ant-man and the wasp
Don’t call Hope van Dyne a sidekick, she’s an equal partner in Marvel’s crimefighting duo…
Evangeline Lilly is stepping up in the MCU sequel.
Ant-Man and the Wasp are suited and booted for action in the latest look at Peyton Reed’s shapeshifting superhero sequel. But for a film that’s been described as Marvel’s first romantic comedy (Notting Ant-Hill? The Wedding Stinger?), those helmets are going to be a serious barrier to lip-locking action. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe has come under fire of late for its failure to release a female-fronted solo superhero film (Captain Marvel is due in 2019, and a Black Widow movie is in the works for 2020), the Ant-Man sequel is a step in the right direction. According to Paul Rudd, who reprises his role as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) is getting equal billing for a reason. “We’re very much partners,” Rudd revealed recently. “We’re a team. In the comics, that was the same story. Ant-Man and Wasp are together.”
Actually, in the comics, Hope and Scott were never an item, let alone partners – she was the supervillain, Red Queen, vengeful daughter of Hank Pym. But Rudd’s right in that the Hank Pym/Janet van Dyne versions of Ant-Man and the Wasp were a team. Besides, both Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer, making her MCU debut) will be in the new film. While not a great deal is known about the plot, at least one story strand will deal with Hank discovering a way to rescue his wife from the Quantum Realm. As we learned in a flashback in the first film, Janet was stranded there, presumed lost forever, when she had to override her suit’s safety regulator and carried on shrinking to sub-atomic levels.
The sequel also deals with Hope learning how to be a superhero. “This is really her coming out party as a hero,” says returning director Peyton Reed. “Her power set is fantastic. She and Scott both shrink, but there’s also flying, and the fighting style of the Wasp is different from AntMan’s.” In the comics, the Wasp also has her ‘sting’
– don’t be surprised to see an updated twist on that in the film. And expect to see more of Scott in Giant-Man mode as well, after he worked out how to reverse his tech in Captain America: Civil War’s show-stopping airport scrap.
Ant-Man And The Wasp will be Marvel’s third film in 2018 following Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War.
That also means it’s one of only two MCU movies bridging the gap between Avengers sequels, the other being Captain Marvel, which has a retro ’90s setting. Ant-Man sure has big shoes to fill.
ETA | 3 AUGUST / ANT-MAN AND THE WASP OPENS LATER THIS YEAR.