It’s been eight years since we were first introduced to Ant-Man and the Wasp in the MCU. And with the hero’s third film, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, kicking off phase five, it seems like the film’s stars are starting to feel that they have some sort of seniority. And this makes sense considering that the original Avengers have passed down the torch to other heroes that will take their place.
In an interview with Variety, Evangeline Lilly expressed how far she’s come since she first made her MCU debut. Looking back, she felt like “a junior” when she started her MCU journey. And now, as she stars in the third Ant-Man film, she sees herself as an “Avengers Senior.”
She also compared her experience from back then to now. How she had no idea what was going on in this established universe when it started. And now as phase five is about to launch, she believes that she’s finally earned her stripes.
“…Something just clicked where I just realized, I’ve become an ‘Avengers senior.’ Like I’ve gone from being a junior to being a senior, and that was kind of neat. Cuz when we first came into the universe, it was so established with Black Widow, Iron Man, and Captain America, all the original gangsters. And we were just these new kids on the block who were trying to earn our stripes. And now all of the sudden, we’re in the center and at the launching point of Phase Five, and it feels really cool”
Ever since the end of Avengers: Endgame, most of the following Marvel stories were based around the idea of “passing down the torch.” This was seen in the Disney Plus series Hawkeye and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, where two of the original Avengers passed down the title to a younger generation. And while there still some of the original Avengers still sticking around like Thor, the MCU has also introduced new heroes like Shang-Chi, Moon Knight, and Ms. Marvel.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is the first Marvel title to kick off Phase Five in the MCU timeline. According to Kevin Feige, he saw Ant-Man as an “underestimated hero” and played a key role in saving the universe. This led to the idea to use him and his established story to play a role in phase five and the Multiverse saga as a whole.
The film is scheduled to come out in theaters on Feb. 17, 2023.