Evangeline Lilly ready for action as Hope van Dyne
Evangeline Lilly returns to her role of brilliant quantum physicist Hope van Dyne. While she’s as focused and determined as ever, a very different Hope van Dyne emerges in Marvel Studios’ “Ant-Man and The Wasp.”
Now a fugitive with her father, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), the brilliant scientist has used her time in hiding to master her new role as The Wasp, but she isn’t quite ready to team up with Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) for their most important mission ever. But reuniting her family depends on it, so she is forced to seek his help.
Lilly was over the moon knowing that the next installment of the Ant-Man story line would introduce The Wasp.
“I was excited to play Hope again for so many reasons,” comments Lilly. “In AntMan she went through this enormous emotional arc. So it was exciting to have the chance to go back to this character and play her in a new space, a space where she is more at ease in her own skin and more at ease in her relationship with her father.”
“But I have to admit,” she laughs, “my primary motivation to come back was to put on that suit and play The Wasp. Hope so desperately wanted to follow in the footsteps of her incredible superhero parents, so she’s finally doing that and doing it very well.”
She was also enthusiastic to return to the Ant-Man family to collaborate with Peyton Reed again. For Lilly, there is no better champion to helm the next chapter in the Ant-Man saga.
“There’s really nobody better to navigate through this second journey with than Peyton Reed. The scope of this film is so much bigger than the first film. It feels a little more epic, which is exciting, but also what’s wonderful is we never lose that sweet family-driven story that’s at the heart of it all. That’s what I love the most about the Ant-Man brand, and it’s something you can expect again from Ant-Man and The Wasp.”
As Lilly prepared for her return to the role, she knew the physical preparation for The Wasp action sequences would be vital to building the character. More importantly, she understood that the new back-story for Hope, the super hero, would wholly inform that relationship between Hope and Scott, which is the bedrock to their new story line.
She remarks, “Ant-Man and The Wasp is a bit complicated, and a lot more challenging to know how exactly to hit the tone of their relationship. Hope just lives to be The Wasp but definitely harbors feelings of anger, hurt and resentment when Scott made the choice to go to Berlin without her.”