Back in his Yellowjacket identity, Hank returned to the Avengers, only to be captured by Ultron, who messed with Hank's head and forced him back into his Ant-Man role, but with no memory of the past several years. Hank attacked his own team until Janet managed to calm him down and reverse the programming.
Thief Scott Lang, in the midst of trying to find a way to save his sick daughter, stole an Ant-Man costume and helmet from Hank's vault. After confronting Scott and learning of his goodhearted intentions, Hank let him keep the costume, on the condition that Scott stay on the right side of the law.
Feeling out of place as a Super Hero and uninspired as a scientist, Hank's mental state began to deteriorate. Hank began to display hostile behavior toward his wife and attacked Avengers opponent Elfqueen while she was in the process of standing down, leading the team to court-martial him. Desperate, Hank built a robot to attack the city with a weak spot he would utilize to stop it, believing he could trick the populace and the Avengers into accepting him again. When Janet learned of his plan and pleaded with Hank to stop, he struck her. His plan ultimately exposed, Hank was drummed out of the Avengers in disgrace and Janet filed for divorce.
Hank continued to be manipulated by villains. Pym?s old enemy, Egghead, coerced him to steal adamantium, making it seem as though an innocent would die if he did not. When the Avengers arrived, Egghead vanished without a trace. With their relationship already deteriorated, the Avengers didn't believe Hank's story and he was thrown in prison. Egghead couldn't leave Hank alone, however, and attempted to kill him while the scientist was imprisoned. The attempt failed, leading the Avengers to learn the truth, and Hank's subsequent release. He took the opportunity to return to being a scientist full time, leaving his Super Hero life behind, seemingly for good.
Hank eventually joined the West Coast Avengers in a support staff capacity. Although he went on missions, he now simply went by Dr. Pym, forgoing a costumed identity or the use of Pym Particles on himself. Instead, he carried a case filled with miniaturized vehicles, tools, and weapons for the team to use when needed. With Janet also on the West Coast team, the two tentatively began to resume their relationship.
Eventually overcoming his hesitation to once more become a costumed Super Hero, Hank found himself back with the East Coast Avengers as Giant-Man, only to seemingly sacrifice his life along with many of the world's non-mutant heroes to stop the immensely powerful being Onslaught. Hank was thrown into a pocket universe until Franklin Richards brought all the heroes back.
After the Avengers disbanded, Hank and Janet left for England to try and make their relationship work again. The Skrulls, in the process of invading Earth, took the opportunity to replace Hank with an impostor. It was this impostor that fought in the Super Hero Civil War, and was even named Man of the Year by Time Magazine for his role in helping those heroes who chose not to support registration.
The Skrull impostor Pym became one of the leaders of the Initiative, which trained registered Super Heroes to fight for the government. At long last, though, the imposter was exposed, and the real Hank returned, but only just before Janet was killed by Skrulls. In tribute to his lost love, Hank took on the mantel of the Wasp and became the leader of a new incarnation of the Avengers.