Power Couple

In 2015’s Ant-Man, Paul Rudd superheroed solo. Now sequel Ant-Man And The Wasp has elevated Evangeline Lilly to equal billing status. The pair talk to Empire about the biggest little blockbuster around

- Chris Hewitt

When Constantin Stanislavski, the legendary acting theorist and teacher, said, “There are no small parts, only small actors,” he clearly didn’t have the Marvel Cinematic Universe in mind. There are few parts smaller — literally (and we don’t mean the new definition of literally; we mean the old definition, which literally means literally) — than Ant-Man and the Wasp, the half-size heroes who spend much of their time shrinking down to the size of… well, you can probably guess.

So Stanislavski was wrong about small parts. And, sorry, Constantin, but you’re wrong about the “only small actors” part too. (Stanislavski’s having a shocker.) Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly played the roles in 2015’s energetic and entertaining Ant-Man. Well, sort of. That movie saw Rudd’s Scott Lang be chosen to wear the Ant-Man costume by Dr Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), much to the vocal chagrin of his daughter Hope, played by Lilly. Only at the very end, in a post-credits sting, did Pym present Hope with her very own flying costume, so she can follow in the wingsteps of her mother, Janet, as the Wasp. “About damn time,” she replied.

Marvel Studios have got most things right in building their all-conquering canon, but their track record with representation hasn’t been spotless. Case in point: they didn’t have a solo black lead until Black Panther, film number 18. And now, just two films later, comes their first film with a female hero in the title, with Lilly’s Hope given equal billing with Rudd’s Lang in Ant-Man And The Wasp. About. Damn. Time.