The Marvel family is assembling again, only this time to take on one of their own. ‘Shang-Chi’ star Simu Liu and ‘Ant-Man’s’ David Dastmalchian have spoken out against Evangeline Lilly after she attended an anti-vaccine protest in Washington, DC.
Lilly, who has previously evoked the wrath from several in Hollywood, along with Marvel fans on social media over her pro-choice COVID-19 vaccine stance, went a step further this weekend to join in a protest in the US capital to drive her point home.
“I was in DC this weekend to support bodily sovereignty while Canadian truckers were rallying for their cross-country, peaceful convoy in support of the same thing. I believe nobody should ever be forced to inject their body with anything, against their will, under threat of: -violent attack., -arrest or detention without trial, -loss of employment, -homelessness, -starvation, -loss of education. -alienation from loved ones, -excommunication from society, …under any threat whatsoever,” Lilly posted on her Instagram.
The actress continued: “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.”
Shortly after Lilly published her post, scores of people responded, including her ‘Ant-Man’ co-star Dastmalchian who plays cybercriminal Kurt Goreshter in the films.
“It’s so unfortunate when people with a large platform use that platform to share irresponsible things,” posted the actor without mentioning Lilly by name, but the comments indicated his fans made the connection.
Liu also hit back at the actress while sharing his own personal tragedy with virus. “I lost my grandparents to COVID last year. They were still waiting for their vaccines,” the actor tweeted. “I’m fortunate to have been double-vaccinated and boosted when I got COVID 2 weeks ago. Felt like a cold.”
He also urged the media to stop “spotlighting opinions that are not rooted in facts or science.”
Lilly has yet to react to comments from her co-stars; however, this isn’t the first time she has been called out over her opinion.
In March 2020, after Lily compared the virus to a “respiratory flu”, she was seemingly slammed by actor ‘Game of Thrones’ star Sophie Turner. The British star took to an Instagram Live with husband Joe Jonas and seemed to call out the ‘Lost’ actress who had said she prioritised her “freedom” over self-isolation.
“Stay inside, don’t be [expletive] stupid, even if you count your freedom over your, I don’t know, what is it, like, your health,” said Turner.
“I don’t give a [expletive] about your freedom,” continued Turner, while husband Jonas looked over his shoulder behind her with a comically shocked expression, nodding in agreement.
“You could be infecting other people, other vulnerable people around you by doing this. So, stay inside guys. It’s not cool and it’s not big and it’s not clever. And that’s the tea,” concluded Turner, calling back to Lilly’s mention of ‘tea’ in an Instagram post that had ruffled feathers when she made public her refusal to practice social distancing.
Lilly later apologised for her “arrogant” remarks on Instagram, writing: “My direct and special apologies to those most affected by this pandemic. I never meant to hurt you. When I wrote that post 10 days ago, I thought I was infusing calm.”
