You’ve been warned, the following article will contain spoilers for Ant-Man and The Wasp and Avengers: Infinity War. If you haven’t seen either of these films please don’t read any further.
Last chance.
Now, I loved what director Peyton Reed and creative team did with this obscure Marvel Comics villain, who was originally just a goon with advanced technology in the Iron Man comics.
Making Hannah John-Kamen‘s Ava Starr aka Ghost a tragic figure that is forced to become a Black Ops assassin for SHIELD was a slight mirror image of Bucky’s manipulation by HYDRA as The Winter Soldier, except she wasn’t being brainwashed. It feels like more of a setup of what this character could become in the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe rather than her overall importance in the Ant-Man and The Wasp story.
I’ll be honest, my biggest issue with the film is that Ghost/SHIELD stuff felt more badass than anything she was given in the movie. Her power set is amazing and I’d love to see her in a full blown action film.
Hopefully, she’s connected to future threats in flashbacks or possibly it’s covered in Ant-Man 3, a Wasp spin-off, her own film or Thunderbolts [Ghost is a member of that team]. What I’m hoping for in a third film is something more of a globetrotting spy film as after two films I think I’ve had my fill of setting it just in San Francisco.
I’d love to see if Ghost is able turn a leaf like other Marvel villains have in the past like a Loki or Bucky. Marvel’s Kevin Feige has said the future of the MCU is female and now we have another Earthbound female character that could quite possibly join the ranks of the Avengers if they wanted her to. So it’s exciting to think of the movie potential with a character that is basically like X-Men’s Shadow Cat but slightly more edgy.
There’s also a good chance she could end up becoming a good Black Widow replacement as the lineups are expected to shift in the future.
It all likely comes down to if she still has her powers after Janet worked her Quantum Realm magic on Ava to fix her pain and phasing episodes. Since this is a fantasy world based on comic books there is an excellent chance Ava still has those abilities and will likely resurface at some point in the future.
Simple fact is that Avengers 4 is going to change the overall lineup and we are expecting some actual main character deaths that won’t be fixed in a sequel. Seeing the likes of Wasp, Captain Marvel, Shuri, Valkyrie, and even Ghost step up as the new female faces of the Avengers could be something very exciting and if that leads to an A-Force or Lady Liberators movie remains to be seen.
I’m ultimately curious to see what the future holds for Ghost and how the studio plans to do with Phase Four and beyond given their attitude towards featuring more female characters than previously. You also have to factor-in that Steven Spielberg recommended for her to get the role to Peyton Reed after working with him on Ready Player One. There is a good chance we could see her playing a larger role in future films.
Would you like to see Ghost make a return to the MCU and does she deserve some redemption given her past?