Evangeline Lilly Wants the Wasp to Get a Standalone Film

Evangeline Lilly is ready for her character, Hope van Dyne (aka Wasp), to get her own standalone film. “When I first started, it was like, ‘No, no, no. Ant-Man and the Wasp, they’re a duo. They’re so good together,” the actress tells ET’s Nischelle Turner while promoting Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. “Three movies later, I’m like, ‘OK. Alright. We did it. C’mon, I want some time to tell a story.'”

Of course, Lilly knows that the only way for that is to “take this question to the person who can really affect that change: Kevin [Feige],” she quips, referring to the head of Marvel Studios.

In the meantime, Wasp does go through an evolution in this latest Ant-Man sequel, which is largely focused on her family’s experience in the quantum realm and not wanting to get separated again.

In addition to Lilly and Paul Rudd reprising their titular roles, Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer — two “Hollywood legends,” Lilly proudly notes — return as Hope’s parents, Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne, while Kathryn Newton takes over as Scott’s daughter, Cassie Lang.

“She started the films as a very cold, very detached, very insular woman, who was independent and not reliant or really intimate with anybody,” Lilly says of Hope. “And now, suddenly, I mean, we’ve evolved through this third iteration of the story where she has redeemed her relationship with her father, she’s reunited with her mother, she has fallen in love with Scott and she’s also like a stepmother to Cassie.”

While the third film still maintains that comedic tone, there’s a lot of tension beneath the surface that bubbles up this time around.

“It was really good for me. It felt like we were entering a space that I was far more comfortable in,” Lilly says. “I was like, ‘OK, this is my jam now. Now we’re talking about the space where I thrive, which is more dramatic material. And I was excited to dive in with Michelle and Michael.”

While Lilly relishes having more dramatic space to play — with most of her scenes exploring the unanswered questions in her relationship with her parents, especially given that Janet refuses to talk about what she went through during her 30 years stuck in the other universe — it also doesn’t hurt that the Wasp gets a new suit.

“It got an upgrade,” Lilly says.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania debuts in theaters on Feb. 17.