Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Ant-Man and the Wasp. Proceed with caution.
Marvel scored a huge coup when it landed acclaimed actress Michelle Pfeiffer for the role of Janet Van Dyne in Ant-Man and the Wasp. Ultimately, the three-time Oscar nominee didn't have a lot of screen time, but her presence was felt throughout, as rescuing Janet from the Quantum Realm was the driving force of the film. When that rescue was completed, the original Wasp made a big impact right away, healing Ghost and saving her from phasing into nothingness. For the actress who plays Ghost, Hannah John-Kamen, just having Michelle Pfeiffer acting opposite her for that emotional scene helped her performance, as she explained:
She just gives so much. So much, that it was so easy to get there, to get to that place. And that connection is really there. There's a roar in her eyes, in my eyes. It was just kind of telepathic. It was definitely this presence that she carries when she comes on the set and when she's in the role. I actually literally felt like Michelle Pfeiffer had eased my pain and calmed me. It kind of mirrored what was happening in real life.
The scene between Ava and Janet was incredibly emotional, with Janet having just been rescued and Ava in incredible physical pain, fearful that her last hope of surviving may have just been lost. That is quite a loaded thing, and as a fan of Michelle Pfeiffer, Hannah John-Kamen was initially nervous about the scene. But Michelle Pfeiffer is a veteran and her presence actually put the younger actress at ease. What Hannah John-Kamen described to The Hollywood Reporter sounds like an iron sharpens iron-type situation where just acting opposite someone so talented helped her to get where she needed to be emotionally for this climactic scene. So filming the scene had something of a method quality to it, as Michelle Pfeiffer calmed down Hannah John-Kamen the actress as Janet Van Dyne assuaged the pain of Ava the character.
The story of Ghost was unique among Marvel films. Ant-Man and the Wasp didn't have a true villain, as Ava was just someone who was in incredible pain, doing whatever she could to survive and willing to trade other lives for her own. Given that Scott, Hank and Hope would not allow Janet to be lost, you would think that only one of these characters would survive and Ava's tragic history would have a tragic end, but the resolution was one of mercy. Instead of fighting, Janet, now evolved and imbued with who knows what mysterious powers, saves Ava. Ghost was an unstoppable terminator, inescapable and unable to stand still the whole film, and when she is finally granted a moment of peace and rest, you can see that relief in Hannah John-Kamen's performance.
Ant-Man and the Wasp is now in theaters. Ghost's future in the MCU remains to be seen, although we have some ideas. As for Michelle Pfeiffer's Janet Van Dyne, we should see her again, presumably in her reconstituted corporeal form, in next year's Avengers 4, where maybe she can be the field medic for the Avengers in the next battle with Thanos. Keep an eye on our guide for all the latest from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
