Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is set to change the MCU like never by introducing Kang the Conqueror, but it seems that the villain's arrival is not the only dark thing that will be uncovered in the threequel as teased by Evangeline Lilly.
Ant-Man 3's first trailer teased that it will be the titular hero's darkest adventure yet, with its tone being far different from the first two Ant-Man movies.
On a related note, Ant-Man 3 director Peyton Reed shared that the threequel will take “a hard left turn” in comparison to previous films in the Ant-Man franchises while also promising that it will be "more epic" and "still progress the story."
Now, ahead of its premiere next year, more dark secrets are poised to be exposed in Quantumania.
Ant-Man 3's 'Dark and Difficult' Revelations Teased
Speaking with the press at the Q&A of this year's CCXP, Hope Van Dyne actress Evangeline Lilly talked about her character's relationship with her mother, Janet, and how it would lead to unraveling her dark secrets in the Quantum Realm.
When asked about what to expect about the relationship between Janet and Hope, Lilly teased that the pair's bond is "never perfect:"
“… Of course, Hope was so excited to get her mom back and she was thinking, ‘This is going to be a fantasy, and I’m going to have my mom, and we’re going to be best friends and we’ll tell each other everything, and life will be intimate, and my life will be perfect.’ And life is never perfect, especially with our parents. Especially with parents who spent 30 years in the Quantum Realm."
The Marvel actress then teased that Janet's secrets in the Quantum Realm are a "dark and difficult" thing to deal with:
"And so, there is a lot that Hope doesn’t know and doesn’t find out about her mom until this journey begins. And it’s a dark and difficult thing to deal with for her.”
This is in line with the earlier comments of Janet Van Dyne actress Michelle Pfeiffer in the official Multiverse Saga sizzle reel from D23 Expo when she revealed that the threequel gets "a little darker" while also describing it as"epic:"
“It gets, at times, a little darker than we have gone. And it is epic.”
As for what to expect about Hope in Ant-Man 3, Lilly teased how she is “excited to have a chance to show a side of her where she would make mistakes:”
“And so I was really really excited to have an opportunity in this third film where she’s gone from a caged-off woman to a woman who has opened her heart three separate times. One, her heart to Scott, and then her reparations with her father, and then bringing her mother back from the Quantum Realm. So, she was sort of like the Grinch. Her heart had grown three times as big, which makes it three times more vulnerable. So I was really excited to have a chance to show a side of her where she would make mistakes, she would be fragile, and she wouldn’t always have the right answer.”
Speaking to reporters at CCXP, Ant-Man star Paul Rudd was asked if there was any change of time coming from the last movie and how Scott Lang will deal with such a transition.
Rudd responded by teasing that "a chain of events happens and we are thrust into a pretty big story" in Ant-Man 3:
“Well yeah, I mean, a lot has changed since the last movie for sure… For one thing… we’ve saved the universe. That hadn’t happened yet, so now a lot has transpired since the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp. And I think Scott is trying to figure out, ‘Where do we go in life now?’ And he’s still very close with his daughter, and he’s looking forward to the next chapter, and much like it is in life, the chapters are not what you expect them to be. And so pretty quickly, a chain of events happens and we are thrust into a pretty big story.”
What is Janet Van Dyne's Dark Secret?
Evangeline Lilly's comments indicate that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will do a deep dive into Janet Van Dyne's dark secrets in the Quantum Realm, which isn't particularly surprising since she was trapped in the place for 30 long years.
Given that Kang the Conqueror is involved, there's a good chance that a good chunk of Janet's secrets is tied to the MCU villain. The first trailer hinted that Janet is aware of Kang's existence, meaning that she has something to do with the villain being trapped in the Quantum Realm.
Considering that the secret is being described as "dark and difficult" by Lilly, this could mean that Janet's way of trapping Kang in the Quantum Realm would've risked the space-time continuum itself, thus resulting in a conflict in the wider Multiverse.
It is unknown how big of an impact is tied to Janet's dark secrets, but the expectation surrounding this key reveal is that it would produce massive ramifications that would lead to the events of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will debut in theaters on February 17, 2023.
