Evangeline Lilly Was Glad That The Wasp Was Cut From Captain America: Civil War

Back in 2016, Captain America: Civil War was by far the most crowded entry in the MCU to date, introducing new players like Spider-Man and Black Panther, while also assembling most of the franchise’s pre-established heroes for an all-star smackdown. In such a busy film, it’s probably for the best that Marvel Studios didn’t follow through on their plans to introduce Hope van Dyne’s Wasp persona, and apparently actress Evangeline Lilly feels much the same.

In the new book Marvel Studios: The First Ten Years, the Ant-Man and the Wasp star reflects on her run thus far in the MCU, recalling how she was relieved to find out that her part had been cut from the Russo Brothers’ film.

“There was actually talk of me being in Captain America: Civil War, and I was a little bit worried about that because she would have been introduced in a story that has nothing to do with Hope or her first taking on the mantle of the Wasp.” Lilly revealed. “I would have been nervous and a bit disappointed that the first titled female Super Hero in the Marvel Universe wouldn’t get an origin film. Marvel Studios called me to say, ‘We’re not gonna use you in Civil War any more.’ and I thought, ‘Woo-hoo! That’s great!’ They said, ‘Let us explain, don’t be upset – we really want to give her an origin film. We want to give her a full film and to really make a moment of this.’ And I was way ahead of them already and very eager for that to happen!”

Ultimately, Civil War would still be responsible for working Spider-Man into the action without giving the character a proper origin film, but seeing how Peter Parker’s backstory had already been brought to the screen twice in the last decade-and-a-half, most fans were probably relieved to find out that they wouldn’t have to sit through that introductory saga all over again. Black Panther, on the other hand, was perhaps more of a compromise, with the character getting a mini-origin story of sorts in Cap’s third movie that was subsequently fleshed out in T’Challa’s own film.

Since the release of Captain America: Civil War, the Russo Brothers have worked with an even bigger cast of heroes to make Avengers: Infinity War, while Hop van Dyne got her time in the spotlight with Ant-Man and the Wasp. And while the latter film didn’t end so well for Lilly’s character, you can expect to see her once more when Avengers 4 hits theaters on May 3rd, 2019.