So, I was walking past my LCS today, and, of course, I walked in....there's always a trade to buy. I got talking to the guys I know who were there, and we got round to talking about the Ant-Man movie thats been dropped in Edgar Wright's (the guy behind Shaun Of The Dead) hands. Point being - it's probably gonna be a comedy. I pointed out that Hank beat up his wife - and was informed they'd probably ignore that. Having told them, that an Ant-Man pitch is one of the pitches I'd put forward to Marvel, given the chance - if I was writing the script - I'd keep the wifebeating aspect, and play it for laughs. You'd swear I'd announced I'd killed a kitten or something. Elaborating, I said the gag I had in mind was something along the lines of a drunken Hank accidentaly swatting at Janet with a newspaper, or Yellow Jacket going Giant size and accidentaly kicking her out of his way. You'd swear I killed a kitten IN THE SHOP.
Is it possible to ignore the wife-beater aspect of Hank Pym?
Eh......... hard question to answer. I think you could but then you lose most of the depth to the character if you ignore it.
Entirely possible to ignore it. The wife-beating thing didn't happen until a good 20 years into Hank's career (early 80's if I'm not mistaken). It was a sudden snap for Hank and it's not like he had been smacking Jan for all those years.
Hank's more known for personality changes and mental breakdowns. His guilt over creating Ultron, guilt over Ulrton hurting Jan, feelings of inadequacy and even trying to commit suicide. Those issues are more interesting and complex than simply saying "wahhhh..he's a jackass wifebeater!" But because more fanboys read "Ultimates" than Hank's early 80's Avengers days, they think the wifebeater is an essential part of the character.
If you can, check out Avengers #212- 232. A long, drawn out story about Hank's descent. Those will give you a good insight into the character and his demons. I'm not condoning "wife-beating" and saying it was no biggie, but it was just a preliminary part of Hank's problems. You don't necessarily need to cover that aspect to get into Hank.