This content has been archived. It may no longer be relevant
When you watch the first Ant-Man, you can’t help but feel that Hope Van Dyne is kind of a stickler; she was the one who had Scott Lang arrested, and it also took a while for her character to warm up to him. With the sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp, Evangeline Lilly explains how she wanted Hope’s character to be less of a ‘scolding mother’ and more of someone who can tag along with the guys.
Lilly explains to ScreenRant:
“I felt very heard. I felt very respected. I felt that they always wanted my opinion, that they invited my opinion. And of course, I was always there to offer it. Because I have a lot of opinions. That said, it is a collaboration. So, not all of them ended up on the screen. And what you end up with is a great surprise at the end of like, what will be there, what elements will they have incorporated? And I was the happiest about, the thing that I harped on with them the most was, I don’t want Hope to be the heavy. I don’t want her to be the mother scolding all the boys. You shouldn’t do this. You’re bad. Settle down. Be Nice. Because I think often women get depicted that way in male stories. I want her to be a modern woman, who can handle herself in a group of men. Who can give it just, as good as she gets it. Who knows how to laugh at a joke and who has a sense of humor. I want to see her smile in this movie. And she’s so happy now. She’s in a great place with her dad. She’s the Wasp. I just wanted her to exude female feminine power.”
It’s great that Lilly would try to make that growth with her character because she has been very vocal about more female representation in the MCU. She may not be headlining her own movie, but Lilly has been the most adamant about having an all-woman team-up film.
Coming out of the film, I could say that Wasp has really made a significant change in character, and that was actually pretty fun to watch. Instead of antagonizing Scott constantly, Hope is actually pretty supportive, and at the same time, she can handle herself pretty well. At the same time, Hope is also good for a laugh when Scott finds himself in a pickle.
Catch Ant-Man and the Wasp in theaters July 5.
