8) Hope Van Dyne (Ant-Man)
Some may balk at the inclusion of Hope Van Dyne on this list. After all, Marvel aren’t exactly renowned for prioritizing women in their movies and Ant-Man certainly has issues from a feminist standpoint, but the studio are finally making strides in the right direction, which is why Evangeline Lilly’s comic book movie debut is still worth discussing.
It seemed bizarre at first that Hank Pym sidelined his daughter, especially considering how she was clearly more capable than Scott Lang, but it makes sense when you realize that he only did this to prevent Hope from sharing the same fate as her mother, the original Wasp. Although a romance inevitably develops between Hope and Scott, the relationship between Hope and her father is still the heart of the story and is never sensationalized needlessly in the same vein as Dr. Foster’s love for Thor.
Hope proves herself to be a strong and capable ally throughout Ant-Man, so it’s a relief for fans when she finally receives her own Wasp suit at the end of the film, presumably ready to join the fight against Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. As the most capable character in the movie, Hope should have received her own costume much earlier, but at least this misstep is rectified somewhat at the end.
“It’s about damn time,” indeed!