Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star Evangeline Lilly has opened up about the tone of the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe threequel, further suggesting that it will be darker than previous entries in the Ant-Man saga.
As reported by The Direct, Lilly discussed what audiences can expect from Quantumania while chatting with the press at Comic Con Experience (CCXP). More specifically, she spoke about her character, Hope van Dyne/the Wasp, and her relationship with her mother, Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), the original Wasp. As implied in the film's trailer, the Quantum Realm evidently holds some upsetting secrets pertaining to Janet.
"...Of course, Hope was so excited to get her mom back and she was thinking, 'This is going to be a fantasy, and I'm going to have my mom, and we're going to be best friends and we'll tell each other everything, and life will be intimate, and my life will be perfect.' And life is never perfect, especially with our parents. Especially with parents who spent 30 years in the Quantum Realm," Lilly said. "And so, there is a lot that Hope doesn't know and doesn't find out about her mom until this journey begins. And it's a dark and difficult thing to deal with for her." Notably, at the D23 Expo earlier this year, Pfeiffer herself stated that Quantumania "gets, at times, a little darker than we have gone. And it is epic."
As for CCXP, Lilly concluded, "And so I was really really excited to have an opportunity in this third film where [Hope has] gone from a caged-off woman to a woman who has opened her heart three separate times. One, her heart to Scott, and then her reparations with her father, and then bringing her mother back from the Quantum Realm. So, she was sort of like the Grinch. Her heart had grown three times as big, which makes it three times more vulnerable. So I was really excited to have a chance to show a side of her where she would make mistakes, she would be fragile, and she wouldn't always have the right answer."
Quantumania Is Running Wild
The third film in the Ant-Man series -- following 2015's Ant-Man and 2018's Ant-Man and the Wasp -- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is scheduled to release in theaters on Feb. 17, 2023 to kick off Phase Five of the MCU. In addition to Lilly as Hope and Pfeiffer as Janet, the film sees Paul Rudd and Michel Douglas reprise their roles as Scott Lang/Ant-Man and Hank Pym, respectively. Meanwhile, Kathryn Newton takes over the role of Cassie Lang, with Jonathan Major set to play the film's big bad, Kang the Conqueror.
Marvel Studios' Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania opens in theaters on Feb. 17, 2023.
Source: The Direct