| Hope van Dyne | |
|---|---|
| Marvel Cinematic Universe character | |
 Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne / Wasp inAnt-Man and the Wasp (2018) | |
| First appearance | Ant-Man (2015) |
| Based on | |
| Adapted by | |
| Portrayed by |
|
| In-universe information | |
| Full name | Hope van Dyne (née Pym) |
| Alias | Wasp |
| Affiliation | |
| Weapon | Wasp suit |
| Family |
|
| Significantother | Scott Lang |
| Origin | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Nationality | American |
Hope van Dyne (néePym) is a fictional character portrayed primarily byEvangeline Lilly in theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)film franchise, loosely based on theMarvel Comics characterHope Pym. Portrayed as the daughter ofHank Pym andJanet van Dyne, she was a senior board member of her father's company,Pym Technologies, and later inherits the superhero identity ofWasp from her mother, using a suit containing shrinking technology to shrink to the size of an insect and also fly with insect-themed wings. Her appearances in the MCU have received media attention, with praise often given to her authentic, relatable portrayal as superheroine.
After rekindling her relationship with her father, Van Dyne works with him to bring back her mother who was previously trapped in theQuantum Realm and defeat various supervillains includingYellowjacket andGhost. After doing so, Van Dyne and her parents fall victim tothe Blip. When the three are restored to life, Van Dyne joins theAvengers ina battle against an alternate version ofThanos. Afterwards, she buys back her father's company heading thePym van Dyne Foundation and continues her relationship withScott Lang becoming a step-mother to his daughter,Cassie Lang. She is later trapped in the Quantum Realm alongside her family and works with them to defeatKang the Conqueror.
She first appeared in the 2015 filmAnt-Man and later inAnt-Man and the Wasp (2018),Avengers: Endgame (2019) andAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023).Madeleine McGraw portrays a younger version of Van Dyne.Alternate versions of Van Dyne appear in theDisney+ animated seriesWhat If...? (2021–2024), also voiced by Lilly and McGraw. Van Dyne is noted for being the first superheroine to be a titular character in a MCU film, precedingCaptain Marvel,Black Widow, andBlack Panther and inspiring the creation of comic superheroineNadia van Dyne.
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Joss Whedon, the writer and director ofThe Avengers, originally intended to have the Wasp appear in the film due to potential scheduling conflicts preventingScarlett Johansson from appearing in the film asNatasha Romanoff / Black Widow.[1] Whedon wantedZooey Deschanel to play the role of Wasp.[2]
In 2013, actressesJessica Chastain,Emma Stone,Rashida Jones andBryce Dallas Howard were in talks to play the female lead in the then-upcomingAnt-Man film.[3] In February 2014,Evangeline Lilly was rumored to be cast in the role whileEdgar Wright was still slated to direct.[4][5] When Wright left the film later in the year and was replaced byPeyton Reed, Lilly was reluctant to take the role until she read the revised script and got a chance to meet with Reed.[6] After reading the revised script, she felt that the film was also "pulled" more into the MCU than Wright's version adding that while Wright's version was "incredible" and would have been great to film and watch, "it would not have fit in the Marvel Universe. It would have stuck out like a sore thumb, no matter how good it was. It just would have taken you away from this cohesive universe they're trying to create. And therefore it ruins the suspended disbelief that they've built".[7]
Reed and Lilly alongsidePaul Rudd, who was set to star asScott Lang, contributed ideas to the revised script to help flesh out Lilly's character, who received a fuller arc and more action sequences as a result.[8] One of the important things for Reed when joining the film was emphasizing both Hope andJanet van Dyne more, given the Wasp being "a crucial part" of the Ant-Man comics.[9] Hope shares her last name with her mother rather than her father,Hank Pym, as "statement of her ambivalence toward her father".[10] Lilly noted that the name change "emphasizes the challenges the two characters need to overcome in order to reconcile, as well as reflects the tragedy of Janet's loss that created the rift in the first place".[10][11]
It was eventually announced at the 2014San Diego Comic-Con that Lilly was cast as Van Dyne.[12] She went on to sign a multi-film contract with Marvel.[13]
