Marvel star Evangeline Lilly is sparking controversy over her social media post about vaccine mandates. In a lengthy Instagram post, Lilly revealed that she had been part of a march in Washington D.C. over the weekend, which challenged the idea of federal mandates for the COVID-19 vaccine. In the post, Lilly states that, “I was in DC this weekend to support bodily sovereignty while Canadian truckers were rallying for their cross-country, peaceful convoy in support of the same thing.” She drove the point home by expressing her views on health and bodily independence, which you can read on her Instagram.
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Already there seems to be immediate pushback in the comments, from fans who don’t agree with Lilly’s views. There are also nearly twenty-four thousand “likes” for the post (at the time of writing this). Lilly has previously made headlines for her views on the pandemic – starting with her public refusal to self-quarantine the first lockdowns in early 2020 – despite living with her father, who is battling stage 4 leukemia. Lilly later apologized for posting those comments.
The actress is currently set to star in Marvel Studios threequel Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania next summer. She’ll reprise her role as Hope van Dyne/The Wasp alongside Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man, with big co-stars like Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, and even Bill Murray (who is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe in an undisclosed villain role).
Lilly has spoken openly about the stresses of making Ant-Man 3 in the midst of the pandemic, stating:
“…I think, hands down, it [Ant-Man 3] was the hardest one we’ve made,” she told Digital Fix. “It was the most difficult. It was the only one we’ve made during the Covid lockdowns. That just adds such an incredible complication to making a movie. It adds a lot of stress… So it was a very trying experience doing the film with Covid measures … But I actually think… what we did, the stuff we shot, the material we managed to get, I think it might be the best one yet.”
This isn’t the first time a star of one of Marvel Studios’ upcoming Phase 4 films has wandered into the arena of controversy over their views on COVID vaccination. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star Letitia Wright deleted Twitter at the end of 2020, after sparking backlash for a video she posted, which contained anti-vaccination views (plus other problematic content). In a now-deleted tweet, Wright apologized for the incident, saying: “My intention was not to hurt anyone, my ONLY intention of posting the video was it raised my concerns with what the vaccine contains and what we are putting in our bodies. Nothing else.”
Since then, Letitia Wright has been quiet on the socio-political commentary; no telling what reaction Evangeline Lilly’s post will get. It goes without saying that COVID-19 vaccination has been a major point of discussion all over the world since the pandemic began. For the latest official information, you can go to the CDC Official website.
