Evangeline Lilly Thinks It's Time For A Wasp Spin-Off

Evangeline Lilly joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe during Phase 2 with her role as Hope van Dyne in "Ant-Man." But by the time its sequel was released, she was upgraded to the title. Now, ahead of the third installment in the series, "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," Lilly is hopeful her character could get a spin-off movie exploring the darkest corners of the past.

Hope is the daughter of the original Ant-Man Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and the original Wasp (Michelle Pfeiffer). After stealing the Yellowjacket suit from Darren Cross (Corey Stoll, who returns in "Quantumania"), Hope modified it and took up the mantle of Wasp, assisting Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) during the events of "Ant-Man and the Wasp." She was killed in Thanos' attack on Earth before being resurrected when Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) sacrificed himself in the Blip.

As "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" premiered, kicking off Phase 5 of the sprawling cinematic universe, Evangeline Lilly took to a press microphone on the red carpet to lay out her pitch for a solo Wasp movie that would explore Hope's backstory.

Speaking to Variety at the premiere of "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," star Evangeline Lilly said she hopes to star in a solo movie focusing on her character, Hope van Dyne, aka Wasp. On the red carpet, the actor was asked how much longer she wanted to continue in the role. Lilly replied, "I'm going to make a pitch that I think it might be time for a Wasp standalone film."

In a subsequent interview with the publication, Lilly expounded on her ideas for such a movie, noting that there's a darker side to the character which she feels has gone unexplored. "At the very, very beginning, you have this sense that, like, there was a darkness in her that could have gone the wrong way," Lilly said.

The star referenced a scene from that movie in which Hope calls forth a swarm of ants to black out the windows of a house, explaining that the bravery and heroism of Wasp belies the inner turmoil bubbling beneath her exterior. "I really want to know more about that," Lilly said. "Everything else since then has been really about her competence and her integrity. But there's more to her than just competence and integrity. What are the things that are dangerous for her? What are her vices? What are the places where if you poke her, she might fall apart or go to the dark side?"

Intriguing as that sounds, Evangeline Lilly will have to make a pitch to Kevin Feige and the other executives at Marvel Studios if she wants a Wasp spin-off to become a reality. Meanwhile, she makes up half the title cast of "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," which buzzes into theaters on February 17.