Why was Melissa Rauch's appearance as a Marvel superhero quite so
short? And why did she jump over to the DC Universe soon after? Keep watching.
During its twelve season run, "The Big Bang Theory" was beloved by audiences all over
the world. The series became something of an award magnet as the years went on,
netting several Primetime Emmys, among other notable prizes.
It famously thrust nerd culture into the mainstream, which no other sitcom had ever
done with such unapologetic aplomb. Of course, there was also the comedy's stable of characters,
and the actors who played them, that drove the series for the duration of its run.
By the time "The Big Bang Theory" left the small screen in 2019,
its main cast had grown to include eight names. Jim Parsons played Sheldon Cooper,
Kaley Cuoco starred as Penny Teller, Johnny Galecki was Leonard Hofstadter,
Mayim Bialik played Amy Farrah Fowler, Simon Helberg starred as Howard Wolowitz,
Kunal Nayyar was Raj Koothrappali, and Melissa Rauch played Bernadette Rostenkowski.
Not only was "The Big Bang Theory" steady work for its stars, they were compensated
handsomely for their efforts too. Nevertheless, a well-paying job didn't stop some of its stars from
exploring other creative avenues. In the case of Melissa Rauch, she even visited the Marvel
Universe for a spell during her "Big Bang Theory" tenure, but you might not realize who she played.
Two years after the character's arrival in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in which he was
portrayed by Paul Rudd, Ant-Man became the lead of his own animated series. Simply titled "Ant-Man,"
the series of shorts saw the titular shrinking hero stand toe-to-toe against a variety of
villains pulled from his comic book counterpart's rogues' gallery, including Yellowjacket. Josh
Keaton of "Voltron: Legendary Defender" and "Hercules" fame took on the show's lead voice
role, but his two-dimensional take on Scott Lang couldn't save the world from evil on his own.
Alongside Dee Bradley Baker's Hank Pym, Bernadette Rostenkowski actor Melissa Rauch joined the fray
as Hope Pym, also known as the Wasp. Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are already familiar
with her character, who is portrayed by Evangeline Lilly in the original 2015 movie and the 2018 film
"Ant-Man and the Wasp." In those movies, her character is named Hope van Dyne, bearing the
surname of her mother, Janet van Dyne, who wore the Wasp suit in a previous life. Lily's take on
the character is a distinct entity from her comic book progenitor in several key ways. Rauch's Wasp,
meanwhile, retains the name Hope Pym from the comic book source material, thus maintaining
some characteristics that fell by the wayside when the character was adapted for the MCU.
Sadly for fans of the actor and the Wasp character alike, Rauch only appeared in two
of the "Ant-Man" cartoon's six episodes. In the first, "Alien Invasion," the episode opens with
Ant-Man bragging to the Wasp about a prior mission when an alarm goes off in his lab, signaling that
an armada of tiny aliens is approaching. Ant-Man and the Wasp then team up and promptly stop them.
In her second appearance on the show, in an episode titled "Not a Date," Hank and Hope
are enjoying a day out with one another, out of costume, when the villainous Whirlwind attacks.
"That's no ordinary tornado, that's Whirlwind, one of my dad's enemies."
Fortunately, the two heroes are prepared for such an occasion and quickly suit up,
allowing them to fight their adversary. Ant-Man
and the Wasp alternately use their growth and shrinking abilities to take him down,
all the while arguing about whether or not their outing constitutes a date.
In the end, Rauch's time as the Wasp amounted to a rather short run as the Marvel Comics mainstay.
Thankfully, she ended up with a much more significant spotlight under the DC Comics banner
when she got to voice fan-favorite Harley Quinn in the 2017 "Batman and Harley Quinn" animated
feature. All in all, Melissa Rauch's Marvel legacy doesn't come anywhere close to that of present day
MCU staple Evangeline Lilly, but at least she got to voice the character for a little while.
Perhaps, someday she'll return to the world of Marvel in a more substantial part.
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