Evangeline Lilly Talks Ant-Man! What Happened With Edgar Wright! How She Almost Left The Project! And More!

How can you not love Evangeline Lilly? First off, she was amazing in Lost, and I thought she really added a lot to the last Hobbit film. She just has a great presence onscreen and as you might have guessed… She’s super nice!

Evangeline Lilly is also starring in another franchise, Marvel’s Ant-Man. Evangeline Lilly was talking to Buzzfeed about the project and shared some interesting tidbits.

“Initially, I was like, no way. No way.” Lilly said while talking to Buzzfeed. “And then they said, ‘Paul Rudd’s playing the lead.’ And I was like, ‘Oh sh*t. I love Paul Rudd. I really want to work with him!’ So I was like, ‘OK, well, send me the script. I’ll read it and I’ll consider it.’ And then I started watching Marvel [Studios] movies, which I hadn’t done before. … I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to movies — like, the popcorn-munching movies, I never go see them. I was pleasantly surprised. I thought, these are actually incredible — they’re making fantastic films.”

But what about when original director and the spearhead of the project Edgar Wright “left” the film?

“We all, I think, signed on very enthusiastically with Edgar. We were excited to work with Edgar. We were fans of Edgar. So when the split happened, I was in the fortunate position where I had not signed my contract yet. So I had the choice to walk away, and I almost did. Because I thought, Well, if it’s because Marvel are big bullies, and they just want a puppet and not someone with a vision, I’m not interested in being in this movie. Which is what I was afraid of.’

She went on to add..

“I finally got the script literally the day before I was supposed to go in for fittings…I saw with my own eyes that Marvel had just pulled the script into their world. I mean, they’ve established a universe, and everyone has come to expect a certain aesthetic [and] a certain feel for Marvel films. And what Edgar was creating was much more in the Edgar Wright camp of films. They were very different. And I feel like, if [Marvel] had created Edgar’s incredible vision — which would have been, like, classic comic book — it would have been such a riot to film [and] it would have been so much fun to watch. [But] it wouldn’t have fit in the Marvel Universe. It would have stuck out like a sore thumb, no matter how good it was. It just would have taken you away from this cohesive universe they’re trying to create. And therefore it ruins the suspended disbelief that they’ve built.”

I think that’s really interesting and it helps to explain more about why Edgar Wright, who’s work I love, was sort of asked to part ways on the film. Personally for me, it’s the best explanation of what went down.
And to be honest, it makes sense!

Ant-Man is heading to theaters in July of 2015!