Why Ant-Man & the Wasp's Release Is Perfectly Timed With #MeToo

Screen Rant

By Danny Salemme

Published Jul 5, 2018

Evangeline Lilly is excited to play the first female superhero to co-headline a Marvel Studios movie, adding that it's happening at the perfect time.

Ant-Man and the Wasp is a game-changer for the MCU, being the first Marvel Studios movie to include a female character in its title. What's more is that its release is perfectly timed with two major social movements that no one could have possibly predicted.

Set after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man and the Wasp picks up with Scott Lang/Ant-Man (played by Paul Rudd) under house arrest. After siding against the UN's Sokovia Accords, he's legally bound to refrain from suiting up again and fighting crime. That said, he ends up being thrust back into action to help Hope van Dyne/Wasp (played by Evangeline Lilly) and her father Hank Pym (Played by Michael Douglas) thwart a new villain named Ghost (played by Hannah John-Kamen). In doing so, the three heroes end up digging up secrets from the past. Also starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, and Michael Peña, and directed by Peyton Reed, Ant-Man and the Wasp managed to inadvertently align its release perfectly with two major social movements: #MeToo and Time's Up.

In an interview with Collider, Lilly opened up about her enthusiasm towards Ant-Man and the Wasp, as well as its serendipitous release. When asked how she perceived the significance of playing the first female character in a Marvel Studios movie to have her name included in the title, Lilly is not only "honored and humbled, but also slightly terrified." Given the pressure associated with something so defining, her enthusiasm was evident. That said, Lilly specifically geared her focus toward the relevance that this watershed moment symbolizes, explaining that - given the #MeToo and Time's Up movements - "there's something about the sort of common consciousness where a piece of art or a moment is just rife and ready." Despite the fact that no one could have possibly predicted the timeliness of Ant-Man and the Wasp being released now, the movie managed to align with "this greater cultural shift that's going on."

Lilly also likened Ant-Man and the Wasp's timeliness with the release of the series Lost, in which she also starred. She explained that had Lost been released just two years prior, it might not have been met with the same kind of success - though not necessarily for the same reasons.

The future of the MCU is going all-in on its female characters, so audiences have plenty to look forward to once Phase 4 begins. Between Captain Marvel, a standalone Black Widow movie, and characters like Okoye, Scarlet Witch, and the Wasp - as well as Kevin Feige outright stating that the future of the MCU will include more female heroes than male - including a female character in a Marvel title is just the beginning. Soon, this moment will pale in comparison to the examples of gender balance present throughout the MCU in the near-future.