Who Ghost is
Ava Starr is the daughter of a scientist who once worked with Hank Pym. A lab accident killed her parents and left Ava's body unstable at the quantum level, so her molecules constantly shift in and out of phase. It lets her walk through walls and slip past punches, but it also causes her constant pain and threatens to tear her apart.
That pain is the key to her. Ava was raised and used by S.H.I.E.L.D. as an operative, and she is not evil so much as desperate. She wants the Pym family's quantum research because she believes it can cure her, and she will hurt people to get it. Her goal is understandable even when her methods are not.
Ghost's appearances in order
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (recommended)
- Thunderbolts* (essential)
- Avengers: Doomsday (upcoming)
- Avengers: Secret Wars (upcoming)
Ant-Man and the Wasp is her origin and her biggest early role, as the film's antagonist. Thunderbolts* moves her into a team of antiheroes. Doomsday has not been released, and while Hannah John-Kamen is part of its announced cast, no plot details are public. Secret Wars appears on our timeline, also without any announced story details.
Turning points (no late spoilers)
In Ant-Man and the Wasp, she is a threat that Scott Lang, Hope van Dyne and Hank Pym cannot simply punch away, and the film slowly reveals why. Bill Foster, Hank's former colleague, has been looking after her, which complicates any idea that she is a simple villain.
Thunderbolts* puts her alongside other operatives with messy pasts. Without spoiling the film, it is a story about broken people who keep getting used by those in power, and Ava fits right in. It also gives her more room to be dryly funny than her first film did.
Her team and rivals
Yelena Belova and John Walker are key members of the Thunderbolts* lineup, and Ava's prickly relationship with them is part of the film's humor. Scott Lang and the Pym family are her first opponents. Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, is also tied to the Thunderbolts* story.
About the actor: Hannah John-Kamen
Hannah John-Kamen makes Ava's pain visible without letting it become self-pity, and she sells the eerie flickering effects with tense physical acting. In Thunderbolts* she adds a cool, sardonic edge. Before the MCU, she led the space series Killjoys and played a memorable villain role in Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One.
Which order to watch
Watch Ant-Man and the Wasp first, since Thunderbolts* expects you to know who Ava is and how her powers work. Thunderbolts* is the essential one going forward, because its team is heading into the next Avengers films. If you are deciding what MCU movies to skip, keep both of hers in your list for this character. Look up the rest of the Thunderbolts* team in our MCU character index.