Evangeline Lilly's Hope van Dyne was an important player in the first Ant-Man movie, but unlike Paul Rudd's Scott Lang, she didn't get to suit up. Having lost his wife Janet, the first Wasp, in the line of duty, Hank Pym was worried about losing his daughter too, but in the Ant-Man mid-credits scene, he decided to give Hope the prototype Wasp suit he'd been keeping in storage. Hope is finally debuting as Wasp next week in Ant-Man and the Wasp, but the original plan was for Hope to make her first superhero appearance in Captain America: Civil War. As for why this didn't end up happening, Lilly explained:
Then they said what I thought they were going to say, which is, 'We really want to dedicate a film to introducing this female superhero, and we don't want her just to be a side note in this larger story.' That was so exciting for me.
Captain America: Civil War had a lot of superhero participants, and having already been introduced to audiences the year prior, Ant-Man was brought in as a member of Captain America's team. However, rather than have Hope accompany Scott as The Wasp for the conflict over the Sokovia Accords, as Evangeline Lilly said at a recent press conference for Ant-Man and the Wasp, the Marvel Cinematic Universe bigwigs decided it would be better to hold her Wasp introduction for a later date so that she could properly shine. Given that Civil War also introduced Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther and Tom Holland's Spider-Man, having Hope pop in for her first Wasp appearance definitely would have felt like overkill. Still, I'd be interested to learn what a Civil War with Wasp involved would have looked like.
Even though Hope didn't get to participate in Captain America: Civil War, the aftermath of that movie will play into the events of Ant-Man and the Wasp. Although Scott and his fellow allies were broken out of The Raft by Steve Rogers at the end of Civil War, Scott decided to take a deal with the U.S. government to be placed under house arrest. At the start of Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scott and Hope have been estranged, and it's entirely possible that Scott's involvement in Civil War might be the reason that their relationship ended. Regardless, Scott and Hope will need to put aside their differences and team up as Ant-Man and Wasp for a new mission, which will see them fighting Ghost. More importantly, this will be our first chance to see how skilled Hope is harnessing Pym particles and beating up bad guys out in the field.
Ant-Man and the Wasp hits theaters next Friday, July 6. If you're interested in learning what other movies come out later this year, head to our 2018 release schedule.
