Ant-Man's' Evangeline Lilly talks women in superhero films

As the main female character at the heart of “Ant-Man,” Evangeline Lilly knew when she signed on that she’d have to battle more than some burly stuntmen.

She was ready to fight all those genre stereotypes, too.



As the title suggests, Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man is the one doing most of the heavy lifting in the Marvel movie opening Friday. And even with an action veteran like Lilly lending her fists to the cause as Hope Van Dyne, the daughter of a retired costumed crusader, superhero movies still haven’t bridged the gender gap in a single bound.


“I have to say, I have a tendency to wind up in these predominately male casts and I do feel very comfortable in them, I’ve always enjoyed hanging with the guys,” said Lilly, who has proven her action chops dodging a smoke monster on “Lost” and dispatching orcs in “The Hobbit” movies.

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Paul Rudd (l.) stars in the title role.
“And it does give me a certain measure of feeling that I have to be very careful and responsible about the character that I portray because she is in the film representing women at large.”

For a long time, women haven’t fared so well in those spandex costumes. Reinforced by the poor box office returns on the few super heroine movies — 1984’s “Supergirl” ($14.3 million), 2004’s “Catwoman” ($40 million) and 2005’s “Elektra” ($24.4 million) — Hollywood executives have largely left the crime-fighting to the boys.

But the truth is that “The Avengers” movies, two of the top 10 grossing movies of all time, can’t make that much money unless female movie-goers are buying tickets in great numbers, too. Even if Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow is sometimes overshadowed by the powers of the Hulk and Thor.

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Evangeline Lilly on set with director Peyton Reed (r.).
Still, there are signs of progress on the horizon.

Rival Warner Bros. will be first out of the gate with “Wonder Woman,” starring Gal Gadot as comicdom’s most famous leading lady, on June 23, 2017. Marvel is developing its own stand-alone superheroine movie, “Captain Marvel,” for release on Nov. 2, 2018.

“I don’t know because we haven't seen them yet,” said Lilly about the upcoming batch of female superhero movies. “But I do see very serious and meaningful intentions behind the scenes.”

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"I have a tendency to wind up in these predominately male casts and I do feel very comfortable in them," she says of the role.
“Ant-Man” director Peyton Reed told the Daily News that Lilly worked with him on strengthening the character so she was more than just a damsel in distress.

“Evangeline as an actress, A, is beautiful and, B, is an incredibly strong presence,” he said. “She dove into all the fight training like you wouldn't believe.”

Now pregnant with her second child, the mother of a 3-year-old son said it’s important to her that her acting choices are ones that inspire young girls.

MARVEL
Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne in upcoming “Ant-Man.”
“I have such cool memories of characters from when I was a child like Princess Leia (from “Star Wars”) and Catwoman played by Michelle Pfeiffer (in 1992’s “Batman Returns”),” said Lilly.

“I idolized those women. So for me the idea of being a part of something that could potentially mean that I might play a role like that in another girl’s life is not only exciting, it’s an honor.”