Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania Apparently Scrapped A Storyline Featuring Hope's Son
Contains spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania."
Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe kicked off with the "Ant-Man" threequel, which finally peels back the layers on the mysterious Quantum Realm. In "Quantumania," Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), and the rest of the Ant-Family are transported to the microscopic world, where they have to deal with Kang (Jonathan Majors). Outside of setting up Kang as Marvel's next nefarious villain, "Quantumania" also served as a vehicle to break down Ant-Man/Scott Lang's relationship with his daughter, Cassie (Kathryn Newton). A large portion of the film dials in on their fractured relationship, which seemingly mends by the time credits begin to roll.
While the Ant-Family's romp through the Quantum Realm is a father-daughter flick, it could also have been a mother-son story.
According to an Instagram post made by actor Lucas Grant's mother, "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" was supposed to feature a storyline involving The Wasp/Hope van Dyne having a son. "He played Wasp/Hope's son in Antman & The Wasp Quantumania, and had so much fun working with Evangeline (sweetest human on earth!)," Grant's mother writes on the Instagram post, which features snaps of the young actor on the Marvel Studios set alongside Lilly and director Peyton Reed.
"Unfortunately, as it sometimes happens, the storyline was changed after he filmed and his scenes did not make it into the final version of the movie," Grant's mother continued, teasing just how different "Quantumania" could have been.
The van Dyne family could have been larger
The Instagram post made by Lucas Grant's mother confirms that "Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania" is the actor's first role in a feature film. Grant's previous credits include playing a child in Hulu's "Pam & Tommy" miniseries and starring aa a younger version of Andrew Leeds' character in FX's "The Patient." Why was Grant's role cut from the "Ant-Man" threequel? Details are ultimately slim on how fleshed out Hope van Dyne's son would have been in the film.
Speculation suggests that Hope's son likely appeared in the "probability" sequence. The second photo posted by Grant's mother shows The Wasp smiling at her son as she holds another young child sucking on a bottle. Was this a hypothetical/probable scenario presented to The Wasp as she entered the core to save Scott Lang? It's possible, though far from confirmed. Note that Lilly is seen rocking her traditional long hair in the photos posted on Instagram. "Quantumania" featured Hope sporting shorter hair, implying that Hope's son (or children) existed in a different universe/reality. After all, Marvel is currently in the middle of its Multiverse saga.
Another possibility is that Hope van Dyne actually did have a son on Earth and perhaps "Quantumania" was the first time the character was going to be introduced in the MCU. With sparse information, it's hard to determine why exactly Grant's role was cut. Ultimately, the young actor seems to have enjoyed his time on the Marvel set. "Regardless, he is so grateful for the experience," writes the actor's mom. "He had the time of his life, and has memories to treasure forever of his first movie!"