‘Ant-Man’ Star Evangeline Lilly’s Retirement ‘Blindsided’ Marvel Bosses: ‘Causing a Lot of Chaos’
Evangeline Lilly’s decision to step aside from acting – and specifically the Avengers – has left a sour taste and caused mass chaos in the franchise, a source exclusively tells Life & Style.
“Look, there are absolutely some decision-makers in the movie business who can't stand Evangeline, because she's very anti-Hollywood, very opinionated and marches to the beat of her own drummer,” the insider says. “But the folks at Marvel actually love working with her and value her contributions to the four movies she's made with them. They were blindsided by her announcement and are still dealing with her reps with the idea that she'll at least temporarily postpone her retirement to be involved in the next two Avengers movies they're making next year, with a pretty significant role in Avengers 5 already planned for her.”
The Lost alum, 44, announced the news of her retirement via Instagram in June, resharing a clip from a 2006 interview being asked where she would like to be in 10 years.
“I am terrified to admit this to the rest of the acting world but ideally 10 years from now I’d like to be a retired actress and have a family,” said in the throwback footage. “I’d like to be writing and influencing people’s lives in a more humanitarian way as almost everybody in the world now knows was my intention before I started [Lost].”
Noting that she “might return to Hollywood one day,” Evangeline captioned her post, “I am so filled with joy and contentment today as I live out my vision. Praise God, I feel so grateful for my blessings. Stepping away from what seems like the obvious choice (wealth and fame) can feel scary at times, but stepping into your dharma replaces the fear with fulfillment.”
“For now, this is where I belong. A new season has arrived, and I AM READY...and I AM HAPPY,” she added.
While the Canada native called living out her dream “the most incredible feeling,” the source tells Life & Style, “The whole issue is causing a lot of chaos because Marvel will need a new contract with Evangeline to get her in more films and they don't have that yet.”
“Again, their issue is that they really like her, and aren't keen on recasting or completely reconceiving their future movie plans. But Evangeline for the moment is sticking to her guns and, in her view, walking away from the craps table a winner, and ready to spend most of her time with her family in Hawaii,” the insider adds of the “bitterness over her exit.”
After gaining popularity for starring as Kate Austen in the leading role of ABC’s sci-fi drama in the early aughts, Evangeline rose to fame but always had her humanitarian dreams at the forefront.
“I consider acting a day job — it's not my dream; it's not my be-all, end-all,” she told Vulture in 2010 amid the series finale.”
She later entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe after being cast as Hope van Dyne in 2015’s Ant-Man and reprised her role in 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp and again the following year in Avengers: Endgame. Her latest reprisal of the highly-acclaimed role came in 2023’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
In a statement to Life & Style, Evangeline said, "These rumors are completely false. No such conversations are being had. Kevin Feige and I have a very good relationship and we discuss everything directly. He and I talked about my stepping away the last time we were together in Hawaii. There is no stress or concern between us at all."
