Previous studies on filler-gap dependencies have shown that complex antecedents, relative to simpler ones, can facilitate subsequent memory retrieval. However, studies on ellipsis resolution have consistently found a null effect of complex antecedents. Making improvements on the design of previous studies, this paper investigates the effect of antecedent complexity on VP ellipsis (VPE) resolution. We report a self-paced reading experiment on VPE sentences with simple or complex antecedents. We use a plausibility judgment task to encourage participants to deeply process the VPE structure, as the retrieval and integration of the entire antecedent VP is necessary in order to perform the plausibility judgment task. The results show that a more complex VP antecedent indeed facilitates processing at the ellipsis site, but only when the sentence is implausible. We discuss implications of our findings on theories of ellipsis processing and memory retrieval.