Getty Michelle Pfieffer.
Michelle Pfeiffer, who played Catwoman in Batman Returns, has nabbed another comic book movie role. Marvel announced at its San Diego Comic Con panel that the Oscar nominee will play Janet Van Dyne in Ant Man and the Wasp.
Pfeiffer’s casting was just one of the many big casting announcements the studio made. Hannah John-Kamen was confirmed as playing Ghost. Other actors joining the MCU include Walton Goggins as Sonny Burch, Randall Park as Jimmy Woo and Laurence Fishburne as Dr. Bill Foster.
So who is Janet Van Dyne? She’s the original Wasp and the mother of Hope Van Dyne, Evenageline Lilly’s character in the 2015 Ant-Man movie. The character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1963 and was a member of the Avengers. She often starred in Tales of Astonish with Hank Pym, the Ant-Man.
Hope’s father is Hank Pym, the character played by Michael Douglas in that film. Paul Rudd will also return in the Ant-Man sequel as Scott Lang and Michael Pena will return as Luis. At the end of Ant-Man, Hank showed Hope the Wasp outfit. You can check out the scene below.
Ant-Man and the Wasp has been scheduled for July 6, 2018 and Peyton Reed will return to direct. The 2015 film was a surprise hit, grossing $519.3 million and was the lead-in to Captain America: Civil War. The new film isn’t expected to be as difficult to make as the first film, which saw acclaimed filmmaker Edgar Wright (Baby Driver) leave the film during pre-production after working on the project for years.
As for Pfeiffer, she has recently been taking on more work, after going missing from the big screen from 2013 to 2017. In May, she appeared alongside her The Family co-star Robert De Niro as Ruth Madoff, the wife of Bernie Madoff, in HBO’s The Wizard of Lies. She also stars in Mother!, Darren Aronofksy’s upcoming film with Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem, and Kenneth Branagh’s upcoming remake of Murder on the Orient Express.
Pfeiffer has Oscar nominations for her roles in Dangerous Liaisons, The Fabulous Baker Boys and Love Field. One of her most loved performances is as Selina Kyle in Batman Returns.