Ghost (real name: Ava Starr) is a major anti-hero from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing as the main antagonist of Ant-Man and the Wasp and one of the titular main protagonist of the 2025 film Thunderbolts*. She is a former archenemy of Ant-Man and Wasp, the daughter of Elihas and Catherine Starr, the adoptive daughter of Bill Foster and an upcoming member of the Thunderbolts.
She is a young woman who can phase through solid objects since Ehlias Starr's experiments on a quantum tunnel went wrong. As a child, Ava was adopted by Bill Foster and trained to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. operative in a false assurance they would cure her.
Eventually, Ava began dying from her ailments and started planning on extracting the Quantum Realm energy from Janet van Dyne by using the Quantum Tunnel in Hank Pym's portable science lab.
However, while her plans fail, Janet managed to stabilize Ava with quantum energy. By Thunderbolts, a different side of her is seen now that she can control her abilities.
Biography[]
Background[]
Ava Starr is the daughter of scientist Elihas Starr and his wife, Catherine. She grew up in Argentina.
After her father was fired by Hank Pym, Elihas Starr attempted to continue his research and open a tunnel that led to the Quantum Realm. However, the experiment went awry, with Elihas yelling for Ava and her mother to flee. Despite this, Ava returned to her father, not wanting him to die alone with her mother following her. The experiment exploded, killing Ava's parents. Though Ava survived, she was affected with quantum instability, causing her to periodically phase out of existence as it caused her great pain.
When she was found by a rescue crew, they couldn't touch her. Ava was sent in an orphanage when she was found by Bill Foster, a friend of her father's, who took Ava in as his adoptive daughter. She became an operative of SHIELD, just like Hawkeye and Black Widow. In exchange for Ava's services, SHIELD would look for a cure for her and made a suit that would help her control her powers. However, Ava realized they never intended to help promising to help find a cure for her, after S.H.I.E.L.D. never intended of fulfilling their end of the deal.
Ant-Man and the Wasp[]
After the Sokovia Accords, Ava began chasing after Hank Pym and his daughter, Hope Van Dyne. She spied on Hank, Hope, and their ally, Scott Lang and followed them to Sunny Burch as they took the shrunken down lab with them. Ava attacked Hope, who shrunk down in her Wasp costume. As Scott went to help Hope, Ava went to Hank, who was unattended, and threatened to kill him if he didn't give her his laboratory. Reluctantly, he gave it to her.
Ava, returning home went to her Quantum Energy Chamber, found out that the Pym's and Lang had arrived in her lair. She knocked both partners out, including Hank and held them captive. She and Bill Foster revealed that they intended to extract quantum energy from Janet and heal Ava of her affliction, despite Hope and Hank's protests that it could kill Janet. However, the trio manage to escape when Hank feigned a heart attack. Remembering that Scott had a daughter, Cassie, Ava wished to hold her hostage and ransom her for the laboratory. However, Foster refused to aid Ava if she went down that path. Instead, the young woman said there were other ways to get the lab back.
She tracks down the lab from where Hank and Hope are arrested and takes it with her. However, when Ava is distracted by Scott and his ants, Luis and Hope get the lab back. However, Ava began attacking them during a car chase until Starr was incapacitated by Hope. Though not for long, Ghost was able to take the remote to the lab from Luis and activate it in the middle of the road. A small fight ensued between her, Ant-Man, and Wasp. The trio's fight stops when Hank and Janet return, with the Pyms reuniting with each other at last. When Ava woke up, she began phasing crazily until Janet comes to stabilize the young woman with some of her quantum energy. After the ordeal, the group escaped.
Remorseful for her actions, Ava told Foster to go on without her. However, Bill refused to leave his foster daughter and promised to stick with her. Touched, she hugged him as they left to go into hiding, with the Pym's and Scott promising to help heal her.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Mutated physiology
- Invisibility
- Phasing
- Intangibility
Trivia[]
- Unlike other villains in the MCU, Ava did not desire to have revenge, take over the world, power or getting rich. Instead, she's after something that will help save her.
- Is the second female antagonist in the MCU films, preceded b* Ava is the only main antagonist of the Ant-Man film series who is female. She is also the first main antagonist from the film series to reform, followed by Darren Cross/MODOK in the third film.y Hela.
- She is the second villain to reform, after Loki Laufeyson.
- Ghost is the third character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to be depicted as a different gender from their counterpart in the comics, following Jeri Hogarth and the Ancient One], with the fourth being Mar-Vell, and the fifth being Morgan Stark
- Ava's name was originally going to be Dawn.