Evangeline Lilly ‘Had No Desire’ to Play Joss Whedon’s Wonder Woman

Though Marvel fans may best know Evangeline Lilly for her role as Hope van Dyne/The Wasp, the actress auditioned for another iconic superhero before the Ant-Man movies.

While speaking with EW, Lilly reflected on a Wonder Woman audition she did with director Joss Whedon.

“I think my impression, coming away from it, was I had no desire and he could tell,” Lilly explained. “It didn’t appeal and there was nothing about the meeting that like, jazzed me or made me think like, ‘Oh, I’ve gotta do this.’ Nothing clicked. Nothing felt good. I am way too authentic for my own good. I mean, it’s not good. If I am not impressed, you’ll know. And maybe you shouldn’t know sometimes.”

The actress also noted that Whedon may have taken some offense, but that she wasn’t bothered.

“I was okay with that. I was okay with burning bridges. I was okay with not having everyone in Hollywood wanna work with me,” Lilly stated. “I just always had to do what felt right for me. And honestly I wasn’t into superhero movies and that’s the main reason why, in both of these instances, I just kind of felt like I don’t know what I get out of this.”

Wonder Woman would eventually be played by Gal Gadot in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, two solo Wonder Woman films, Justice League, and Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Whether Gadot will reprise the role in further movies or cameos is currently unknown. Wonder Woman was originally set to cameo in The Flash, though there are reports that said cameo has been cut.