‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ director Peyton Reed revealed that Evangeline Lilly will return to play Hope van Dyne a.k.a. The Wasp not as a supporting character, but as one of the leads.
According to Comicbook.com, Reed revealed that Lilly’s superhero will be a lead character and will not be just a sidekick to Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man. He said, "It’s something we’re excited about. For me as a comic nerd, I always thought of Ant-Man and Wasp as a team and that’s a lot of what the second movie is really about is how they work together, what their personal and professional relationships are like.”
Reed added, “To show her finally fully formed in this movie is really exciting. We really get to introduce this character into that universe. I mean we’ve introduced the character, but we haven’t seen her with her full power set and everything, so to me she’s not a supporting character in this movie. It’s every bit as much her movie as it is Scott Lang’s."
Lilly was first introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as Hope van Dyne in the first film ‘Ant-Man’. Hope is the daughter Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne, and a board member of Pym Technologies. She inherited a suit from her mother to become the new Wasp.
Hope a.k.a. The Wasp is an expert combatant, having acquired martial arts skills from training with Scott. She dons an upgraded Wasp suit and uses an EMP communication device to allow her to control insects.
Reed’s first live-action adaptation of the diminutive superhero proved to be a critical and commercial success. It received positive reviews from critics and was praised for its cast’s performance, its humor as well as CGI sequences. According to Box Office Mojo, the film grossed $519.45 million worldwide against a $130 million production budget.
‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ is an upcoming superhero film intended as the eight installment in the MCU’s Phase Three. It is directed by Peyton Reed and written for the big screen by Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari. It is produced by Kevin Feige for Marvel Studios.
The sequel is scheduled to premiere in the United States on July 6, 2018.
