Marvel Studios is known for having its grand master plan all laid out for years to come, even if those plans don’t release to the public all at the same time. After three more releases in 2021 and more than a dozen in-store for 2022, the MCU will kick off 2023 with a highly-anticipated threequel in Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
After a noticeable absence in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War and a key role in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, Scott Lang/Ant-Man is set for quite the emotional journey after helping develop the plan to defeat Thanos and save half the universe. However, this movie’s heroes will only move from one monumental villain to another as they come face-to-face with Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror, who will likely go full supervillain after his wacky introduction in the Season 1 finale of Loki.
Teaming up with Rudd once again for her fifth MCU project to date is Evangeline Lily as Hope Van Dyne/The Wasp, who most recently played a starring role in Episode 5 of the animated What If…? on Disney+. While that version of Hope sacrificed herself to save her teammates during a zombie apocalypse, Hope in the main timeline will be in for a thrilling adventure of her own after five years away from the world.
Evangeline Lilly’s hero will have her own set of challenges to face as she suits up in the Wasp outfit again, although she will have plenty of backup with both of her parents, Scott’s Ant-Man, and even Cassie Lang’s Stature in the upcoming fight. Additionally, looking at Lilly’s behind-the-scenes experience, she seems to have a better handle on her MCU role than ever before.
Evangeline Lilly Talks About Her Experience Playing The Wasp In The Ant-Man Series
Recently, Lilly described Hope Van Dyne as something of an enigma in her experience playing the character for Marvel Studios. She admitted that she finds it more difficult to understand Hope than any character she’s played in her career to date:
“Hope is an odd enigma for me. I wish I could say otherwise because I want to honor her; I want to honor every character I ever play. But the truth is that I find it harder to know and understand Hope than any other character I’ve ever played before.”
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While confirming that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is over halfway done shooting, she also described having a sort of “eureka” moment where she finally clicked with her MCU heroine. While she’s unsure if fans will see a difference in her performance, she seems optimistic that she has a better handle on her role in Ant-Man 3 than she’s had over the past six years.
“We’re just a little over halfway through. And I will say that after I read the script of the film, I did have a kind of eureka moment; I said to Peyton [Reed], ‘Oh my God, I think I finally get her.’ (Laughs.) Three or four films in, I thought, ‘I think I get it now.’ So I’m hoping that when we come to wrap and when I see the movie, I’m going to know the difference. But I don’t think anyone else will. I think I’m a good bluffer.
That’s what I do for a living. But I know the difference and I’m hopeful that in this one, I’ll feel like I can watch it and go, ‘Yeah, you had a better handle on her in this one than you ever have before.’ That’s my goal, anyway. That’s my hope.”
With this being Lilly’s fourth live-action experience playing Hope Van Dyne, and her fifth overall, it should be exciting to know that she feels more in touch with the flying dynamo now as she takes on her biggest solo story to date. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will likely see Hope finding out her full potential as a superhero while also teaming up with Scott, helping to train Cassie, and even reuniting with her parents after their experience in the Quantum Realm.
Whether that “eureka” moment is discernible on-screen for fans is a complete mystery, although it should be exciting to see the damage a fully realized Hope can do in a post-Avengers: Endgame universe.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will release in theaters on February 17, 2023.
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Source: THR
