vehicle was actually used by Communist agents, who kidnapped Maria under the threat of their handguns. Maria was warned not to make a sound, or else they would shoot and kill Henry. As the vehicle (with Maria) fled the scene, another agent knocked out Henry from behind.^[1] The unnamed agents knew Maria's real identity and called her by name; however, they had no interest in Henry Pym and did not seem to know his name.^[1]

Henry reported Maria's kidnapping to the American embassy in Hungary. An hour following the kidnapping, the embassy was informed that Maria's corpse had been discovered. There was a note on her corpse, claiming that this is what happens to people who attempt to escape from behind the Iron Curtain.^[1] That same day, a message arrived at the embassy from the United States. Maria's father had been killed in a laboratory explosion. The Americans suspected that this was an act of sabotage, but they had no way to confirm it.^[1]

Henry Pym swore revenge against anyone involved in Maria's murder, and reportedly went berserk. Within a few days, Henry was imprisoned in Hungary for unspecified crimes. He had not been able to find Maria's murderers, but was on the verge of a mental and physical breakdown. The American embassy arranged for his release and safe transfer to the United States.^[1]

A woman claiming to be Maria Trovaya appeared years later as a Communist test subject;^[2] however, she was quickly revealed to be a fake, and instead was mutated further into the super-criminal M.O.D.A.M.^[3]

Years later, the Avengers discovered that Maria was the mother of Nadia, the future Wasp.^[4]

• Maria's word about industrious ants seem to be what caused Henry Pym's interest on ants. This would eventually lead to his career as the superhero Ant-Man.^[1]
• While the American embassy informed Henry Pym of Maria's murder, he was apparently not allowed to examine her corpse.^[1]
• According to Henry Pym, there was a strong physical resemblance between Janet Van Dyne and Maria Trovaya; however, Janet was much younger than Maria.^[1]