Hope van Dyne first appeared inAnt-Man (2015) and is introduced as the daughter of formerS.H.I.E.L.D. agents Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne, and senior board member of her father's companyPym Technologies.[4][5][6][8] Lilly described her character as "capable, strong, and kick-ass", but said that being raised by two superheroes resulted in Hope being "a pretty screwed up human being [...] and the clear message sent by my name is that I'm not a big fan of my father and so I took my mother's name."[14] She added that Van Dyne's "arc in the movie is trying to find a relationship" with Pym, which in turn brings Hope closer to becoming a hero.[15][16]Kevin Feige noted that Van Dyne was the more obvious choice to take up the mantle of Ant-Man, being "infinitely more capable of actually being a superhero" than Lang, and that the reason she does not is because Pym is afraid of losing her, rather than sexism.[13] Despite this, at the end of the film during amid-credits scene, Van Dyne is offered a prototype for a new suit from her father in which she notes that it's "about damn time".[17]
In 2016, Feige revealed that Lilly was to appear as the Wasp in an original draft of the filmCaptain America: Civil War (2016), but her scenes were cut out of the final script because "there were so many characters inCivil War that [they] didn't want to do her a disservice".[18]Peyton Reed noted that "Scott almost did call Hope" but "the Russo brothers, along with their screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, felt that there was too much story riding on the backs of too many characters to do justice to Wasp".[19]
Lilly reprised her role and made her debut as the Wasp inAnt-Man and the Wasp (2018).[20][21] In the film, Van Dyne takes on the mantle to help find her mother who is presumed lost in theQuantum Realm.[21] The writers were excited to properly introduce the character as the Wasp, showing her "power set, how she fights, and what are the injustices that matter to her".[22] Lilly felt the character had "incredible satisfaction" in becoming the Wasp, "something that she has been waiting for her whole life" noting that it "is essentially an affirmation from her father".[23] Her relationship with Lang in the film is complex—not only is she upset about his involvement in theAvengers Civil War, but she is even more frustrated that he did not ask her to join him in fighting alongsideSteve Rogers and his allies, believing that if she had been there, he wouldn't have been caught.[24][25][26] In her fight sequences, Lilly stated that she wanted to move away from masculine styles of fighting such asMuay Thai and themixed martial arts she learned for the first film, noting that Van Dyne moves differently than a man, so her fights should have "elegance, grace and femininity" with "a signature style" young girls could enjoy and emulate.[27] Lilly worked with the writers to help ensure Van Dyne represented a modern woman without becoming a stereotyped motherly figure.[27] Additionally,Madeleine McGraw portrayed a younger version of Van Dyne in the film.[28]
In late 2016, two new Avengers films were announced to arrive in 2018 and 2019.[29] Lilly confirmed that Van Dyne would appear in the second Avengers film (eventually titledAvengers: Endgame) saying that her character would not appear in the 2018 instalment (Avengers: Infinity War) in order to preserve her reveal as the Wasp inAnt-Man and the Wasp which was released the same year.[29] The Wasp eventually appeared duringthe final battle ofAvengers: Endgame (2019).[30]
In 2021, Lilly voiced an alternate version (variant) of Van Dyne in thefirst season ofWhat If...?, in the episode "What If... Zombies?!" where her mother brought back a quantum virus and infected theUnited States.[31][32] In the episode "What If... the World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?", Van Dyne was recruited byNick Fury into S.H.I.E.L.D., but was killed inOdessa, Ukraine causing her father to murder various members on theAvengers Initiative roster in revenge.[33][34] Another version of Wasp was originally set to appear in the first draft ofDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) as a part of theIlluminati with head writer,Michael Waldron, revealing that theScarlet Witch would have "clapped her hands and smushed the Wasp".[35][36]
