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Quote1 They call me the Red Wasp, but my real name is the Insect Queen and I used to be a terrorist too. Back in the good old days. Quote2
Red Wasp

History

Petra Laskov (Earth-1610) from Ultimates 2 Vol 1 9 001

As Swarm

Petra Laskov was a Syrian scientist who was married to Nikolai Laskov, a Georgian activist working for one of the Red Skull's enemies. The Red Skull held her, her husband, and their baby son hostage, forcing her to choose whether to kill her husband with a pair of old scissors or watch him shoot her baby. She chose to kill her husband, and took over an hour to kill him with the scissors. The Red Skull then threw her son out the window and ordered his men to rape her, "just to send a message."[3]

Liberators[]

Sometime later, Petra joined the Liberators' invasion of America under the codename Swarm, having been granted the power to control insects. She was presumed killed when a giant-sized Wasp stepped on her.[4]

Avengers[]

The Red Skull[]

Petra Laskov (Earth-1610) from Ultimate Avengers Vol 1 3 cover

As Red Wasp

Swarm was thought killed by the original Wasp during her participation in the attack on America, but was healed by S.H.I.E.L.D. and enrolled in their rehabilitation program by having an obedience chip installed inside of her if she ever fell out of line. She was forced to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. under the codename Red Wasp, in which she was tasked with counter-terrorism. Red Wasp later became a member of The Avengers. She and her team arrested the rogue Captain America, and made plans to assault A.I.M..[5] When they arrived at A.I.M. Headquarters, they discovered the mutilated bodies of the A.I.M. henchmen scattered about the ground. When they confronted Red Skull he revealed that with the Cosmic Cube he had ordered the henchmen to eat each other, and they obeyed. Red Skull immediately recognized Petra and sarcastically asked her how she was doing.[3]

Red Skull (Earth-1610), Petra Laskov (Earth-1610), and Nicholas Fury (Earth-1610) from Ultimate Avengers Vol 1 6 001

Petra kills her family's executioner

The fight was not going well for the Avengers, and the Red Skull was boasting that he would keep Petra alive to make her relive the killings of her husband and child over and over again. Captain America arrived in the "Teleporter Jet" and managed to subdue the Red Skull. A short while later when the Red Skull was in the hospital, Petra (dressed like a doctor) walked into the room and shot the villain in the head, killing her family's executioner.[6]

Attributes

Powers

  • As Swarm: Able to control large numbers of insects.
  • As Red Wasp: She can fly and can shrink her body to the size of an insect. She also uses a variation of the "Wasp Sting", with which she can paralyze any foe.

Weaknesses

As Red Wasp (and possibly Swarm): She can be be subdued by simple insect repellent.

See Also

Links and References

References

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