Hope van Dyne

Hope van Dyne (née Pym) is a fictional character portrayed by Evangeline Lilly in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film franchise, loosely based on the Marvel Comics character Hope Pym. Portrayed as the daughter of Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne, she was a senior board member of her father's company, Pym Technologies, and later inherits the superhero identity of Wasp from her mother, using a suit containing shrinking technology to shrink to the size of an insect and also fly with insect-themed wings. After rekindling her relationship with her father, Van Dyne and Pym work together to bring back Van Dyne's mother who was previously trapped in the Quantum Realm. After doing so, Van Dyne and her parents fall victim to the Blip. When the three are restored to life, Van Dyne joins the Avengers in a battle against an alternate Thanos. Afterwards, she heads the Pym van Dyne Foundation, continues a relationship with Scott Lang, and becomes a step-mother to Cassie Lang. She is later trapped in the Quantum Realm alongside her family and works with them to defeat Kang the Conqueror. She first appeared in the 2015 film Ant-Man and later in Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023). Lilly also appears in the Disney+ animated series What If...? (2021) as an alternate version of the character. She is noted for being the first superheroine to be a titular character in a MCU film, preceding Captain Marvel, Black Widow, and Shuri. Joss Whedon, the writer and director of The Avengers, originally intended to have the Wasp appear in the film due to potential scheduling conflicts preventing Scarlett Johansson from appearing in the film as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow. Whedon wanted Zooey Deschanel to play the role of Wasp. In 2013, actresses Jessica Chastain, Emma Stone, Rashida Jones and Bryce Dallas Howard were in talks to play the female lead in the then-upcoming Ant-Man film. In February 2014, Evangeline Lilly was rumoured to be cast in the role while Edgar Wright was still slated to direct.