Last week, news broke that ‘Lost’ and ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ star Evangeline Lilly is in talks with Marvel Studios to appear as the female lead in Edgar Wright’s ‘Ant-Man’ alongside Michael Douglas and Paul Rudd. In that report, sources indicated that she would be playing Hank Pym’s daughter, Scott Lang’s love interest, or a character that identifies as both of the above. Many feel that whomever Lilly ends up playing, it will be some version of Janet Van Dyne AKA the heroine known as The Wasp. Besides the robot Jacosta, Wasp is the most prominent female in the life of Ant-Man, but there’s still the possibility that the actress is signing on to play someone from outside of Ant-Man’s immediate circle.
Entertainment Weekly began to speculate about the various characters that Lilly could play in the upcoming Phase Three film. While they explore the possibility of the actress being cast as Van Dyne, they offer some alternatives as well. In a recent article examining the various possibilities, the outlet says that she “could theoretically be playing someone like Spider-Woman or Captain Marvel”.
While it would be awesome to see Carol Danvers appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe sooner rather than later, chances are slim that she’d appear alongside Ant-Man. Plus, rumors indicate that ‘Battlestar Galactica’ star Katee Sackhoff could be playing the former Ms. Marvel in some other upcoming Marvel movie, but my money is on the character popping up in one of the Marvel Netflix shows.
As for Jessica Drew, that is an interesting notion indeed. Lilly definitely has the look of the former HYDRA and S.H.I.E.L.D. that currently appears on the massive Avengers roster. The question of film rights comes into play however. No one is really sure if Spider-Woman falls under Sony Pictures’ jurisdiction, but she isn’t really part of the Spider-Man family of characters, so that issue is up for debate. Regardless, the actress might be most well suited to play the heroine in the upcoming movie.
Finally, there’s always the possibility that she could be playing a completely original character with a familiar name, similar to Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster or Paul Bettany’s JARVIS. Personally, while I see this to be a viable option at this time, I’m most in favor of Spider-Woman finally making her debut in Marvel’s movies. Sure, she’s as associated with Ant-Man as she is with Spider-Man, but really all they would have to do is make Pym a S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist and make Drew a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. It might be a stretch, but it could work.
Do you have any theories about who Evangeline Lilly could be playing in ‘Ant-Man’? Share your theories in the comments below.
‘Ant-Man’ starring Michael Douglas and Paul Rudd hits theaters on July 17, 2015.