Lilly reprised her role as titular superhero inAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023).[37][38][39] Lilly noted that she was "really excited to have a chance to show a side of [Van Dyne] where she would make mistakes, she would be fragile, and she wouldn't always have the right answer".[32] In the film, Van Dyne is shown to be in a good place having healed her relationship with her father, succeeded in saving her mother, fallen in love with Scott and is now a step-mother to Cassie.[32] With her relationship with Cassie, Van Dyne "sees her as a little girl who needs coddling or protecting".[32] Contrastingly, her relationship with her own mother at the beginning of the film is the polar opposite where Janet tires to protect Van Dyne by not letting her in.[32] After the film's release, in an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, Lilly noted that Hope did not change much in the movie adding that "there wasn't somewhere [Van Dyne] needed to get to or go other than just to repair a little wound in her relationship with her mom".[40] Writer,Jeff Loveness, explained that there was a scene in the film which showed Van Dyne having a son which "would've come in the 'probability storm' scene" but was cut because it "didn't fit in the flow".[41]
In December 2023, Van Dyne appeared in two episodes of thesecond season ofWhat If...?.[42][43] Voiced by McGraw, a younger version of Van Dyne appears in "What If... Peter Quill Attacked Earth's Mightiest Heroes?" acting as "Hank's conscience".[44] She also appears in a non-speaking role in "What If... Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper?" where she followsCaptain Carter's lead as a founding member of theAvengers.[43] Head writer,A. C. Bradley, noted that "Since Peggy Carter wasn't around to found S.H.I.E.L.D., that responsibility fell to Hope's parents, Hank and Janet [...] All this lead to Hope taking on the Wasp mantle earlier".[45] In 2024, Lilly announced that she was "stepping away" from acting.[46]Screen Rant writer Ross Tanenbaum later opined that her retirement leaves Van Dyne's MCU future in question but also noted that in the Multiverse anyone can be "recast".[47] Van Dyne's company, the Pym van Dyne Foundation, appeared onbillboards inTimes Square duringMayorWilson Fisk's electoral speech inDaredevil: Born Again (2025).[48][49]
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An unfinished version of Van Dyne's Wasp suit made its first appearance in theAnt-Man (2015) mid-credit scene.[17] It was navy blue with golden and red strips of colour around, and was not seen in full until the film's sequel in 2018.[21] The suit features "Wasp stinger" blasters,[50] and was based on drawings by concept artistAndy Park, designed by British costume designer Louise Frogley and "required a four-month period of research and development before filmmakers arrived at a satisfactory result".[51]
The suit was called a "significant upgrade" from Lang's Ant-Man suit as it can shrink Van Dyne while also additionally having wings which can retract into the back of her suit — in comparison to Ant-Man who utilises ants for aerial transport.[50] In Lang's autobiography,Look Out for the Little Guy, the character noted that his suit is more manual while Van Dyne has a more intuitive control system and "can simply think about what size she wants to be and the suit obeys".[52] In an interview withScreen Rant, Lilly noted that Van Dyne's suit is an upgrade from Lang's suit due to the fact his suit was Hank Pym's from the 1960s.[50] Lilly also compared the suit toIron Man's armour because both do not need buttons to activate the suit.[50][53]
Throughout the films, Van Dyne's hairstyle has seen three different changes including abob cut, aponytail and apixie cut.[54] For the first film, Joanna Robinson ofVanity Fair criticised the use of Van Dyne's hairstyle saying "the most extreme thing Hope wears is that severe haircut".[17] Her ponytail, which made its debut in the second film, received critical acclaim withMashable writer, Angie Han, noting that it was not a "fancysci-fi updo or anything" but rather a "plain old messy ponytail, the likes of which you've seen on every long-haired woman at the gym".[54] She added,
It may not sound like a big deal but that one detail speaks volumes about who Hope is [...] The MCU movies' first true leading lady isn't a literal goddess, or a mysterious spy, or a space assassin – She's a down-to-earth lady who's just like us. And that means she pulls her hair back when she beats up bad guys.[54]
InAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Van Dyne's suit received an ugrade.[55] Paying homage to the originalJanet van Dyne costume, Van Dyne's suit was more "comic-accurate" being "bug-like and brightly colored" with black and yellow colours.[55] Her hairstyle was in a pixie cut for the film as Lilly had shaved her head four years prior and the call was made to do "another callback to the original Wasp in the comics" as she "often had a little short, dark pixie cut".[56] The hairstyle received generally mixed reviews.[57][58][59]
