GRO-RILLA
Earth-8101
Real Name: Henry "Hank" Pym
Identity/Class: Alternate Earth (Earth-8101) primate mutate
Occupation: Superhero
Group Membership: Ape-Vengers (Ape X/Roy Reyna, Captain America/Steven Rogers, Hawkape/Clint Barton, Iron Mandrill, Juggermonk/Cain Marko, Monkey-C, Ms. Marvel/Carol Danvers, Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff, Sandmonk, Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff, Speedball/Robert Baldwin, Spider-Monkey/Peter Parker, Thorangutan/Thorangutan Odinson, Vision, Wasp/Janet van Dyne, "Wonder Ape"/Simon Williams)
Affiliations: Captain Britain (Brian Braddock), Daredevil (Matt Murdock), Fantastic Four (Invisible Simian/Susan Storm, Simian Torch/Johnny Storm, Thing/Ben Grimm), Forbush Ape (Irving Forbush), Huhr (Bruce Bananner), Jarvis, Aperaham Lincoln, X-Simians (Angel/Warren Worthington III, Beast/Hank McCoy, Cyclops/Scott Summers, Icemonk/Bobby Drake, Marvel Girl/Jean Grey)
Enemies: Baron Blood (John Falsworth), Doctor Ooktopus (Otto Ooktavius), Invaders (Bucky/James Barnes, Red Raven, Sub-Mariner/Namor McKenzie, Toro/Thomas Raymond), Kong the Conqueror;
formerly Dr. Fiona Fitzhugh of Earth-616, Gibbon of Earth-616, Outcasts (Dr. Druid/Anthony Druid, Ghost Rider/Johnny Blaze, Huhr/Bruce Bananner, Iron Paw/Daniel Rand, Punisher/Frank Castle, Speedball/Robert Baldwin, Wolverine/James Howlett);
presumably Mad Thinker and his Apedroid, Mole Monk (Harvey Elder), Ooktron
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "Ant-Ape" (see comments)
Base of Operations: Ape-Vengers Tower, Monkhattan
First Appearance: Marvel Apes I#1/1 (November, 2008)
Powers/Abilities: Hank Pym can alter his size and mass through the use of Pym Particles, allowing him to shrink to insect scale or grow to giant proportions. These changes grant him enhanced strength relative to his size, and he often employs advanced technology of his own design to support his crime fighting activities.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 7'2")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 2,600 lbs.)
Eyes: White, no visible irises
Hair: Unrevealed
History:
(Marvel Apes I#2/2 - BTS) - Hank Pym was a brilliant scientist who discovered Pym Particles and, through exposure to them, gained the ability to alter his size and mass. He adopted a costumed identity modeled after an ant and used his new powers to fight crime. He was later joined in his adventures by Janet van Dyne, the Wasp.
(Marvel Apes I#2/2) - Hank Pym fought crime alongside his partner Janet van Dyne, the Wasp. Their activities attracted the attention of the Watcher, an ancient cosmic observer who monitored events across the universe without interfering. Noting the pair, the Watcher admitted he could observe the Wasp's beauty for a year without blinking.
(Marvel Apes I#1/3 - BTS) - At an unrevealed point in time, Hank Pym joined the Ape-Vengers after enlarging himself to giant size and adopting the name Gro-Rilla. Pym and the other Avengers were unaware that their enigmatic leader Captain America was in fact the Nazi vampire John Falsworth who had replaced the true Captain America during World War II.
(Marvel Apes I#1/3) - During what would become known as the Silver Age of heroes, Gro-Rilla and the Ape-Vengers would fight alongside other costumed superapes such as Daredevil, Forbush Ape, the X-Simians and the Fantastic Four.
(Marvel Apes I#2/2 - BTS) - Kong the Conqueror transported the Ape-Vengers back to the 1800s, leaving the team stranded in the past. Gro-Rilla proved to be their only hope of escape, though how Aperaham Lincoln became involved in the situation remained a mystery.
(Marvel Apes I#3/2 - BTS) - When Captain Britain was struck by Gro-Rilla's Pym Particle, he grew to an enormous "thousand monkeys tall" size and rampaged toward Big Ben. Only the dimension hopping Union Jackalope was capable of stopping him.
(Marvel Apes I#1/1 - BTS) - While part of the Ape-Vengers, Spider-Monkey developed a crush on the Wasp, much to Gro-Rilla's annoyance.
(Marvel Apes I#1/1) - After Ape X, Speedball, and Spider-Monkey defeated Doctor Ooktopus with help from Earth-616's Gibbon and Dr. Fiona Fitzhugh, the group returned to the Ape-Vengers Tower. Still bound in a massive web cocoon, Doc Ook was handed over to Gro-Rilla and Juggermonk. Irritated by Spider-Monkey's obvious crush on the Wasp, Gro-Rilla remarked that he "didn't know Jan like he did" and added that wasps were known to kill spiders. He then turned to Juggermonk and escorted their captive into the tower's sub-levels to face trial.
(Marvel Apes I#3/1 - BTS) - Gro-Rilla and the other Ape-Vengers were deceived into believing that the Gibbon had slain Reed Richards and was preparing an interdimensional invasion. In truth, Richards had been murdered by Captain America, secretly Baron Blood. Baron Blood sought to invade Earth-616 through Fitzhugh and Richards' dimensional portal.
