After months of anticipation, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is finally here to kick off Phase 5 of the MCU. Quantumania marks Evangeline Lilly’s fourth appearance as Hope van Dyne, a role she originated in 2015’s Ant-Man. However, Lilly told The Hollywood Reporter that after eight years, Ant-Man 3 is the closest she’s ever come to finally understanding Hope.
“I do think this movie was the closest I came to feeling like, ‘Oh, I think I get it,'” said Lilly. “I have one word now that’s become my anchor to help me when I feel a bit lost with her and I just don’t know where to put myself. And [that word] is the bullet. What I’ve realized is that there is an efficiency and a sharpness to her. She cuts right through things and she’s always going to drive right to the heart of whatever is going on. She’s always effective in everything that she tries to do, and so that one word just helps anchor me.”
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In Ant-Man 3, Hope is essentially the stepmother to Scott’s daughter, Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton). Motherhood is unfamiliar territory for Hope, having no children of her own as well as no mother (Michelle Pfeiffer’s Janet) for 30 years. According to Lilly, the lack of a strong maternal bond shapes how Hope handles her new relationship with Cassie.
“Hope didn’t change Cassie’s diapers, and she didn’t nurse her wounded knees when she fell off her bike,” related Lilly. “She never knew her in that intimate way, and so she just regards her as this really capable, brilliant, wonderful young woman. She doesn’t see her as a little girl that needs coddling or protecting, and I think she’s a bit baffled by the fact that Scott does.”
“So I think Hope will be damned if she’s going to do that to Cassie,” continued Lilly. “It’s that thing where you want to do the exact opposite thing of what your parents did to hurt you. And so she really lets Cassie in and she gives her a seat at the table and she trusts her with information that maybe she shouldn’t, that maybe is beyond Cassie.”
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is out in theaters today.
Do you want to see Lilly reprise her role as Hope in future MCU movies? Let us know in the comment section below!
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