Could The Wasp Be in Iron Man 3?

Over at ScreenRant there’s some interesting speculation as to whether the Wasp, one of the original members of The Avengers in the comics, might pop up in Iron Man 3. The idea is that actress Stephanie Szostak, who was added to the cast back in July and can briefly be seen in the trailer (she’s the one pushing Tony Stark against a wall at 1:07) might be playing the superhero, real name Janet van Dyne. No Marvel official has even hinted that this might be the case, but ScreenRants has assembled (ba-doom-ch) some evidence that looks pretty compelling. Let’s break it down.

First: Szostak is one of the top-billed cast members, which indicates that her character is going to have a larger role than the absolute lack of information Marvel has released about her so far would indicate.

Second: The mysterious Roger Wardell tweeted that “When Stephanie Szostak’s role is for Iron Man 3 is announced, fans will go crazy.” Wardell has made a habit of tweeting “Insider News” related to the Marvel films, and while he’s not that credible a source ScreenRant notes that he tweeted about the Falcon being in Captain America: The Winter Soldier before it became official. A tipster at ComicBook.com has also claimed that Szostak is playing the Wasp.

Third: Marvel’s given us a lot of information about Iron Man 3 so far, from tons of new armor designs to hints about the final battle. They’ve got to have an ace or two up their sleeve as far as surprising fans is concerned. ‘Tis the Marvel way.

Four: It’s already been rumored that Ant Man, a.k.a Hank Pym, will make an appearance in the Iron Man 3 post-credits sequence. Since Ant Man is the Wasp’s partner and, later, husband, introducing them both in Iron Man 3 would make sense.

While I think we can assume Szostak is—surprise!—playing someone already known to Marvel fans, it isn’t clear that it’s the Wasp (or, more likely, pre-superpowers Janet van Dyne). ScreenRants speculates that she might be Whitney Frost, a.k.a. Madame Masque, instead. But I like the the Wasp idea. With van Dyne being one of the original Avengers—fun fact, she also appeared in early drafts of the Avengers script—her being in Iron Man 3 would be a good way to tie together that film with the last in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase Two, The Avengers 2, not to mention 2015’s Ant Man.

What do you think? Does this sound legit? Do you want Szostak to be playing the Wasp? Or would you rather she were someone different? Sound off, please.

(via: ScreenRant)