(Marvel Apes I#4/1) - Gro-Rilla was present when Dr. Fitzhugh was forced to activate the portal to Earth-616, Gro-Rilla and the others glimpsed their human counterparts on giant screens before Captain America delivered an enigmatic speech rallying his forces for invasion. Just as the portal was to be opened, the Outcasts, a group of rejected super-simians, arrived in force. Gro-Rilla and the Ape-Vengers clashed with them until the original Captain America, saved by the Outcasts, revealed himself and exposed Baron Blood's deception. When the vampiric Invaders appeared, the Ape-Vengers and Fantastic Four allied with the Outcasts to battle Blood and his forces. In the climactic battle, Fitzhugh and the Gibbon returned to their home-reality with the gravely wounded Speedball, after which Ape X slew Baron Blood, destroying the portal in the process. The blast tore apart part of the Ape-Vengers Tower, but the heroes emerged victorious.
(Marvel Zombies: Evil Evolution#1) - Gro-Rilla and the Ape-Vengers rebuilt their dimensional portal and prepared to retrieve their wayward teammate Speedball, intending to punish him for what they saw as a betrayal after he cooperated with humans. Before they could activate the device, a second portal abruptly tore open in midair. From it emerged Gorilla Girl (Fahnbullah Eddy), sent from a divergent reality where the ape world had fallen to superhuman zombies. Determined to prevent Earth-8101 from ever connecting to the zombie dimension, she used the enchanted monkey-wrench taken from the Wrencher, who had been killed by a zombie, to destroy the Ape-Vengers' portal. Unaware of the danger she had averted, the Ape-Vengers did not realize that Gorilla Girl had just saved their entire reality.
Comments: Created by Karl Kesel.
Although Pym appeared in his Ant-Man persona in Marvel Apes I#2/2 (November 2008), he was never referred to by that codename. Since primate heroes in this universe replaced "man" with "ape" or "monk," he would presumably have been known as "Ant-Ape."
Both Marvel Apes I#2 (December, 2008) and Marvel Apes I#3 (December, 2008) included a Bonobo-Pen Bulletin letter page that established that several Marvel Apes variant covers at the time were part of their reality with fun little solicitations of those issues. In the Bonobo-Pen Bulletin letter page for Marvel Apes I#2 (December, 2008) Gro-Rilla was mentioned in the solicitation for the Mighty Ape-Vengers #28 and in the Bonobo-Pen Bulletin letter page for Marvel Apes I#3 (December, 2008) for Captain Britain & MI-13 #5.
He was also seen on the cover of Marvel Apes I#0 (December, 2008), the issue itself was a collection of reprints.
The Marvel Apes limited series (2008) was conceived as a playful companion to the earlier Marvel Zombies phenomenon. Following the unexpected commercial success of Zombies, Marvel looked to replicate the formula by reimagining its superheroes in another offbeat, high-concept alternate reality. Writer Karl Kesel, inspired by Silver Age whimsy and the classic "What If?" tradition, pitched a world where Marvel's heroes and villains were evolved primates rather than humans. The project was greenlit as a four-issue miniseries, launching with a tongue-in-cheek promotional campaign that leaned into its absurdity while still delivering a surprisingly dark, satirical storyline. The series spawned several tie-ins and one-shots, positioning the Ape-Verse as both a parody of and homage to Marvel's multiverse storytelling.
Earth-8101 is the main Marvel Apes reality, but there are three others as well:
- Earth-81218, possible future of Earth-8101 set in the year 2099.
- Earth-90543, monkey Speedball was send back to his world and branded a traitor by the Ape-Vengers. This was a bad dream of the Gibbon.
- Earth-95019, diverged from 8101 when zombies invaded their world. The reset button was eventually pushed on the original Earth-8101, preventing the divergence.
Profile by MarvellousLuke
CLARIFICATIONS:
Gro-Rilla has no known connections to
Images: (without ads)
Marvel Apes I#4, p8, pan1 (main image)
Marvel Apes I#2, p27, pan2 (with Wasp)
Marvel Apes I#1, p17, pan2 (with the Ape-Vengers)
Marvel Zombies: Evil Evolution, p48, pan1 (rebuild the dimensional portal)
Appearances:
Marvel Apes I#1/1 (November, 2008) - Karl Kesel (writer), Ramon Bachs (pencils, inks), Tom Brennan (editor)
Marvel Apes I#1/3 (November, 2008) - Tom Peyer (writer), Barry Kitson (pencils, inks), Stephen Wacker, Tom Brennan, Tom Brevoort (editors)
Marvel Apes I#2/2 (November, 2008) - Flourn (writer, editor of Bonobo-Pen Bulletin)
Marvel Apes I#2/3 (November, 2008) - Tom Peyer (writer), Karl Kesel (pencils, inks), Stephen Wacker, Tom Brennan, Tom Brevoort (editors)
Marvel Apes I#3/2 (December, 2008) - Flourn (writer, editor of Bonobo-Pen Bulletin)
Marvel Apes I#4/1 (December, 2008) - Karl Kesel (writer), Ramon Bachs (pencils & inks), Tom Brennan (editor)
Marvel Zombies: Evil Evolution (November, 2009) - Karl Kesel (writer), Adam DeKraker (pencils), Rob DiSalvo, Carlo Soriano, Joe Suitor (pencils, inks), Tom Brennan (editor)
First Posted: 11/20/2025
Last Updated: 11/20/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
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