Evangeline Lilly’s Hope Van Dyne had a fairly significant role in Ant-Man, but many fans were disappointed that she never had the chance to suit up as The Wasp. The movie ended with that being teased, of course, and now everyone is excited to see her take centre stage in the appropriately titled Ant-Man and The Wasp.
Originally, the plan was for her to appear as the hero in Captain America: Civil War, but Marvel decided to save that moment for the Ant-Man sequel to make it really count. For those of you worrying that the character isn’t being properly utilized, though, fear not, as the film’s director, Peyton Reed, had this to say recently:
“It’s something we’re excited about. For me as a comic nerd, I always thought of Ant-Man and Wasp as a team and that’s a lot of what the second movie is really about is how they work together, what their personal and professional relationships are like. To show her finally fully formed in this movie is really exciting. We really get to introduce this character into that universe. I mean we’ve introduced the character, but we haven’t seen her with her full power set and everything, so to me she’s not a supporting character in this movie. It’s every bit as much her movie as it is Scott Lang’s.”
Because Marvel was originally waiting for Edgar Wright to make Ant-Man, both that character and The Wasp were left out of The Avengers, so the fact she’s finally going to get the screentime she deserves is definitely exciting news. As for where things currently stand with the sequel, Reed added:
“Assuming everything stays on schedule, we start filming Ant-Man and the Wasp in June.”
It’s thought that Ant-Man and The Wasp will also put the spotlight on Janet Van Dyne, the hero who originally held the mantle before her daughter. As a result, fans have a lot to look forward to here if they’re after a full on Wasp fix, and Reed’s comments indicate that the 2018 release should have no problem living up to expectations once it hits theatres.