She almost made the cut for The Avengers back when Joss Whedon was in control of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, before ultimately being unveiled to the world during Ant-Man and the Wasp.
But it seems Hope Van Dyne’s miniature alter-ego came within arm’s reach of clinching a minor role in Captain America: Civil War, the Marvel mash-up from Joe and Anthony Russo that essentially drove a wedge between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark and, well, let’s just say the beloved duo haven’t been the same since.
For Wasp, though, never-before-seen concept art from Andy Park has today revealed a little more insight into Marvel’s early vision for Hope Van Dyne, who can be seen battling Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) alongside her one true partner-in-crime, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd).
It certainly makes for an interesting shake-up to the Civil War dynamic, as the Russo Brothers’ ensemble piece also heralded the first big-screen appearance for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man – Hope Van Dyne, of course, made her MCU bow during the original Ant-Man film, but here we’re focusing solely on superhero appearances.
Alas, as Park so rightly points out, Evangeline Lilly’s character was better served with a fully-fledged headline role opposite Paul Rudd’s micro Marvel hero. Sure, Ant-Man and the Wasp isn’t the most memorable MCU installment ever made, but its story, one of reality-altering physics and the Quantum Realm, will likely have major repercussions on the wider Marvel universe – repercussions that will only become clear on May 3rd.
Evangeline Lilly’s Wasp will reconvene with the remainder of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes when Avengers 4 drops into theaters in 2019, and word on the street suggests Marvel is now on the verge of hitting ‘publish’ on that very first teaser trailer.