Highlights

  • Evangeline Lilly announces retirement from Hollywood for the foreseeable future, focusing on family and writing.
  • Fans disappointed as rumored cancellations of Eternals 2, Ant-Man 4, and Captain Marvel 3 circulate.
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania still garners praise despite mixed reviews, available for streaming on Disney+.



While the Marvel Cinematic Universe is still kicking and gearing up for a strong return after 2024’s single film schedule, there’s at least one more MCU star that fans won’t be seeing in any future projects for a long time.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has risen to the peak of cultural relevance over the course of nearly 2 decades of constant box office domination and is still a force to be reckoned with despite a genre-wide downturn in fortunes. While the DCEU and Zack Snyder were forced to shut down in favor of a reboot led by new DC Studios bosses Peter Safran and James Gunn, the MCU has instead taken the route of reduced output. As such, Deadpool & Wolverine is the MCU’s only major release, and its probably for the best. With the film nearing release, fans have started to look forward to their favorite characters making a return to a revitalized MCU



While tons of characters will indeed be making their returns to the franchise in short order, one fan favorite won’t be showing up for it. Hollywood actress and Ant-Man franchise co-lead Evangeline Lilly recently took to Instagram to share a heartfelt message alongside a 10-year old video of herself discussing her life plans. In the video, Lilly discusses wanting to step back from acting in a decade to focus on her family and a potential writing career. The post, complete with a quote from Maya Angelou highlighting her feelings, mark Lilly’s retirement from Hollywood for the foreseeable future. This is a major blow, as in addition to Lilly’s character being a fan favorite on her own, Ant-man and the Wasp are one of the best Marvel comics duos and it would be a major loss for the franchise to not feature the two as a pair going forward.




While fans of the franchise will be saddened by her departure, it is probably well-timed as Eternals 2, Ant-Man 4, and Captain Marvel 3 have been rumored to be canceled in response to the bad performance of the last films in those franchises. With the cost-cutting going on at the studios, this was likely always going to be a small chance. Notably, Lilly revealed recently that her son had just come around to enjoying her role as an Avenger, and now she’s stepping away from the role after more than a decade. So fans have at least one person in her camp who shares their feelings. As for what the future holds for the other characters attached to her, they might still appear in the mainline Avengers films as the franchise heads towards another ensemble showdown with a new big bad, a la Thanos in the Infinity Saga.


It’s certainly a fulfilling end to her career, as Lilly had high praise for Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, despite the general consensus being less than stellar. Fans will certainly wish her well as she steps away from the industry to live her own ideal, and hope to see her back someday.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is currently available for streaming on Disney+.

Source: Evangeline Lilly/Instagram