Re-Visiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

 "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" (2023)

Phase Five of the MCU officially kicked off with the threequel of the "Ant-Man and the Wasp" franchise. I thought that was a strange choice when it was officially announced. It didn't seem like the franchise would be the thing that would be the jumping off point for the arrival of Kang. But, that may not really matter anymore because of the Jonathan Majors of it all. 

Principal photography on "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" began at the end of July 2021 and ended November 2021. The film stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne/The Wasp, Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror, Kathryn Newton as Cassie Lang, David Dastmalchian as Veb, Katy O'Brian as Jentora, William Jackson Harper as Quaz, Bill Murray as Lord Krylar, Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet van Dyne/Wasp, Corey Stoll as Darren Cross/M.O.D.O.K. and Michael Douglas as Hank Pym/Ant-Man. The film was written by Jeff Loveness. It was directed by Peyton Reed. "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" was released on February 17, 2023.

The Incredible Shrinking Family

I think that we have to start off talking about the Jonathan Majors sized elephant in the room. In the first season finale of "Loki," we met He Who Remains, a variant of who Marvel fans know as Kang the Conqueror. Before he's killed by Sylvie, he tells she and Loki that if they kill him a worse version of him will take his place. That worse version is Kang the Conqueror, who we officially meet in this movie. Kang was supposed to be the Thanos of the Multiverse Saga. And he's a great choice seeing as how Kang's whole thing is moving through time and wiping out histories. And Majors did a great job in "Loki." He was my favorite thing about "Loki." If you go back and read my recap of the season finale, I'm sure the majority of it was gushing over Majors's performance.

Then, in March of 2023, about a month after this movie premiered, Majors was accused of domestic violence by his ex-girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, who he met on the set of "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania." Majors always stood firm in his innocence, but everything that came to light just kept making him look more guilty. On December 18, 2023, Majors was found guilty on one count of reckless assault in the 3rd degree and a charge of harassment as a violation. After his conviction, Majors was released by Marvel so the future of Kang the Conqueror is very much in jeopardy. No recast has been announced. The next Avengers film was announced as "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty," but internally they have started to call it "Avengers 5." So, it seems like they might be phasing out Kang altogether.

It's really too bad that Majors is such a shit heel because he is genuinely one of the best things in this movie. Majors does an amazing job of bringing Kang to the big screen. This feels like Kang. He's menacing. He's terrifying. He's strong. I enjoyed the way that he and Michelle Pfeiffer really played against each other. Majors plays Kang's megalomania just right, but then again, maybe he wasn't really acting when it comes to that. A lot of times the villains in a Marvel movie don't feel very much like a threat, but Kang really does. I did spend most of the movie really wondering how Scott Lang was going to get out of this. I really thought they were going to kill him.

One and done?

I was really excited when they cast Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne, the original Wasp. She's one of my favorite actresses. Her portrayal of Catwoman in "Batman Returns" means a lot to me. She was just not in "Ant-Man an the Wasp" enough for my taste. Well, that changes in this movie. Hope van Dyne is basically absent from this movie so The Wasp in the title is Janet. And I'm totally OK with that. 

This is really Janet's story. The movie opens with Janet in the Quantum Realm when Kang's ship crashes. We don't learn too much right away. Janet is not super forthcoming about her time in the Quantum Realm. And she's antsy when she learns that Cassie is sending a signal to the Quantum Realm. When they inevitably get sucked in to the Quantum Realm, Janet is really in her element. It's great to see Janet just be a badass. Whether she is cutting of a locals regenerating arm to get a ride or facing off against Bill Murray's Lord Krylar or having multiple showdowns with Kang, Janet is being a badass and Michelle Pfeiffer is killing it. 

Kathryn Newton makes her MCU debut as Cassie Lang. I know what you're thinking. She's way too old to be Cassie Lang. And you'd be right. This is some wonky superhero math. The first "Ant-Man" movie takes place in late 2015 and Cassie is six. So, in the MCU timeline with the Snap and the Blip and all of that, it's now 2025, so Cassie would be sixteen. But they are playing like she is 18. I'm not sure where she gained those extra two years, but here we are. I get why Marvel went the sitcom kid route. It's clear that they are trying to build up the Young Avengers and if you're a comics reader, then you know that Cassie Lang uses. Pym Particles to become the shape changing superhero, Stature. That is in full effect here. She has her own costume. She's shrinking stuff. She has a Giant-Man moment. I think Newton is great, but there's not a lot here that makes her super distinct. So, I'm hoping if she returns in something, whoever writes her character will beef her up a little bit.

You know who does make an impression? Corey Stoll. You may remember him as Yellowjacket from the first "Ant-Man" film. He got sucked into the Quantum Realm and I think we all assumed that was the end of him. But you know what happens when you assume. He re-appears here as the mechanized organism designed only for killing aka M.O.D.O.K. M.O.D.O.K. is a ridiculous character. A giant head with tiny arms and legs that floats around. It's so funny to see Stoll's giant head in the gold and purple armor of M.O.D.O.K. He actually kind of goes on a full transformation. He dies a good guy. All because Cassie tells him it's never too late to stop being a dick. M.O.D.O.K. should be silly. He's a silly character and I love that they lean into that here. I hope he's not actually dead.

