Ant-Man & the Wasp's Janet Van Dyne could have been a whole lot more badass. Superhero fans were delighted when Marvel cast Michelle Pfeiffer for the part of Janet Van Dyne in Ant-Man & the Wasp; she's a classic actress, and particularly well remembered for her stunning portrayal of Catwoman in 1992's Batman Returns.
Unfortunately, in the end, Pfeiffer only had a minimal role. Janet Van Dyne was trapped in the Quantum Realm, and her husband Hank Pym spent most of the film attempting to find her. She only actually appeared late into the third act and was given no development as a character. That was particularly irritating given Ant-Man & the Wasp revealed the experience of being in the Quantum Realm for decades had somehow transformed Janet, granting her strange and still unexplained powers. Hopefully, this will be remedied in Ant-Man 3.
Marvel's Infinity Saga box set includes an alternate scene from Ant-Man & the Wasp that proves Janet Van Dyne could have been a lot more badass. It's a different version of the scene where Hank Pym first encounters his wife in the Quantum Realm, and in this one, it plays out every so slightly differently. As in the final cut, Hank is caught in a "quantum location shift" that leaves him badly disorientated. He sees a blurred figure in the distance, and at first, believes it's Janet; to Hank's horror, as the figure comes closer it is revealed to be a Tardigrade, which advances upon him threateningly. Fortunately, Hank is rescued by a mysterious humanoid figure, wielding an energy weapon she uses to drive the Tardigrade back and ultimately kill it. Hank's rescuer removes a hood from her head, revealing herself to be Janet Van Dyne.
This footage tallies with concept art published in The Art of Marvel's Ant-Man & the Wasp, which revealed that Janet Van Dyne was supposed to have encountered alien races who lived in the Quantum Realm, and had gained weapons from them. It's frankly far more effective than the final theatrical cut, in which the quantum location shift left Hank Pym screaming in pain, for undefined reasons, only for Janet's arrival to relieve his pain. What's more, it would have also perfectly set up Ant-Man & the Wasp's post-credits scene, in which Janet warned Scott Pym to be wary of the Tardigrade fields when he was returning to the Quantum Realm.
There's a sense in which this links to one of the strangest decisions Marvel made in Ant-Man & the Wasp; their failure to explore the Quantum Realm. At the time, it was presumed this was being reserved for Avengers: Endgame, but there the Quantum Realm was little more than a conduit used to travel through time. This alternate scene would have worked far more effectively - and it would have made Ant-Man & the Wasp's Janet Van Dyne a whole lot more badass.
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