Throughout the mainstreamcomics set in theMarvel Universe (Earth-616), the superhero character,Wasp, was Janet van Dyne, who debuted in theanthology seriesTales to Astonish #44 (June 1963, plotted byStan Lee, scripted byH.E. Huntley, and drawn byJack Kirby) asAnt-Man /Henry "Hank" Pym's partner, having become the Wasp to avenge the death of her father.[60] Janet co-starred inTales to Astonish as the Wasp until #69 (1963–65) and was a founding member of theAvengers.[61] Throughout theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU),Janet van Dyne is portrayed byMichelle Pfeiffer and is introduced as the mother to Hope van Dyne and was presumed dead after she shrunk to subatomic level to stop a nuclear missile, becoming trapped in theQuantum Realm.[62] In the MCU,Nick Fury'sAvengers Initiative was inspired and named afterCaptain Marvel's call sign, while in the comics the Avengers were named by Janet.[63][64]
Hope van Dyne is essentially an original character in the MCU and was loosely based on the concept ofsupervillainHope Pym, also known as theRed Queen, who is also the daughter ofHank Pym andJanet van Dyne.[60] Hope Pym existed in theMC2 universe alongside her twin brother,Henry Pym Jr.[60] Conversely, the filmmakers ofAnt-Man noted that they "decided to reimagine [Van Dyne] as a more sympathetic character" and she "didn't give in to her hate the same way her comic book counterpart did and even began aiding her [estranged] father once she found out that a new villain was going to abuse his technology".[60] While Van Dyne did not originally appear in the mainstream canon comics,Nadia van Dyne was created in 2016 "as a comic version" of her.[65] Nadia was originally recruited into theRed Room and eventually claimed the Van Dyne name after being adopted by Janet.[66]
Hope van Dyne was born to high-rankingS.H.I.E.L.D. agentsHank Pym andJanet van Dyne, and grew up inSan Francisco, California. She becomes estranged from her father after he hides the circumstances of the disappearance of her mother and sends her toboarding school. His subsequent cold and distant behavior towards her also causes her to adopt her mother's maiden name. She later becomes thechairman of her father's companyPym Technologies and was the deciding vote in casting him out as CEO.[a][67]
In 2015, Van Dyne seeks out Pym's help after finding out how close the new CEO,Darren Cross, is from replicating theAnt-Man shrinking technology. Cross plans to mass-produce and sell this technology as military hardware known as the Yellowjacket suit.[68]
In response, Pym recruits convicted thiefScott Lang to become the new Ant-Man to steal the Yellowjacket from Cross. Van Dyne is against using Lang, believing herself to be the superior choice. Pym refuses to let her use the suit, so she calls the police on Lang after he steals the Ant-Man costume from Pym's house, despite Pym wanting him to. After Pym breaks Lang out of jail, Van Dyne reluctantly helps train Lang to fully harness the Ant-Man suit's abilities. While Hope still holds resentment towards Pym, she begins to reconcile with her father after he reveals that her mother shrank herself down to disarm a missile and became trapped in the subatomicQuantum Realm. Consequently, Van Dyne and Pym work together to successfully aid Lang in thwarting Cross' plans by destroying the Pym Technologies headquarters. Afterwards, Van Dyne and Lang begin a relationship.[68]
Later, Pym reveals to Van Dyne a new Wasp prototype suit that he and Janet had started to make, and offers it to her.[68]
In 2018, Van Dyne and Pym are in hiding due to Lang's involvement with theAvengers,[b] in violation of theSokovia Accords. The two subsequently cut ties with Lang who is placed onhouse arrest. Despite being on the run, Van Dyne and Pym start investigating ways to bring back Janet from the Quantum Realm.[67]
They briefly open a tunnel to the Quantum Realm and after receiving a call from Lang who is having dreams of Van Dyne's childhood experiences with her mother, the two work out that Lang had unknowingly becomequantumly entangled with Janet. They manage to kidnap Lang, leaving a large ant with Lang's ankle-monitor on as a decoy so as not to arouse the suspicions of the FBI agentJimmy Woo. Van Dyne dons the Wasp suit for the first with Lang as the Ant-Man and the two arrange to buy a part needed for the tunnel from black-market dealerSonny Burch. Van Dyne is attacked by the quantumly unstableAva Starr who has teamed up with Pym's former collegeBill Foster, to use the tunnel to cure Starr of her fatal molecular instability. Van Dyne and Lang fight the rival parties to keep their quantum technology safe so Pym can travel into the Quantum Realm to save Janet. Pym manages to successfully bring Janet back from the Quantum Realm and Van Dyne reunites with her mother. Van Dyne also meets Lang's daughter,Cassie Lang.[67]
