Having starred as Hope Van Dyne in two Marvel Cinematic Universe films, Evangeline Lilly knows exactly what makes the character tick. When a fan asked the actress for advice on how to embrace the spirit of the character, Lilly offered a touching and detailed description.
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“Hope wasn’t born ‘super.’ She was born into a family with an arrogant and controlling father, parents who were gone a lot, but loving when they were there,” Lilly shared on her Instagram account. “Then her mother was ripped away from her at 8 years old and her father disappeared from her life.”
The biggest factor in Hope becoming “super” is the choices she made, with the strength to make those tough decisions going on to define her power.
“She made choices. She could have chosen so many negative roads to take from there. Instead, she chose the strength and power of her mind,” Lilly detailed. “She chose discipline. She chose to achieve anyway. She chose herself. And she survived.”
While some heroes in the MCU may have defined their heroism in combat, it was Hope’s emotional battles that were her biggest achievements.
“And all of that was just prep for the moment in her life when she would reach her highest height of strength and forgive her father,” the actress confessed. “That was her final gauntlet that pushed her over into ‘super.’ Hope is like you and I, what sets her apart are her choices.”
Lilly’s character debuted in Ant-Man, with an important point in that film’s narrative being that Hope was much more capable of a hero than Scott Lang, though her father didn’t want to risk putting her in harm’s way. By the end of the film, Hank Pym realized he could trust her daughter, teasing the audience by unveiling a new Wasp suit.
The character had the distinction of being the first female superhero in the MCU to be featured in the film’s title with Ant-Man and the Wasp, but Lilly isn’t ruling out the idea of her character getting her own movie.
“The original comic books, Ant-Man and the Wasp are a duo. And they’re always a duo. I mean, correct me if I’m wrong, but I feel like you almost never see them not together,” Lilly shared at Salt Lake City’s FanX convention.
“And I’ve been asked, ‘Would you like to do a standalone Wasp film?’ And I keep saying, ‘Well, I don’t think so, because they’re partners, and they were always partners, and they’re original founding members of the Avengers and they belong side by side.’ And now I’ve been seeing posters coming out for Captain Marvel, and I’m like, ‘Ohh, hang on a minute! That looks really fun!’”
Fans will next see the Wasp in Avengers 4, which hits theaters on May 3, 2019.
What do you think about Lilly’s comments? Let us know in the comments below!
[H/T Reddit, MarvelStudios]
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Image Courtesy of Marvel Studios
