Hannah John-Kamen is Rewriting Comic History as Ghost in Ant-Man and the Wasp

Women rule the MCU. Well, maybe not yet, but the tide is turning. The entire first phase of Marvel films was dominated by male superheroes and male villains. Since then, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Gamora, and more have joined the ranks. Captain Marvel will feature the first woman to headline a solo Marvel film. But before that, Ant-Man and the Wasp will face a female foe this summer in Ghost.

Hannah John-Kamen spoke with /Film about the mysterious villain. While she wasn’t able to dish many details, she did make some interesting points about the casting.

“Well, she’s certainly a mystery,” John-Kamen said. “She’s the female antagonist of the movie, and…I can’t really say anything else. It sucks, I know, but she is the antagonist of the movie. She is a she. Because in the original [comics], it’s the opposite sex, and obviously in this modern world, changing it up and having a female character of Marvel’s Ghost is really, really cool and definitely forward-thinking.”

John-Kamen dove further into redefining the role of Ghost. She’s tight lipped if the character will have the occupation of hacker, as the male Ghost does in the comics. We hope she maintains some of those tech and science smarts. Ghost might be a bad guy, but we still say ‘Go women in STEM!’

“I think that the kind of gender-swapping from male to female is, you look at graphic novels, you can look at comic books written so long ago,” John-Kamen said. “And they’re like 50 years old or 40 years old. And it’s nice to like go, ‘Do you know what? This is a modern world.’ It’s, again, freeing, to be able to take that character and go, ‘Yeah, that can be played by a male or female,’ and that’s definitely forward-thinking. And that’s been amazing to be able to do.”

Marvel has been pushing toward a female future. Amma Asante, Cate Shorland, and Maggie Betts make up the shortlist of directors for Black Widow. Pinar Toprak has been named the first female composer for a Marvel film. She’s scoring the upcoming Captain Marvel. There has even been talk of an all-female Marvel film and a female-led Black Panther spin off. Let’s hear it for the ladies on and off screen.

Ant-Man and the Wasp face off against Ghost July 6.

Featured Image: Marvel Studios ANT-MAN AND THE WASP. Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen). Photo: Film Frame. ©Marvel Studios 2018