The Marvel Cinematic Universe is in an interesting place right now, given the events of Avengers: Infinity War. The entire shared universe is in flux, with Thanos' finger snap putting multiple franchises in jeopardy. While fans will have to wait until May for any answers, Marvel studios is continuing its release schedule, starting with Ant-Man and The Wasp. Peyton Reed's critically acclaimed sequel allowed Evangeline Lilly's Hope van Dyne to make her superhero debut as the titular Wasp. Lilly has made her excitement about Hope's increased role clear, although she did have one note when approaching the sequel: more romance. As the Lost alum tells it,
You might be surprised to find out that if anything in these films, I've sort of pushed the romance to up up, like just a notch, just the tiniest bit, because it was there all the time.
While she may not have liked being in the middle of a love triangle for Lost, romantic plot lines are still important to Evangeline Lilly. And considering the palpable feelings that Scott and Hope have for each other throughout both Ant-Man films, she's got a point.
Evangeline Lilly's comments show how purposefully everyone involved in Ant-Man and The Wasp took the film's plot. The sequel had great pacing, balancing the superheroic adventure with Scott Lang's final days of parole and responsibility to his daughter. Add in the romantic tension between he and Hope, and the film could have easily been bogged down by too many plots.
Luckily, Peyton Reed managed to balance all of Ant-Man and The Wasp's narrative threads, which included the constantly shifting dynamic between its title characters. While Hope expressed her disappointment with Scott joining the Captain America: Civil War tarmac battle and breaking the Sokovia Accords, their reunion and rekindling was a gradual process. They eventually shared a kiss, although Ant-Man and The Wasp was hardly a rom-com.
In her same conversation with Digital Spy, Evangeline Lilly shared how the filmmakers found the balance of the romantic plot, and how she thinks ultimately Peyton Reed achieved the right balance, especially when it came to making Hope as dynamic a character as possible.
But the Marvel executives and Peyton were so cool --- and Paul I think as well --- about really not wanting that to be at all what she's about, and wanting her to have this incredible career, this incredible drive and motivation, and for the love story to be absolutely backseat to almost everything else in the movie, which I love, and I think it's appropriate.
Ultimately, Peyton Reed made Ant-Man and The Wasp a fun, wild ride that served a palette cleanser for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And while its characters may have also been affected by Thanos' finger snap, the movie largely focused separate from the rest of the shared universe.
Ant-Man and The Wasp is in theaters now. In the meantime, be sure to check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
