From desert island to the MCU

Having burst onto our screens in 2004 as Kate Austen in Lost, Evangeline Lilly didn't seem to focus on turning small screen success into big screen roles.

Following the shows finale in 2010, Evangeline starred in Real Steel as Bailey Tallet (2011), having previously had a small part in The Hurt Locker (2008) as Jeremy Renner's wife.  It seems, however, that the aim has merely been quality rather than quantity.  Last year she made a welcome return to our screens in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.  Here she played Tauriel, and Elven warrior.  A character who will make a return this year in the final instalment, The Hobbit: There And Back Again.

Now, the rumour mill has fired up with news of meetings and talks with Marvel Studios.  The thinking being that she will be joining Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas in Ant-Man.  Slated for 2015 this is the start of Marvel's MCU Phase 3, and is being helmed by Edgar Wright.

We know that Michael Douglas is going to be Hank Pym, and Paul Rudd will be Scott Lang/Ant Man.  Which led initially to the thinking that she would play Janet Van Dyne, aka Wasp.  This would fit nice and snug with the Ant-Man story, as well as giving us another member of The Avengers in time for the 3rd Avengers film.

When Ant-Man was first announced and Edgar Wright was unveiled as director, there was speculation that Mary Elizabeth Winstead may join the project, and that she may have taken on the role of Wasp.  Nothing further came of it, and this may now be dead in the water.

Another rumour is that we could see the introduction of Spider-Woman.  As a character who has ties, not only to Ant-Man, but to S.H.I.E.L.D and HYDRA, this might not be so far off the mark.  Talk of rights ownership immediately surfaced due to Sony owning the rights to Spider-Man.  I can't imagine it being an issue though, even though similarly named, they are different characters.  Unless their rights are somehow tied together in a way that we don't know about.

Either way, it looks as though Evangeline Lilly may be the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Fingers crossed.

Marvel unveils upcoming line up....

Now that Comic Con has now finished, and I'm able to pull myself away from my Twitter feed for longer than 30 minutes, it's time to see what SDCC has served up for us.

All of my attention was, without doubt, focused on what Marvel brought to the table.  To be expected, Robert Downey Jr. made waves during the Iron Man 3 panel.  From what I have read and seen, there was a beautifully orchestrated piece of theatre.  With Downey Jr. making a typically Stark-esque entrance, before making the introduction to the show reel.  Complete with Iron Man hand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra_jGGe9BHg

So as well as looking forward to the show reel footage making it's way into the public domain over the coming months, Marvel has unveiled a power house line up for the next 2 years.  With some titles we knew about, and some rumoured titles being confirmed:

Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor we knew were on the way, with shooting having started on the later 2 already.  Whilst Ant Man has very much been unveiled, with Edgar Wright showing his test reel, Marvel studios have only said it will happen, rather than when.  Guardians of the Galaxy is the much rumoured title that has been confirmed and given a release date.  Whilst Marvel is no stranger to the more mystical side of it's comic book universe on the big screen with the outing of Thor (I also can't wait to see how they tackle The Mandarin), I think The Guardians of the Galaxy presents an altogether different challenge.  I don't think the subject matter will lend itself to the more classical feel of Branagh's Thor.  So far, no details about who is involved have surfaced.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I remain most excited about Iron Man 3, and only hope that they go all out with the Extremis story arc.  Although I'm not ready to see the back of Downey Jr. and Tony Stark, so let's hope they don't leave it too long before announcing a sequel to Avengers Assemble.