Avengers 3: Where Wasp Could Be During Infinity War

Nearly every Marvel Cinematic Universe hero is in Avengers: Infinity War - so where is Wasp? The third Avengers movie boasts a larger cast than any superhero movie to date, with Chris Hemsworth once referring to "76 cast members." Naturally, the film is also expected to tie together countless Marvel plot threads, although the Russo brothers have said that the movie most connected to Infinity War is actually Ant-Man & the Wasp.That was an unexpected revelation, but it raises one puzzling question; why isn't Evangeline Lilly in Infinity War? According to Lilly, she doesn't even have a big part in Avengers 4 either. "Not going to be a ton," she revealed on Instagram, "but I'm in there! And I'm proud to be in there. And I'm stoked to be in there."Related: Ant-Man 2 Is A Weirdly Perfect Follow-Up To Infinity WarBut here's the catch: all the evidence suggests Ant-Man & the Wasp is set after the events of Captain America: Civil War; the trailer showed Scott Lang under house arrest, a consequence of his siding with Steve Rogers against Tony Stark. That means Wasp will have actually become a superhero by the time Thanos invades. What's more, she's wielding the very best tools Hank Pym has to offer, including a whole range of weapons he never bothered to give to Scott. For some reason, though, Wasp won't suit up against the Mad Titan. What's going on?This Page: Is Wasp Just Not Involved In Infinity War?

The Real Reason Wasp Isn't In Avengers: Infinity War

The Wasp and Ant-Man looking to the same direction in Ant-Man and the Wasp.

In an interview with Syfy, Evangeline Lilly explained that there's a simple reason she won't be in Infinity War: Marvel want the Wasp to make her big-screen debut in her own movie. As Lilly put it, "there's an Avengers series coming out. It's a two-parter. The Wasp won't be in the first part, she'll be in the second part, because they really want to preserve that reveal for Ant-Man And The Wasp."

The reality is, if Wasp made her debut in Infinity War, she would be overshadowed by all the cosmic spectacle. Not only are there still relatively few female Marvel movie superheroes, Wasp is the first one to get a co-lead title spot (pretty staggering given Ant-Man & the Wasp will be the 20th film set in the MCU). It means there's a lot of pressure on Marvel to get this right; especially given Wonder Woman has conclusively destroyed the notion female-led superhero films can't perform well at the box office.

From an out-of-universe perspective, Marvel's decision makes perfect sense; it makes Wasp's debut a singular event. But how do they explain it in-continuity?

Why Wasp May Not Be Involved

It'd be easy to assume that Infinity War will see Thanos invade the Earth in force. In reality, the trailers and TV spots have suggested that Thanos launches precision strikes at specific targets. He doesn't want to conquer the Earth, he simply wants to take possession of the Infinity Stones. Thus Thanos's forces initially strike in New York and the UK, hunting down the Time Stone and Mind Stone respectively. The final pitched battle between Thanos's armies and Earth's Mightiest Heroes doesn't even happen in the United States. Instead, the entire third act of Infinity War is set in Wakanda.

The structure of Infinity War suggests there may be a very simple reason Wasp doesn't get involved; she isn't in New York when Thanos arrives and isn't able to get to Wakanda in time to participate in the final battle. Presuming Hope van Dyne is San Francisco, on the West Coast, she may "avoid" much of the conflict. A similar principle may explain why Hawkeye doesn't seem to have a major arc in Infinity War. He's believed to have retired (again), and will thus be living in the remote Barton homestead.

It's a simple solution, and Occam's Razor suggests it's the most likely explanation for Wasp's absence. And yet, it sits uncomfortably with the Russos' comment that Ant-Man & the Wasp is strongly tied to Infinity War. It certainly seems as though there should be more to this; that's especially the case given Scott Lang manages to get involved in Avengers 3 anyway.

Is Wasp Trapped In The Quantum Realm?

There is one other, far more ominous, possibility: Wasp isn't on Earth at all. The first Ant-Man introduced viewers to the so-called "Quantum Realm," a fractal reality where "all concepts of time and space become irrelevant." Hank Pym had previously believed entering the Quantum Realm - achieved by shrinking down beyond subatomic size - was deadly; he thought his wife Janet had died decades ago when she went subatomic. To Pym's surprise, Scott Lang proved otherwise, successfully escaping the Quantum Realm in the film's finale. Ant-Man & the Wasp sees the heroes explore the Quantum Realm, trying to rescue the original Wasp.

But that's not the full extent of this alternate dimension; the Quantum Realm will also appear in 2019's Captain Marvel. Clearly, the Quantum Realm is an important part of the MCU's ever-expanding mythology. It's particularly important to note that this mysterious plane of existence will be appearing in both the films set between Infinity War and Avengers 4. This, coupled with the fact they're both set before Infinity War and the expectation of a cliffhanger to Avengers 3, has led to theories that the Quantum Realm is the key to time-travel in Avengers 4. It's further a popular explanation for why Captain Marvel doesn't appear until then is via the Quantum Realm.

If one character sitting out Infinity War but making her team debut in Avengers 4 is arriving through the Quantum Realm, could the same be true for Hope? Due to the Phase 3 timeline, it can work: Wasp is trapped in Ant-Man and the Wasp, leaving on Scott Lang for Infinity War before a return proper in Avengers 4.

Importantly, though, it would work for the movie at hand, giving it a tragic edge. Hank Pym did his best to protect his daughter from the Ant-Man technology, so for him to lose his daughter the same way as he lost his wife shortly after giving her the new upgrade would be a heartbreaking twist. That said, something so downbeat would be a risk; as dramatically satisfying as it sounds, it's a big tonal shift from a film described as a "rom-com." This would certainly be a downbeat ending to a movie that's clearly rich in humor.

The bigger problem her would be franchise-wide. It would make Avengers 4 required viewing just to make sense of plot threads from Ant-Man & the Wasp. And, for all the criticisms of "TV-style viewing", that's a break with tradition for Marvel; with only a handful of exceptions, the non-tentpole Avengers films tend to be relatively self-contained in a deliberate strategy to ensure the "shared universe" model doesn't become overwhelming for audiences. Phase 3 is already pushing boundaries with a whole new level of inter-connectedness - counting Ant-Man & the Wasp, no less than three films are set in the aftermath of Captain America: Civil War - but could this be a boundary too far?

Realistically, these seem to be the two main possible explanations. Either Wasp is simply not involved in Infinity War, unable to get to the action in time to fight against Thanos's agents, or her absence is a clue towards Ant-Man and the Wasp. Whatever the case, she's sure to have an impressive debut when it finally arrives.

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