Sometime later, Van Dyne, her parents and Lang plan to harvest quantum energy to cure Starr's condition. However, Van Dyne and her parents disintegrate, falling victim tothe Blip, leaving Lang trapped in the Quantum Realm for five years in present time.[c][67][69]
In 2023, Van Dyne is restored to life and is brought byMasters of the Mystic Arts to join the final battle against analternate Thanos. A week after the battle, Van Dyne, alongside her restored parents and Lang, attendsTony Stark's funeral. She then returns home and spends time with Lang and Cassie.[69]
After being revived from the Blip, Van Dyne buys back her father's company and renames it thePym van Dyne Foundation,[70] which utilizes thePym Particles in new and innovative ways to advance humanitarian efforts. She continues her relationship with Lang, alongside furthering her role as a step-mother to Cassie. Van Dyne also holds resentment for her mother who refuses to talk about her time spent in the Quantum Realm.[71]
After being bailed out from jail by Van Dyne and Lang, Cassie reveals that during the Blip, she began to read Pym's work on the Quantum Realm and with the help of Pym and Van Dyne, created a device that could make contact with the Quantum Realm. Despite Janet's protests, upon opening the device, Van Dyne, Lang, Cassie, Pym and Janet are pulled into the Quantum Realm. Van Dyne, separated from Lang and Cassie, finds her parents and begins to explore the city inside the realm. The trio meetLord Krylar, a former ally of Janet's, who reveals that things had changed since she left. He sells them out tothe man with whom he works for, which causes the trio to fight Krylar's men, flee and steal his ship.[71]
After confronting her mother, Janet reveals to Van Dyne that she is indirectly responsible for Krylar's boss, Kang's, uprising of the realm, having helped rebuild his Multiversal Power Core after he was "exiled" before enlarging it beyond use. Van Dyne reconciles with her mother, noting that they must not let Kang escape the realm. The trio arrive at the enlarged Multiversal Power Core which has created a probability storm. Van Dyne flies into the storm to save Lang, who had made a deal with Kang after he captured Cassie, and help him acquire the power core. Kang, however, retracts the deal he initially made with Lang, capturing Janet and seemingly destroying her ship with Pym on it.[71]
Pym, who is saved by hyper-intelligent evolved ants, helps Van Dyne and Lang as they make their way back to Kang, in which they commence an uprising against Kang and his army with the help of Cassie, Janet and the residents of the Quantum Realm. While seemingly having beaten Kang, Van Dyne and her family manage to make their way back to their reality through a portal powered by Kang's Multiversal Power Core. Van Dyne flies back through the portal to rescue Lang, who was pulled back into a fight with Kang, and the two defeat him by knocking him into it destroying the power core, causing him to be pulled into oblivion. Cassie reopens the portal on her end for Lang and Van Dyne to return home and the family happily resume their life.[71]
Severalalternate versions of Van Dyne appear in the animated seriesWhat If...?, with Lilly and McGraw reprising their roles.
In an alternate universe, Van Dyne was recruited as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent by Nick Fury, but waskilled during a mission inOdesa, Ukraine. This led to Hank planning revenge as Yellowjacket and the deaths of Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, Hulk, and Black Widow.[72]
In an alternate 2018, Van Dyne succeeds in bringing her parents back from the Quantum Realm. However, Janet has been infected with a quantum virus which has subsequently turned her and Pym into azombie. Within 24 hours, the virus spreads across theNorthwestern United States with Van Dyne escaping and becoming one of the sole survivors of Earth.[73]
After savingBruce Banner, who was sent to Earth to warn humanity aboutThanos, Van Dyne, alongside other survivors (includingPeter Parker,Bucky Barnes,Okoye,Sharon Carter,Kurt, andHappy Hogan) leave their base in New York City and travel toCamp Lehigh where a cure is said to be in development. En route to Camp Lehigh, the team are attacked and Van Dyne becomes infected. She sacrifices herself by turning giant to allow the others to escape and she carries the surviving team to the camp, eventually succumbing to the virus.[73]
