Atom

PHASE 2 What if Disney owned DC and made Atom (2015)

After a troubled past and a stint in prison, Ryan Choi, a brilliant but overlooked physicist, struggles to rebuild his life and prove he can be more than his mistakes. His expertise in nanotechnology draws the attention of Dr. Ray Palmer, a legendary scientist and former hero who once operated as the Atom. Ray reveals that he developed experimental white-dwarf star matter technology, allowing its user to shrink to subatomic size while gaining immense strength. Fearing its misuse, Ray abandoned the Atom identity years ago. Now, with his research resurfacing inside Palmer Technologies, he recruits Ryan to inherit the mantle and trains him to master the suit’s dangers and possibilities. Assisting them is Karen Beecher, a gifted engineer and former partner of Ray, providing tactical support and advanced drone technology. Their fears are realized when Ray’s former colleague, Dr. Bertram Larvan, becomes obsessed with weaponizing the shrinking tech. Transforming himself into the armored assassin Bug-Eyed Bandit, Larvan develops an unstable combat suit that mimics Atom’s abilities but amplifies aggression and paranoia. Seeking power and recognition, Larvan plans to sell the technology to military and criminal buyers, turning size-changing into the ultimate covert weapon. Ryan, now fully stepping into his role as the Atom, confronts Bug-Eyed Bandit in a battle that shifts between the microscopic and the everyday world, where household objects become deadly landscapes. When Larvan’s suit begins to collapse, threatening massive destruction, Ryan makes a desperate choice—shrinking beyond safe limits and entering the Microverse, a realm where time and physics break down. With guidance from Ray and Karen, Ryan finds a way back, defeating Bug-Eyed Bandit and destroying the corrupted research. Larvan is left alive but trapped, a warning of what the technology can become without restraint.

Story added by dippy2 on November 21, 2022