They'll never make me hate you.

Paul Rudd is Paul Rudd. He's extremely likable and affable. So he makes Scott Lang extremely likable and affable. You root for him. And that is important. Evangeline Lilly is... there. Hope is kind of a non entity here. Even though I just watched this movie today, I didn't really take any notes about her. The most I can say is that I really enjoyed her new short haircut and those glasses she wore when the showed her working at PymvanDyne. Michael Douglas just seems happy to be there. His Hanky Pym has morphed from a curmudgeonly old man who was kind of a dick to everyone to a more laid back dude who thinks he's better than everyone. In this movie, Pym is like a dude who smokes weed every day and tells everyone he meets about what he did at Woodstock even if you're pretty sure that he wasn't even there. And ya know? I'm kind of here for it.

I know that I'm an MCU apologist. I enjoy these characters and I want to enjoy these movies. So, I'm maybe go a little easier on them than others do especially fifteen years into the MCU. But "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" is the first time that I really saw the cracks and how formulaic things were really becoming. I'm not sure what they were thinking making this the premise of an "Ant-Man" movie. It's so different from the other two and for me it just doesn't work. For me, Ant-Man is more of a street level hero particularly the Scott Lang incarnation so shoving him in this sort of like knock off Thor or Guardians of the Galaxy world doesn't hit.

I think it's crazy that they discarded the majority of the "Ant-Man" supporting cast. His business partners are not seen at all. Which means we get no Luis monologue which is a big bummer. Randall Park's Jimmy Woo gets a non speaking cameo near the beginning of the movie, so good for him, I guess. David Dastmalchian may not get to be Kurt in this movie but he gets to voice Veb, the pink goo creature. Good for him, I guess? I just can't get over that they would jettison these people who audiences like just to spend two hours in this VFX hellscape?

That brings us to the Quantum Realm. In this movie, we learn that the Quantum Real is actually a whole new subatomic world underneath ours. There are civilizations. Different cultures. And Kang has basically conquered it. I think my main issue with the Quantum Realm is that there isn't enough done to really differentiate it from like the different galaxies they visit in the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise. The thing that sticks out in my mind is the living buildings. That is cool and also a little gross. I wish there was more of that. Otherwise, they introduce us to these Quantum Realm denizens that Cassie and Scott meet, but they don't do enough with them to make us care about them. So, when they are getting slaughtered in the final battle the emotional impact it's supposed to have falls super flat.

Mother

I always complain about the big CGI battle that Marvel movies seem to culminate in. You're used to that if you've read my other MCU posts. "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" is basically an entire movie that is that. Like, I was dying for something that feels natural. But there is just nothing. It assaults your eyes almost. This is not what I want. I don't want to watch movies that are entirely CGI except for the human actors. I want sets that are built. I want practical effects. I want VFX artists to unionize so the work they put out is better because they aren't being worked to the bone. The VFX here are not as bad as they are in the majority of DC movies, but they are not nearly as good as they should be with the amount of money and people that are working on them.

Introducing Kang in an "Ant-Man"movie will never make a ton of sense to me. They make it very clear that Kang is a lot more powerful than Scott. I get that he's the underdog and yadda yadda yadda and that makes his win more compelling and audiences should really cheer for it, but I don't. Look at the villains he's faced in his other films. Yellowjacket. Ghost. And random evil businessman played by Walton Goggins. To move from that to Kang is just a massive jump. And I'm sorry, Ant-Man working with the Avengers in Endgame doesn't really justify it.

The shift at the end is a little jarring. You think Kang is defeated. The van Dyne/Pym/Langs are heading back home and then Kang shows up and he starts to beat the ever loving shit out of Scott. It's such a huge tonal shift. You don't expect something like this in a movie like this. And it's super brutal. It doesn't work for me. This doesn't work for me. Scott's hesitancy at being a hero or taking risks when that's all he's done doesn't work for me. This movie is kind of a flop overall. It's rote. It feels paint-by-numbers. It's like they just put words into the MCU plot generator and spit out this script.

I don't want to end this on a bad note. So, I will say that I did really enjoy the super ants. They got sucked into the Quantum Realm. And you know they are going to come back and they do. I love seeing them building their own society. I love seeing them race to the rescue and overwhelm Kang. They feel like they belong in an "Ant-Man" movie which is a nice change after everything else.

The mid credits scene is Immortus, another Kang variant, calling a council of all the other Kangs. It feels pretty inconsequential now seeing as how it is looking more and more likely that Kang isn't going to be a factor in the MCU going forward. The after credits scene is a clip from season two of "Loki" where Loki and Mobius see another variant, Victor Timely, making a presentation at the Chicago World's Fair in 1883. We'll talk more about that when we recap season two of "Loki."

Next up, James Gunn wraps his Guardians trilogy with "Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3."

What did. you guys think? Were you as underwhelmed by this as I was? Do you hope to see more Ant-Man, Wasp, et. al? What do you think they are going to do with Kang? Let me know in the comments.