I know, I know. After the universe-shattering finale of Infinity War, it’s hard to care about
the MCU’s next film, Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Regardless, I have a highly likely theory about the movie
that may or may not drum up some more interest in it.
Recall the first Ant-Man movie, and how a large part of Hank
Pym’s backstory was that his wife Janet van Dyne – the original Wasp – was lost
in a mission when she shrunk down into the inescapable Quantum Realm. Janet will
apparently return from the Quantum Realm in the sequel, however, and will be
played by Michelle Pfeiffer.
Now here’s the theory: What if Janet will turn out to be a
villain?
If you’re familiar with the character, it sounds a bit
outlandish, I know, but here’s my evidence:
1. The
Yellowjacket Syndrome
Within the laws of the Ant-Man movies, prolonged usage of
the size-shrinking Pym Particles without proper protection can result in a
damaged mental state. This happened in the first Ant-Man movie with Darren
Cross, a.k.a. Yellowjacket, which helped make him a more unhinged villain by
the finale. It seems that something similar is happening with Scott Lang, as
every time we’ve seen him use the Pym Particles to grow into Giant-Man, it’s accompanied
by an evil laugh. This could just be more some sort of dramatic effect on Scott’s
part, but it seems like too much of a coincidence.
With this being said, is it really out of the question for
Janet to become corrupted in a similar way?
Unless they really want to mess with the character, Janet probably
didn’t start out evil. However, the Quantum Realm probably shares a lot of
similar health hazards that the Pym Particle does. And given that Janet has
been stranded in this realm for decades, it’s easy to see how she could snap
and become a villain.
In addition, her decades of isolation could also lead her to
have a resentment for her husband. If her mental state really is that
fractured, it would be very easy for her to blame Hank for leaving her stranded
there and never coming to rescue her.
2. Lack
of Advertisement
As stated before, Janet’s return from the Quantum Realm will
play some sort of part in the movie. Given the history she has with Hank and
the impact her disappearance had on him, this will no doubt be an important
part in the emotional timetable of the movie.
So why haven’t we seen or heard a whole lot about it?
The obvious answer here is that something about Janet’s
character or her return is a big spoiler for the movie, and they don’t want to
reveal too much of it in the advertisement. Other than her character poster, we
haven’t seen anything of Janet in the movie. There’s a bit in the second
trailer about Hank “opening up the Quantum Realm”, presumably to search for
her, but we don’t see much of it. The advertisement for the movie seems to
focus on Ant-Man and the new Wasp taking down the Ghost after she steals Hank’s
tech. To me, it seems intentionally misleading.
In my experience with movie advertisements, a lack of marketing
for a certain character – even if they are allegedly in the main cast – means
there’s some sort of big spoiler about the character, usually a death (see Suicide Squad, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Solo:
A Star Wars Story). Now I highly doubt they’ll kill off Janet right after
they bring her back, especially with a talented actress like Michelle Pfeiffer
cast, so the villain angle seems the most likely choice for a character
spoiler.
3. Disney
Sure Loves its Surprise Villains
Since Wreck-It Ralph
came out, Disney has had this weird obsession with making a seemingly benign character
a secret villain. A twist villain can add some good twists and emotional weight
to the movie, but Disney does it so much now that it’s almost predictable and
kind of boring. Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, and
Coco have all had a reveal involving
an ally being the main villain (Moana
had a similar reveal, but in the reverse). Even before 2012, Disney had done
the villain twist before with movies like Monsters,
Inc and Up.
(Side note: I also feel like Incredibles 2 is gonna pull the same twist with its villain.)
And of course, Marvel has started to get in on the act, with
surprise antagonists in both Captain
America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians
of the Galaxy Vol. 2. So it stands to reason that Ant-Man and the Wasp could very likely follow in those footsteps
with the surprise villain, given how all the advertisements seem to focus on
Ghost, who doesn’t really seem to have a lot of recognizable goals as an antagonist.
Plus, what would be a bigger twist than Hank Pym’s wife, the
beloved Wasp, turning out to be a bad guy?
But here’s the thing about this theory: I don’t want to be
right.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has already derailed the
character of the Wasp enough. Aside from the fact that they took out Ant-Man
and the Wasp’s roles as founding Avengers (Wasp is the one who comes up with
the name in the comics, for god’s sake), the two incarnations of the Wasp we
have bare little resemblance to the character from the comics.
The Wasp is supposed to be this bubbly, energetic character,
but the two versions we have in the movies are a surly businesswoman with daddy
issues, and her disappeared mom who may or may not be a villain. And once they
bring her back from the Quantum Realm, I doubt they’re going to keep her bubbly
comic personality with her sporting the same weary dimensional traveler look that
Ford Pines had in Gravity Falls.
So yeah, I really hope they don’t pull this twist and make
Janet a villain, thus further bastardizing the character and her role in the
Marvel Universe. But from my point of view, it just seems entirely too likely.
Or I could be entirely wrong. But if I am right, I just
wanted my prediction documented.
Thank you for reading. Tune in next week when I discuss my
theory of how Piglet will be the secret main villain of Christopher Robin.
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