Evangeline Lilly revealed she sustained brain damage following a traumatic brain injury in an Instagram post dated January 2, 2026. The actress had reportedly lost consciousness and fell onto a boulder in May 2025, resulting in a severe concussion.

Best known for her role as Hope van Dyne/the Wasp in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Lilly has appeared in Avengers: Endgame and Ant-Man. Her breakout role came on ABC’s Lost, and her film credits include The Hurt Locker, Real Steel, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies.

In the post, Lilly detailed the results of recent brain scans, saying:

I’m entering into this new year, the Year of the Horse, with some bad news about my concussion. A lot of you asked how I’m doing. The results came back from the scans, and almost every area in my brain is functioning at a decreased capacity. So I do have brain damage from the TBI and possibly other factors going on. But now, my job is to get to the bottom of that with doctors and embark on the hard work of fixing it. Which, I’m not looking forward to because I feel like hard work is all I do. But that’s OK. My cognitive decline since I smashed my face open has helped me to slow down and helped me to have a more restful finish to my 2025.

Lilly’s future in the Marvel franchise remains uncertain, including if she will appear in Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars. Commenting on her post, her MCU co-star Michelle Pfeiffer offered words of encouragement, “You are a warrior. Nothing – not even this – will defeat you, my friend.”