Evangeline Lilly In Early Talks For Female Lead In Marvel’s ‘Ant-Man’ Movie

Former LOST star Evangeline Lilly could soon be blowing up in the size-changing world of Marvel's Ant-Man movie. According to Variety, The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug star could follow Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas and Michel Pena as an official cast member, although her specific role hasn't been announced. The "insider" word is that Lilly's character could be Pym's daughter and Lang's love interest. If true, that could mean a dramatic reworking of Janet Van Dyne's character -- a founding member of The Avengers who has until now been left out of the Marvel movie universe. Of course, it could be an original character and Janet could remain left out of Ant-Man's movie lore.

Director Edgar Wright (who co-wrote Ant-Man with Joe Cornish) has somewhat strongly hinted that his version of Ant-Man would be Scott Lang, the second man to don the Ant-Mantle in Marvel's comics after stealing size-changing tech from original Ant-Man (and eventual Giant-Man/Yellow Jacket/Wasp), Hank Pym. In the comics, Lang quickly reformed and bounced between the role of a scientist and adventurer, spending time with the Fantastic Four, Heroes For Hire and of course, The Avengers.

There are many factors that make Lang's character appealing to filmmakers, one of which is Hank Pym's famously rocky (and infamously violent, both in mainstream Marvel books and the Ultimate universe that's informed many Marvel movies) romantic relationship with Janet, who he supplied with super powers similar to his own that she used as The Wasp. In the comics Pym also created Ultron, although the honor of bringing an evil human-killing artificial intelligence to life is being shifted to Tony Stark in the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron sequel.

Many fans have taken issue with the changes to Ant-Man lore. CA's own Andrew Wheeler even characterized the potential sweeping changes as "The wholesale plundering of Hank Pym for parts." If Lilly plays Janet -- especially a retooled version who is now Pym's daughter rather than partner -- these fears could grow from ant to giant size.

If she's a new character, though, it could mean Hawkeye's in for some serious bow competition.

Ant-Man is due in theaters on July 17, 2015.

[Via ScreenCrush]