Michelle Pfieffer’s Catwoman in 1992’s Batman Returns did some very weird things to my young mind. I just wanted to see a fun Dark Knight movie, but what I got was a whip-crackin’, live-bird munching Pfieffer in full skin-tight latex and stiletto heels assaulting the Caped Crusader with sexually loaded puns. Ever since then, I’ve had a soft spot for the actress, who’s become a real top tier talent, recently turning heads in Darren Aronofsky’s excellent Mother!
So, it’s with no surprise that I see Kevin Feige is over the moon about her appearance in Ant-Man and The Wasp. She’ll be playing Janet van Dyne, former Wasp and mother of Evangeline Lilly’s Hope van Dyne. As far as the characters know, she was last seen sacrificing her life to save millions, losing herself to the infinite and almost inescapable Quantum Realm. Now, however, she’s back, and Kevin Feige is over the moon that they got Pfieffer to play her:
“I don’t want to say too much, but I will say that’s she’s every bit as iconic and amazing in this part as you would imagine, people ask sometimes about movie stars and star power and who’s the most exciting person to be around, and the truth is that once you get to know them as people, they don’t feel like movie stars — everybody is just a super-impressive human. But in a room full of movie stars, Michelle Pfeiffer rises to the top.”
You’re goddamn right she does. He goes on to lay out how they were putting together an MCU 10th anniversary photo, featuring as many actors in the franchise as possible. There was some serious star wattage in that room, but according to Feige, “You can tell how big Michelle is because all the other movie stars were going, ‘Is that Michelle Pfeiffer over there?’”
Now, you could say that of course Feige would be hyping up Pfieffer, as he wants us to be as excited about Ant-Man and The Wasp as possible. But you know what? This time I have no doubts that he’s telling the truth.
