Fellow Marvel stars have spoken against Evangeline Lilly’s stance on Covid-19 vaccination. (Photo: Marvel Studios) Evangeline Lilly is the latest celebrity to be in the crosshairs for her views against the Covid-19 vaccine mandate. Best known for playing the role of Hope van Dyne or Wasp in Ant-Man and Avengers movies and Tauriel in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy, the actor said she attended an anti-vaccination rally in Washington, DC.
Lilly shared photos from the rally on her Instagram page along with a quote from American entrepreneur Naval Ravikant that reads “All tyranny begins with the desire to coerce others for the greater good.”
The Canadian actor wrote in the caption that she supports “bodily sovereignty” and said that nobody should be forced to inject their body with anything against their will.
View this post on Instagram
“This is not the way. This is not safe. This is not healthy. This is not love. I understand the world is in fear, but I don’t believe that answering fear with force will fix our problems. I was pro choice before COVID and I am still pro choice today,” she said.
The term “pro-choice” is generally used in the context of abortion-rights movement in the US.
Lilly ended her post with hashtags – #medicalchoice, #medicalfreedom, #bodilyautonomy, #bodilysovereighnty, #defeatthemandatesdc, #canadiantruckers and #iamwithyou.
The actor had courted controversy through an Instagram post in 2020 as well when she refused to self-quarantine despite living with her cancer-stricken father. However, she later apologised.
I lost my grandparents to COVID last year. They were still waiting for their vaccines. I’m fortunate to have been double-vaccinated and boosted when I got COVID 2 weeks ago. Felt like a cold.
The media needs to stop spotlighting opinions that are not rooted in facts or science.
— Simu Liu (刘思慕) (@SimuLiu) January 28, 2022
Apart from Evangeline Lilly, another Marvel star Letitia Wright, who plays the role of Shuri in MCU, has also been criticised for her anti-vaccination views.
MCU fans have expressed annoyance and outrage against Lilly.
It’s so unfortunate when people with a large platform use that platform to share irresponsible things. 😞
— David Dastmalchian (@Dastmalchian) January 28, 2022
One fan tweeted, “society has progressed past the need of having evangeline lilly as the wasp in the mcu. time to focus on THE REAL WASP aka Michelle Pfeiffer.”
Another fan wrote, “I find it funny that both Letitia Wright and Evangeline Lilly are supposed to be playing smart characters.”
One fan joked, “Evangeline Lilly starring in VariAnt-Man.”
Meanwhile, fellow Marvel stars have also spoken against Evangeline Lilly’s stance on Covid-19 vaccination, without explicitly naming her.
Simu Liu, who essays the role of MCU’s newest and only Asian superhero Shang-Chi, wrote: “I lost my grandparents to COVID last year. They were still waiting for their vaccines. I’m fortunate to have been double-vaccinated and boosted when I got COVID 2 weeks ago. Felt like a cold. The media needs to stop spotlighting opinions that are not rooted in facts or science.”
David Dastmalchian, who plays the role of Kurt in Ant-Man movies and is also known for The Suicide Squad, tweeted, “It’s so unfortunate when people with a large platform use that platform to share irresponsible things.”
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