In an alternate 1988, a younger Van Dyne accompanies her father Pym to S.H.I.E.L.D.'sNevada base who is recruited byPeggy Carter andHoward Stark to join a team to fight a celestial-powered youngerPeter Quill. After Quill is captured, Van Dyne finds him in his cell while wandering around the base. The two bond over the loss of their mothers and Van Dyne gifts Quill her walkman. She frees him to allow him to return to his home in Missouri. She later defends Quill to the adults, insisting that he needs help. She stays behind with Stark while the team handle Quill's father,Ego, and witnesses him stealing his seedling from the base. After Pym manages to convince Quill to defeat Ego, she returns to her house with everyone, including Quill, for a victory party and meetsWendy Lawson's petGoose.[74]
In an alternate 2012, Van Dyne becomes a member of the Avengers, consisting ofCaptain Peggy Carter,Natasha Romanoff,Clint Barton,Tony Stark, andThor and fights against theChitauri during the Battle of New York.[43] Her parents, Pym and Janet, had helped found S.H.I.E.L.D, leading to Van Dyne taking on the Wasp mantle earlier than other universes.[75]
For her role in the firstAnt-Man filmThe A.V. Club writer, Sam Barsanti noted that, "Hope is much more well-suited [...] to be a superhero than Paul Rudd's Scott Lang" but she didn't "get to do nearly as much stuff".[76] Contrarily, forAnt-Man and the Wasp,Stephanie Zacharek, writing forTime, felt that "the focus on Lilly as a better hero than Rudd was just checking off boxes in the name of gender equality".[77] Amon Warmann ofYahoo! News praised Lilly's voice role as Van Dyne in the fifth episode ofWhat If...?, "What If... Zombies?!", feeling that she "gave the episode's strongest performance" and that "Hope's final act of going giant size for the first time in the MCU was beautifully played".[78]
Van Dyne's role inAnt-Man and the Wasp was often received with higher praise than compared to the first film withInsider writer, Kirsten Acuna, noting that, "Wasp is even more enjoyable to watch on screen".[79] She added that "not only can she build great tech, but she's also an expert at hand-to-hand combat" and that her and Lang "are pretty great to see working side by side".[79]Vox writer, Alex Abad-Santos. agreed saying that in the sequel, "Lilly's Hope van Dyne was the smarter, tougher, better-trained character" and that "the movie fully acknowledges that Hope is the more adept superhero by letting her lead the way in these sequences".[80]
On Lilly's role inQuantumania,ScreenGeek writer, Mark Salcido, noted that Van Dyne was "stilted" and sidelined to Rudd's Lang, but added that she had a few "rare touching moments between her andPfeiffer".[81] Conversely,The Hollywood Reporter writer, Frank Scheck, found "Lilly's Wasp has plenty of moments to shine" but noted that it was "frustrating to see the main characters separated into various groups for long stretches of the film".[82] In a review for the film,IGN writer, Joshua Yehl, noted Lilly's small role, saying that it "feels strange for a character who's mentioned in the title".[83]TheWrap writer, Alonso Duralde, also wrote that Van Dyne felt "admittedly lost among all [the] characters" and that "despite the Wasp's inclusion in the title", the "superhero comes off as a bit of an afterthought once all is said and done".[84]Daily Bruin writer, Francis Moon, also felt that "Lilly takes a backseat with no development of her character Hope or her alter-ego, the Wasp" in the film.[85]
In 2018, after appearing inAnt-Man and the Wasp, Van Dyne became the first superheroine to be a titular character in aMarvel Cinematic Universe film, precedingCarol Danvers inCaptain Marvel,Natasha Romanoff inBlack Widow andShuri inBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever.[86][11] Amelia Rayne Kim ofScreen Rant noted that Van Dyne becoming the Wasp "not only made sense for the narrative but it prevented her from being simply a supporting character or a love interest".[86] Kim added that her titular introduction "broke down another barrier to the women of this universe achieving equal footing with its men".[86] On including the Wasp in the film's title forAnt-Man and the Wasp, Peyton Reed called it "organic" for both characters, and noted the Wasp's final line inAnt-Man—'It's about damn time'—as "very much about her specific character and arc in that movie, but it is absolutely about a larger thing. It's about damn time: We're going to have a fully realized, veryvery complicated hero in the next movie who happens to be a woman."[87] Reed would also push to ensure the Wasp received equal publicity and merchandise for the film.[88]
