Going into
Ant-man and the Wasp, many people were most excited to see Evangeline Lilly's Hope van Dyne in action as the Wasp, with the Wasp stealing the spotlight in all of the promotional trailers that Marvel released. While Lilly shined in
Ant-man as Hope, she really dominated the screen in the sequel and her scenes, in particular her fights, were some of the highlights from the MCU's 20th film.
In a recent interview with
The Hollywood Reporter, Lilly shared how excited she was to be able to not only portray Hope again in the sequel to
Ant-man, but to also be able to suit up in this film. However, perhaps an even bigger delightful surprise for Lilly was learning that the Wasp would receive equal billing with Ruddy's Ant-man in the sequel. Lilly reveals below how she learned about her upgraded role in the second film:
When they cast me in the first Ant-Man, I knew that if the first film was a box-office success, then that would mean I would get to put on a suit. So there was probably no one more invested in the box-office numbers of Ant-Man than me. Once the film was successful enough to warrant a second, and I knew that that was going, I still didn't know that Wasp would be getting equal billing with Ant-Man. So that came as a surprise later: I got a surprise email with nothing but a JPEG of the title card. And that was how they told me. Pretty cool.
While Lilly enjoyed some physical fight scenes in the first
Ant-man, they were largely training sequences or quick scenes against Darren Cross and his cronies.
Ant-man and the Wasp greatly increased the number of fight scenes involving Hope and, as a result, Lilly worked to evolve and craft Hope's fighting style away from the masculine style scene in the first film to a more graceful and feminine form more befitting of Hope in the sequel:
In her fight scenes, as trivial as it might seem, I really pushed and fought for her to fight with elegance, grace and femininity. She moves differently than a man. I wanted her to have a signature style that little girls, like I was when I was a feminine, girly little girl, would be able to fall in love with, emulate and relate to in their own movements.
When we did Ant-Man, I had to study a little bit of Muay Thai and MMA-style fighting. And MMA-style fighting is distinctly masculine, it's got a very masculine posture and a very masculine attack, and that was so difficult for me because I don't move that way naturally. I really wanted to change that in this film. I wanted to move the way my body wants to move, as a more graceful, feminine woman.
In addition to weaving femininity into Hope's fighting style, Lilly also incorporated this into Hope's interactions with other characters and how she dealt with various scenarios. Even going back to the first film, Lilly sought to portray Hope as someone that is very nurturing, empathetic and compassionate. Lilly noted she made an effort to "
always push for feminine qualities to be apparent when she is dealing with situations," such as how she reacts on an emotional level. Its always great to see an actor or actress take such pride and responsibility in the character they are portraying!
Was the Wasp a highlight or standout for you in
Ant-man and the Wasp? Be sure to share your thoughts below on the Wasp and what Evangeline Lilly shares here about her role in the film!