Ant-Man and the Wasp: New Set Photos Show Evangeline Lilly Suited up as the Wasp

First introduced to the MCU in 2015, Evangeline Lilly will reprise the role of Hope Van Dyne in the upcoming Ant-Man sequel, promoted to fully-fledged superhero in Ant-Man and the Wasp. Hope is set to suit up as a superhero in her own right, allying with Paul Rudd's Ant-Man as they take on Hannah John-Kamen's sinister villain, the Ghost.

Lilly recently gave us our first glimpse of the Wasp costume over on her personal Twitter, but new set photos shed a lot more detail.

The Costume Design

Over in the comics, the Wasp is traditionally Janet Van Dyne (Hope's mother in the MCU). The character's probably worn more costumes than any other superhero, in part because of Janet's career as a fashion designer. Interestingly enough, most of these costumes are a lot brighter than the one Lilly's wearing. The character is also traditionally associated with reds and yellows, but the bulk of this costume is blue and grey, with red and yellow highlights as a small homage. It contrasts markedly with the costume teased at the end of Ant-Man.

That said, it's worth remembering that the Wasp's story in the #MCU is very different. Here, the suits are being exclusively designed by Michael Douglas's Hank Pym, and he's mostly interested in functionality. Speaking of functionality though, it's going to be interesting to see how the Wasp's power-set compares to Ant-Man's. A flashback scene in the first film already established that Hope's mother had extendable insect-style wings in her costumes, and there's a hint of these in the side-shot. Here's a close-up of the wings from another set photo:

It's now been confirmed that the helmet also features a retractable visor to protect Wasp's eyes during flight.

Also, notice the intriguing wrist-gauntlets. In the comics, the Wasp is able to project bioelectric energy blasts (a sort of "stinger" attack). Eagle-eyed fans may have spotted that the belt doesn't contain the size-changing tech we saw in Ant-Man. Captain America: Civil War hinted that Hank Pym has continued to develop his technology since the first film. In Ant-Man we were told that our heroes strength increased as they shrank because their molecules were more condensed. According to that principle, when Scott Lang turned into Giant-Man in Civil War he should have been weaker, as his molecules were expanded. It's possible that size-changing has become far, far easier for Ant-Man and the Wasp.

Set photos always offer a tantalizing glimpse behind the scenes of a film that's currently in production. In this case, though, these images help provide us with a real sense of just what this new Wasp can do. It's clear that Hope Van Dyne's powers will be very different to those of Ant-Man, making the two a formidable team. #Marvel's newest hero should pack a powerful punch!