'Wasp' Evangeline Lilly on joining the league of female superheroes: I am just excited to be part of the sisterhood

If Paul Rudd makes for a great Ant-Man, then there probably couldn’t be an actress more appropriate than Evangeline Lilly to play the Wasp. While the last film ended with them locking lips, they seem to be bantering once again in Ant-Man And The Wasp, which releases in India on July 13. And this time around, she even gets a better suit than him. I meet her in Taipei, Taiwan, where, she informs us that she has tried 13 flavours of ice cream including rice wine, pork floss, wasabi, curry, and chilli pepper, to name a few. Getting down to business, the actress talks about joining the sisterhood of female superheroes, and why she gravitates towards playing badass characters.

MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) superheroes are loved across the world. Did you expect that The Wasp would be received with so much anticipation?

You don’t anticipate that you would be so loved. All over the world, there are people who care about these characters and are so invested in them and want to see more of them. That feels so special and surprising. You can never expect in a million years that you would be a part of something like this.

The first movie seemed like a lot of fun, but is the pressure mounting now?

If this movie flops, it will be my fault because he (Paul Rudd) has proven that he can make a movie (laughs loudly).

In the comics, The Ghost is a man. What do you think of the change in the gender of the character?

Yes, in the comic books, The Ghost was a man. But in this film, it’s being played by an incredibly beautiful, powerful and intelligent woman. That is exciting because now we have a female villain, a heroine and other females, who I can’t talk about (laughs).

Tell us a bit about The Ghost.

Ava, or Ghost, is played by Hannah John-Kamen. Her entry into this film is so cool. The minute her character is introduced, you know that The Wasp is in trouble. Everybody is aware that the only way you can make a good superhero film is if you have an even better villain, and Hannah knocks it out of the park as someone, who is both terrifying and formidable, but somehow vulnerable and innocent, too. And that might be the creepiest thing about her.

Quantum realm plays such an important part in the story. How do you imagine it to be?

I feel like we are in the quantum realm, we just don’t know it. Have you read Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy? I love the notion that there’s a version of all of us in an alternate universe at the exact same time and it’s the quantum realm. That’s exciting to me.

How does it feel to be the first female superhero with equal billing in the Marvel cinematic universe?

It feels absolutely incredible. I am so honoured to be in this moment with the MCU. It goes without saying that anyone of the female superheroes in the MCU could rightfully have a standalone film. I am just excited to be part of the sisterhood and to represent and be there in the bill for the first time. I  hope it’s the beginning of many more.

You seem to love taking up roles where the female character is in charge...

Sometimes I wonder why these roles are attracted to me. But the truth is I am kind of a control freak in real life. I run my businesses, household, look after my children and husband. I think, when I look at roles, I feel the need to relate to the characters in order to believe that what she is doing is authentic. Sometimes when I read characters, I think who would do that! Maybe somebody would, but I wouldn’t. If I’ve chosen to do a role, it means I believe her (the character). I believe that woman is real and is making choices that a real person would. It, of course, falls back on how I would make choices and what my experiences have been. But I don’t go around kicking guys’ ass (laughs).

What’s the dynamic between Hope van Dyne (Wasp) and Scott Lang (Ant-Man) in this film?

The relationship between Hope and Scott in the first film was straightforward: she couldn’t stand him for the majority of the film. And then at some point or other, she realises that he’s okay. Then all of a sudden, they’re kissing in a hallway. Nobody knows how it happened. Between the first and second film, they were in a committed relationship. Then Scott ran off to Germany and had a costume party on a tarmac and decided that he didn’t care if that affected their lives, or if that ruined Hope’s life. As a result, he got himself arrested and since that point, they have no longer been an item. They haven’t spoken in a long time, but Hope needs him. She’s got this mission, and she’s really focused on her mother, but underneath it all she still loves Scott.

What’s your equation with Paul?

The competition between Scott and Hope is cute, fun to watch and entertaining. But in order for it to be that, we can’t be in competition. We have to support each other. When we are on the sets, we are just having a great time together.

You have Michelle Pfeiffer on board this time around...

 When we started doing the first Ant-Man film, they referenced Janet van Dyne a lot. I told Marvel four years ago if they ever bring a Janet van Dyne into one of these films, please make it Michelle Pfeiffer. I really wanted her to play my character’s mom. Not only is she the most beautiful woman to have ever walked planet Earth and a great actor, but she was also Cat Woman. She was the only superhero about whom I would fantasise when I was in my teens. She was so cool. When the film went on floors, they broke the news to me that Michelle was, in fact, going to play Hope’s mother. It had nothing to do with my request I’m sure, but they realised one of my dreams by casting her.

Now that you have your own suit, which Marvel villain you would like to battle it out with?

I would pick Hella!