Hope does have a fancy suit like Scott, and a more comics-accurate haircut (not that this is in any way important to the narrative), but she doesn’t really have anything to do. To be fair, there is so much stuffed into two hours that outside of Kang, we don’t even get to know any of the new characters. (Some appear to be there just to set up a joke). We barely explore the Quantum Realm beyond a bar that might as well be the cantina from “Star Wars.” Someone was going to have to get sidelined. It just seems odd that it was one of the characters with her name in the title.
This story is about the relationship between Cassie and her dad, and I get that. I just cannot stand when a character is introduced with a love story, and then once it works out, they’re no longer a major part of said story. Hope is an accomplished woman. She’s a senior member of the board of Pym Technologies. She’s an Avenger, for Anton’s sake. She fights as well, if not better than Scott. She’s dealing with the return of her mother after 30 years. A mother, by the way, who won’t tell her anything about her time in the Quantum Realm. We barely see any of that. She’s in a newer relationship, but it appears that the film forgot that they’re supposed to be in love. Outside of a kiss at the end and a friendly laugh at the Scott/Cassie banter, that’s gone. I don’t need smooches in every film, of course, but they’re together; it was a major plot point in the first two films, they’re superhero fighting partners, and she’s just … not there.