This week Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas returned to the big screen with the film “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania”, the film that is in charge of giving the starting signal to phase five of the franchise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In an interview, Evangeline Lilly (“Hope Van Dyne” and “Wasp”) takes us into this adventure and her character.
—How did “Hope” evolve over the course of these films?
—”Hope” began as an isolated, cold and distant woman who had suffered so much in childhood that she did not allow herself to be intimate in relationships. Now, she repaired her relationship with her father, brought her mother back from the Quantum Realm, and fell head over heels in love with “Scott Lang”. They are a dynamic duo, a superhero couple. And on top of that, she’s practically adopted “Scott’s” daughter, “Cassie,” and is revitalizing Pym Tech, using it to improve the world.
Every time I play “Hope” again I have to re-invent it. I have to figure out who she is now, what she looks like, and how to make sure she doesn’t look like a totally different person. There has to be a common thread and you have to see and feel that it’s about “Hope”. In the first movie, she was always in a bad mood and had a bit of a nasty attitude. In the second movie, I felt like I had to drop that attitude because she was so much better. And for this third installment, her evolution is more internal, since she must solve the mysteries that surround her mother.
—How would you describe the Quantum Realm?
—We are in our standard reality for the first 15-20 minutes of the movie and then the family is pulled into the Quantum Realm. Unlike the previous times, where we went intentionally, this time there is an outside force pulling us towards it, which is doubly terrifying because we are going into the unknown at the hands of a force we have no control over, and that force turns out to be a formidable villain.
As a quantum physicist, “Hope” is impressed with the beauty, the atmosphere is different. One does not look at a landscape and see what one would expect to see. Gravity works differently, so water trickles up instead of down, and there are clouds that don’t move at all. It is a movie as entertaining and fun as it is great, epic, beautiful and elegant.
—At what point in the life of the characters does this film start?
“The last time we saw these characters they were sitting happily as a family on the porch watching fireworks, and that’s where we pick up the story. “Scott” is very good. We participate in the fight to save the universe from “Thanos”, and “Hope” has a new lease on life. She is working to end homelessness and global warming, really big issues facing the world today. She is at a beautiful moment in her life, something she hasn’t experienced since she was eight years old.
—What can you tell us about the villain “Kang” and Jonathan Majors who gives life to him?
—“Kang” is a completely different version of what we saw in “Loki”. “Kang the Conqueror” does not have any positive qualities. He is terrifying. He seems to have no empathy, no guiding morals, nothing short of a great lust for power and to have supreme authority over everything. He is not someone to be around. I hope we can defeat him.
Jonathan is very well cast for “Kang”. He brings a genuine seriousness to the character. He is very methodical. I don’t know if he would consider himself methodical, but he would arrive on set already embodying the character and emanating an energy that takes over the space and says: “Here I am.”
—Describe the relationship between “Hope” and her mother in the tape and how you and Michelle Pfeiffer brought them to life
—I can’t wait to see those scenes of “Hope” and “Janet” trying to fill in the gaps in their relationship, because Michelle and I were passionate about that part of the story. We talked a long time with the creators and Peyton Reed, the director, so that relationship was really honest. We didn’t want to sugarcoat her, we didn’t want the tension between them to be cute. We wanted it to feel real, we wanted there to be real anger and genuine resentment. And we wanted to represent that anger as one experiences it in real life, which appears in the most unusual moments.
“Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.” The film stars Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas. SPECIAL
—How was it reuniting with your old castmates?
—It was very nice because when we made the first movie, I didn’t know Michael Douglas in person. I first met him on set and now it’s been eight years since the first movie. It was very comfortable, like coming home, and we immediately found our rhythm.
—How is the relationship between “Cassie”, being a young adult, and “Hope”?
—I loved being able to express a different side of “Hope”. When she’s with her mother, her father and “Scott”, “Hope” is serious, very controlled. And she feels that “Cassie” awakens something else in her. With “Cassie”, “Hope” she’s very relaxed, she’s like a cool stepmom, and it was very interesting to play that.
When I first read the script, I liked the character of “Cassie” the most, because she’s crazy and shameless and a little bit irresponsible in a fantastically pure way. Kathryn played her perfectly.
—How have the “Ant-Man” movies evolved over the years?
—When we started with “Ant-Man”, our movies were considered a fresh wind for the palate, because they always came out after the great Marvel stories, the story of “The Avengers” that broke people’s hearts, the movies that They made you cry and held you in suspense with tension. Ours were lighter and more fun. In the third film, we open up this grand, epic landscape, where the story feels deeply connected to the Marvel universe.
Why should people see this movie in the theater?
I feel like this movie is set in a very big world, but it’s a very intimate story with exciting moments of action that we haven’t seen before. I think audiences will get a traditional story and a grandiose universe that they’ve never been in, so it’s best to have that compelling, visceral experience that is cinema.
What does it mean to be part of this world?
—When I joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe it was full of these incredible rock stars, cultural icons. The universe was very well established. The fans were dying for them, they were obsessed. I walked in saying, “Hey guys! I don’t know how or why but here I am!” It was a real honor. I consider Marvel like a family.
What is “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania” about?
“Scott Lang” (Paul Rudd) is enjoying his life as a superhero and the fame he’s gained for helping save humanity in “Avengers: Endgame.” However, his perfect life will change when, because of an experiment, “Scott”, his daughter “Cassie Lang” (Kathryn Newton), his partner “Hope van Dyne” (Evangeline Lilly), his in-laws “Hank Pym” (Michael Douglas ) and “Janet van Dyne” (Michelle Pfeiffer) are dragged into the Quantum Realm. There, in this dimension of the multiverse, they will meet “Kang the Conqueror” (Jonathan Majors), the great villain of the new era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU for its acronym in English).
meet the characters
The characters of “Hope Van Dyne” and her superhero identity “Wasp” are played by actress Evangeline Lilly. “Hope” is the brilliant leader of the Pym Van Dyne Foundation, which uses the revolutionary Pym Particle in innovative ways to advance humanitarian efforts.
“Scott Lang” and “Ant-Man” (both played by Paul Rudd); this character is an ordinary man who became a Superhero by accident and saved the world; he lives in San Francisco and is married to “Hope Van Dyne”.
“Kang the Conqueror” (Jonathan Majors) is possibly the biggest threat the Marvel Cinematic Universe has encountered, as it has multiple versions of the villain, one more terrifying than the other. Time, it seems, is “Kang’s” secret weapon and he intends to use it to conquer the Quantum Realm.
Evangeline Lilly. The actress began her career in the television series “Lost.” SPECIAL
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All About Evangeline Lilly
The actress debuted on the screen in January 2004 when she got the role of “Kate” in the series “Lost”, created by JJ Abrams.
Lilly starred in the Marvel Studios films “Ant-Man: Ant-Man”, “Ant-Man & Wasp” and “Avengers: Endgame”, in the role of “Wasp” and “Hope Van Dyne”.
Evangeline won the Best Actress award at the 2021 AFIN International Film Festival for her role in “South of Heaven” opposite Jason Sudeikis; Additionally, she starred in the 2021 thriller “Crisis,” opposite Gary Oldman.
Previously, he played the role of “Tauriel”, one of the goblins in Peter Jackson’s hit prequel to his “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” and “The Hobbit: The Battle of the five armies.
Lilly also played the role of “Bailey Tallet” in the action drama “Iron Giants” (2011), opposite Hugh Jackman.
Likewise, she is the creator of the book series “The Squickerwonkers”, a collection of mischievous and sobering stories for children.
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