Marvel Discussed Making Janet Van Dyne a Villain in ANT-MAN AND THE WASP
Ant-Man and The Wasp could have had a much darker and different outcome if Michelle Pfeiffer’s Janet Van Dyne turned out to be a villain. I actually thought that would be a possibility, and now we’re learning that Marvel Studios actually discussed taking the character down that road!
During a recent interview with CBR, director Peyton Reed touched on the various fan theories that surrounded Janet Van Dyne. In response to the theories that Janet might eventually be a villain, he said:
“I can say that it was certainly one of the things that we talked about. If I say or reveal anything more about Janet, there’s going to be a Marvel sniper that’s going to shoot me in the neck with a tranquilizer."
It’s interesting that he was so vague with his answer and didn’t want to go any further. It kind makes me wonder if there’s still a chance that Janet Van Dyne could end up being a villain at some point down the road. I wouldn’t be surprised if she factors into Avengers 4, we just don’t exactly know how. Reed went on to say:
"We had so many discussions as we were first formulating the story. It was the big question in the movie: is Janet still alive down there after 30 years? Who is she now? How’s she been affected by the environment? It was the one thing that we really sort of had to formulate, what was going to happen to her, what it was going to lead to next, and how much of that we reveal in this movie."
When it comes to the events of Ant-Man and The Wasp setting up certain elements for Avengers 4, Peyton previously said:
"She mentions tardigrade fields, she mentions time vortexes as these warnings to Scott about what not to get involved in. These things might prove valuable. They're not just randomly spouted off in the moment. But, again, part of the fun of that was putting detail in there and throwing it out for the audience to guess which ones might be pertinent and which ones might not."
It’d be interesting to see Janet Van Dyne end up as a villain in the MCU, but I personally hope that they don’t go that route. I’d like her to stay on the side of the people she loves.
What are your thoughts on the possibility of Janet Van Dyne being set up as a villain?