How Ant-Man and The Wasp Creates an All-New Ghost for Its Villain

How Ant-Man and The Wasp creates an all-new Ghost for its villain

It is no secret that Marvel Studios likes their secrets, and after we’ve all seen the movies we’re usually quite grateful that they’re so guarded. So when it comes to the upcoming Ant-Man and The Wasp there are two things that they’re being incredibly guarded about, how exactly it relates to this year’s Avengers: Infinity War and the film’s central antagonist, Ghost.

In the pages of Marvel comics, Ghost made his debut in Iron Man #219 back in 1987. The character had mysterious technology which gave him the ability to shift through objects and become invisible. Thus the name. He’s a lower-tier character, which means Marvel Studios has decided they’ll take some liberties for their translation into the movies.

Exceutive producer Stephen Broussard opens up about the choice to pick the villain for the film, telling us on the set: “We thought that was a cool opportunity to create a character that was all about mystery and kind of what are the origins and what is the backstory, what is the goals and agendas of this person. It was a great vehicle for the kind of the story you wanted to tell because Ghost in the comics itself was a mystery. So very different from what has come before in the comics but suffice it to say that she is on a path and she is on a mission at odds with our heroes on this journey but of a similar goal, of a similar aim at the worst possible time for Scott Lang.”

Hannah John-Kamen, a British actress of Norwegian and Nigerian descent, suits up as the villain, marking two major shifts for the villain: a face behind the mask, and a gender reversal. During our time on the set, John-Kamen remained quite tight lipped about her place in the film and even the things her character can do in the film, but was able to spill a few details about her excitement to take on the role and the changes that have come with the film.

“Well, she’s certainly mystery, she’s this mystique,” she says, searching for the right words that she can say without annoying Marvel. “She is the female antagonist of the movie….. can’t really say anything else. It sucks.”

Director Peyton Reed notes that Ghost in the film has a “unique relationship” with the titular heroes, saying: “We’ve adapted the character from the comics in a way that we feel is really unique to our movie and very much tied into this universe,” Reed tells us “So she becomes a, a really, really crucial part of the story in a way that I can’t really reveal yet……” Reed takes a beat for comedic effect and adds, “Thank you very much.”

John-Kamen says that most of her inspiration for the character came from the script for the film and not so much the character’s appearances in the comic books. She noted that having that blank slate is important to her as an actor as well. There was also the matter of her costume, which she couldn’t help but gush over.

“The look is actually pretty classic modernization I think,” Broussard adds later. “Our design team does a great job I think of sticking to the classic tropes that made these — what they looked like in the books…When you think of Ghost you think of the hood. You think of the white suit and everything like that and Hannah wears it very well. She’s awesome. She’s really, really badass.”

Ghost goes up against Ant-Man and The Wasp on July 6.