Melbourne
March 29-30, 2025
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Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania kickstarts Phase 5 of the MCU with one of the wildest adventures the franchise has delivered yet.
The third Ant-Man entry features superheroes Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), joined by Hope’s parents Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), and Scott’s daughter Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), exploring the Quantum Realm and going up against one of the MCU’s most powerful villains to date.
“This film is way larger in scope; the stakes are way higher than the first two films,” Evangeline Lilly tells Supanova on the eve of release.
While it’s “much more intense” and “darker”, Lilly notes that it retains the “zany, quirky, bizarre nature” of Ant-Man, both in terms of its humour and sweetness, “and it still holds onto the family dynamics, which is the core of our franchise.”
When audiences were first introduced to Hope Van Dyne eight years ago in the first Ant-Man film, she “wasn’t attached to anybody”, but rather obsessed with her work at Pym Technologies.
Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne/Wasp in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. Photo by Jay Maidment
In Quantumania, she’s now basically a stepmother to Cassie, has repaired her relationship with her parents and things have never been better between her and Scott.
“When she’s thrust into the Quantum Realm, there is so much more for her to lose and she is hellbent on protecting and defending her new family,” Lilly emphasises.
It’s been quite a journey for Hope since we first met her, but there’s still a lot that Lilly would like to explore.
“I think I’m just always eager to dive deeper into who she is, which of course, in the MCU, you’re not going to get that far with that goal,” she laughs, “because you need massive plot lines and you need huge action sequences.
“Every new movie I’m like, ‘Okay, what do I get to reveal about this character now and what do I get to know about her that I didn’t know before?’”
A lot of the aforementioned action in the film revolves around new villain Kang the Conqueror, portrayed by Jonathan Majors, who is nowhere near as terrifying in person as he is on-screen, thankfully.
An affable Majors has just returned to the US after attending the Sydney red-carpet event for Quantumania and says he feels “a big responsibility” stepping into one of the most complex and interesting roles in the MCU.
“He’s just a wicked character,” Majors tells. “He’s just something I’ve not seen, I’ve not read anything like it, except in regards to him – or them, however you want to look at it – so it’s pretty neat, man, it’s a whirlwind but I’m rolling.”
Majors really makes Kang his own in Quantumania, promising big things for Phase 5.
“With Kang the Conqueror, I looked at that last name – ‘Conqueror’ – and [director] Peyton Reed, [writer] Jeff Loveness and I, we started trying to figure out what was in the DNA of the name; what is it to be a conqueror? What are some examples of that?
“He’s also a leader – what are some examples of that? He’s also, believe it or not, a human being. What happens when you’ve seen everything? When time is everything and nothing at the same time? It’s interesting.”
Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man and Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. Photo by Jay Maidment
Genghis Khan, Napoleon and Julius Caesar were all conquerors that Majors looked into while prepping.
“The more you read about them, the more you go, ‘Oh, there are similar qualities,’” he says.
“There’s a confidence to them, there’s a charm to them, there’s a killer instinct that they all have. There’s also a fragility that makes them react; these are people who feel a pinch as a gunshot and react that way. That is not a good characteristic to have day-to-day, however, if you were trying to conquer land and all the other stuff, that type of engine is beneficial.”
Despite a show-stealing performance from Majors, the film is, as Lilly says, about “people coming together”, which is what she hopes will stick with fans.
“Human beings are messy, relationships are messy and our film really delves into that mess,” she says.
“I just hope it’s a calling card, reminding everybody that all the discomfort and all the mess is worth it, and to get into that mess because that’s where the fruits are, that’s where the love is, that’s where the connection comes from.”
‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania’ is in cinemas now!
Lead image: Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, Kathryn Newton as Cassandra “Cassie” Lang, Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne/Wasp in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
