This interaction between Lilly and Jackman on the “Real Steel” set sounds like an awkward comic book scenario where Wolverine is asking the Wasp out on a date. Lilly was blunt in her response to Jackman’s offer to join the X-Men:
“I was like, ‘No. It doesn’t interest me. I’m not interested. I was like, ‘I feel like such a dick because I’m talking to an X-Men! The X-Men! And I’m telling him, ‘No that doesn’t appeal.’ Like, what?! I felt so rude!”
Hearing this after seeing “Quantumania,” it also sounds like Lilly is channeling a bit of Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), who uses the word “dick” to describe one insufferable character in the movie. That character picks up the word and starts using it to self-identify, and based on the Super Bowl trailer for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” we’ll be hearing even more of the word in the next addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from the lips of Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) to the new Gamora (Zoe Saldana)’s ears.
Back in late 2021, Lilly used different vocabulary to describe Hope van Dyne, calling her “an odd enigma” and saying that the script for “Quantumania” gave her a “eureka moment” where she finally understood her character. I almost wonder if that moment got left on the cutting-room floor, because despite having her superhero name in the title, Hope somewhat takes a backseat to her mother, Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), in “Quantumania.”
Lilly has spoken elsewhere about wanting to make an A-Force movie happen at Marvel, so maybe she’ll have a chance to fly higher as the Wasp next time. Until then, you can see her in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” in theaters now.