Evangeline Lilly's Hope Van Dyne made her debut in last year's "Ant-Man" starring Paul Rudd as the titular superhero. During the film's end credits, it was shown that Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) will give Hope the mantle of The Wasp formerly donned by her mother Janet.
Hope wasn't featured wearing the costume yet. That reveal will happen in "Ant-Man and the Wasp," where Lilly has a co-lead status.
In a recent interview with Blastr at the New York Comic-Con, Lilly confirmed that The Wasp will appear in "Avengers 4" but not in "Avengers: Infinity War." The reason why the superhero won't be appearing in the third "Avengers" movie is because the producers wanted her in-costume reveal to happen first in "Ant-Man and the Wasp," which will be released in theaters two months after "Avengers: Infinity War."
Lilly, 37, said that "Ant-Man and the Wasp" will showcase the "origin of the Wasp" and the first time that she will "take on the mantle, and put on the suit, and fly about, and do her thing." "Ant-Man and the Wasp" director Peyton Reed revealed that the sequel will go beyond the professional relationship of Scott Lang and Hope, and it will showcase the Wasp's "full power set and everything," Parent Herald previously reported.
Last August, Rudd told Entertainment Tonight that they just turned a story treatment for "Ant-Man and the Wasp," but it's still preliminary. Rudd is working on the film's script with Adam McKay, Andrew Barrer, and Gabriel Ferrari.
Michael Peña's Luis will reappear in "Ant-Man and the Wasp," according to The Hollywood Reporter. There are speculations that Douglas will reprise his Hank Pym role as well, though it's still unconfirmed.
The Wasp's appearance in "Avengers 4" can signify that the film will be Earth-based than its predecessor, which will focus on the mighty heroes flying to the galactic realm with Thanos (Josh Brolin) as the big baddie. The final showdown will likely happen on Earth, given that The Wasp will be more effective fighting on her home planet than in outer space, Screen Rant wrote.
Co-director Anthony Russo said that "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers 4" are "very very different from one another," SlashFilm reported. The movies don't have a part one and part two scenario, though they will have "cross-pollination between characters and some story-arcs," Joe Russo said.
"Avengers: Infinity War" and "Ant-Man and the Wasp" will bow in theaters on May 4, 2018 and July 6, 2018, respectively. The still untitled fourth "Avengers" film will be released on May 3, 2019.