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In an article comparing Van Dyne's humanitarian efforts to Thanos'infamous snap,Screen Rant writer Derek Stauffer wrote that Van Dyne succeeded where Thanos failed.[70] He noted that Van Dyne's Pym van Dyne Foundation "managed to provide for a planet already in a state of overpopulation" rather than "eradicate life, as Thanos wanted".[70] To promoteAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023),ZipRecruiter featured the company in an advertising skit showcasing "an engineer who landed her dream job working alongside [...] the Wasp".[89]
Van Dyne inspired the creation ofMarvel Comics characterNadia van Dyne who made her debut in theFree Comic Book Day 2016 Civil War II.[90] "Nadia" is aRussian language translated name of "Hope".[91] In July 2016, Nadia was introduced as theUnstoppable Wasp as the daughter of Hank Pym and his first wife Maria Trovaya, and was originally recruited to the Red Room and trained as aBlack Widow.[65][66] On Nadia's creation,Mark Waid noted that, "Tom Brevoort and I both have a great love for the original Wasp, Janet van Dyne, and in the wake of theAnt-Man movie (which was great), Tom suggested there might be something to introducing someone who was a nod to that film's Hope van Dyne without in any way minimizing Janet's role".[90]
Lilly reprised her role in 2019 for the inspired media attraction of the MCU,Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle! inHong Kong Disneyland.[92] That same year, she voiced the character in thevirtual reality experienceAvengers: Damage Control developed byILMxLAB.[93] The story found Van Dyne teaming up with various characters includingShuri,Doctor Strange, against the supervillainUltron.[93][94]
In 2022, Lilly also reprised her role in the immersive family dining experienceAvengers: Quantum Encounter on theDisney Wish cruise ship.[95][96] In the experience, Van Dyne and Lang demonstrate quantum tech to the audience which causes them to be attacked byUltron; AvengersMs. Marvel,Captain America andCaptain Marvel are called in to help defeat him.[97]Disney noted that it "is set within its own universe".[98]
Additionally, since her inception within the MCU, other versions of the character have appeared in various Marvel Comics-based media. She appeared in theanimatedAnt-Man series, voiced byMelissa Rauch,[99]Avengers Assemble, voiced byKari Wahlgren,[100][101] andMarvel Super Hero Adventures, voiced by Marlie Collins.[102] She also appeared in various crossover Marvel video games titles created byMarvel Games using the Wasp alias, including:Marvel Puzzle Quest,Lego Marvel Avengers,Lego Marvel Superheroes 2,Marvel Contest of Champions,Marvel: Future Fight,Marvel Avengers Academy andMarvel Strike Force.[103]
| Year | Work | Award | Category | Result | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Ant-Man | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Summer Movie Star: Female | Nominated | [104] |
| 2016 | Saturn Awards | Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress | Nominated | [105] | |
| 2019 | Ant-Man and the Wasp | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Action Movie Actress | Nominated | [106] |
Various toys and merchandise of Hope van Dyne have been released since her first appearance as the Wasp with director,Peyton Reed, pushing to ensure the character received equal publicity and merchandise against Scott Lang.[88]Hot Toys released a figure of the Wasp in 2018 based on her appearance inAnt-Man and the Wasp.[107][108] The figure came with interchangeable head options and other accessories.[107] For her upgraded suit featured inAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, another figure was released.[109]Funko also released four variants of the Wasp in her suit.[110] For the second and thirdAnt-Man films, Funko released versions of the Wasp posing and flying respectively.[111][112] Both versions were released withchase variants, which featured Hope in the same poses but unmasked.[111][112] Akeychain with a smaller version of the masked 2018 variant was also released.[111]
Lego first released aLego minifigure of the character in a set from 2018 based on her appearance inAntman and the Wasp (2018).[113][114][115][116] This version was later re-released as a separate set exclusive toSan Diego Comic-Con and came with darker wings and abust of Giant-Man.[117] In 2023, an updated version of the figure was released with larger wings and a helmet similar to Lang's and was included in a set of theAvengers Tower.[118][119] That same year, two sets were released with amicrofigure of the Wasp with the first of these being adiorama from theAvengers: Endgame (2019) final battle and the other being a counter-part to a construction figure of Ant-Man fromAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023).[120][121]Hasbro have also releasedMarvel Legends figures of Van Dyne's iteration of the Wasp.[122][123]
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