Marvel's Ant-Man 3: Evangeline Lilly Teases Change For MCU's Wasp

Disney's Investor Day gave Marvel fans plenty to be excited about, including a third Ant-Man movie. Officially titled Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the movie will see Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly return as Ant-Man and the Wasp respectively. Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer will also be along for the ride as Hope's parents, and Kathryn Newton will take over the role of Scott's daughter Cassie Lang. 

Few plot details are known about the next Ant-Man and the Wasp team up, but it is confirmed that Jonathon Majors will play the villain, Kang the Conquerer. The film is rumored to be eyeing a 2022 release date, meaning production should be kicking off early this year. 

EVANGELINE LILLY HOPE-ING FOR A CHANGE

In an interview with Beyond the Mouse, via Twitter's Ant-Man News, actress Evangeline Lilly discussed some areas she's hoping to explore in Hope van Dyne's character in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. 

Lilly said that she was looking to move Hope away from the "tough badass chick" she'd leaned into previously:

"I find myself pushing against this tough badass chick thing. Which is really interesting because at the beginning of my career I was pushing that so hard. I was like Kate is going to be badass. She's going to keep up with all the guys. She is going to be capable and strong. And then this whole massive shift in the industry happened. Suddenly these characters were everywhere. I guess I must be a contrarian by nature. Because I find myself going 'well hang on a minute.' We're all so fragile and vulnerable and small and soft. And I find myself going 'Woah, we aren't supposed to just be men with boobs'. Like what does it mean to be a woman? That question of what does it mean to be a woman is extremely important right now. What I think is crucial is that we're exploring that right now through our stories."

She also teased how she hopes to explore this question in the upcoming movie:

"I'm really excited. I can't give anything away but I think, my hunch is, I may have manifested something in that space in the Marvel world with Hope van Dyne. Because I think the direction we're going with her might be very satisfying for me in that way."

A NEW HOPE VAN DYNE

Lilly has always been an advocate for female superheroes that are also very feminine. She said during the filming of Ant-Man and the Wasp that she wanted to have a signature fighting style that little girls could look up to. It looks like Lilly is continuing this push in the next movie, answering some questions around the female experience through Hope and it seems Marvel Studios has been responsive to this. 

Marvel Studios has made a conscious effort to bring female superhero stories to the screen in recent years. In 2019, Captain Marvel became the first female-fronted superhero movie in the MCU, and hopefully, in 2021, fans will also get Black Widow's solo film. There's also the A-Force teaser scene in Avengers Endgame which has caused many Marvel actresses to voice their support for an all-female team-up movie. 

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is expected to release sometime in 2022.