Did Evangeline Lilly Just Hint At An Earlier Version Of The Avengers In The Marvel Cinematic Universe?

In an interview with CNN, Evangeline Lily may have hinted at a secret history in the Marvel Cinematic universe.

Here's what she said when asked about her character in Ant-Man, Hope Van Dyne:

She is the daughter of the founders of The Avengers, Ant-Man and the Wasp. She is a very talented, intelligent, capable woman and a force to be reckoned with.

Describing Ant-Man and Wasp as founders of the Avengers is inconsistent with the known history of the MCU, since we saw the formation of the Avengers in The Avengers. That leaves two possibilities. One is that the Avengers program, initiated by S.H.I.E.L.D., has actually existed prior to the formation of the modern team, and that Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne were members of the original Avengers team.

The other, possibly more likely, explanation is that Lily was just describing Ant-Man and Wasp based on their history from the comics, where they were indeed founding members of the Avengers, likely learned while researching her own character.

Ant-Man opens July 17.