Over the past three years, Marvel Studios has been experimenting with its approach to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In MCU Phase 4, they changed their gears from focusing not only on movies but also to making series. Along with Loki, they set up the base for the newest supervillain – Kang. Played by Jonathan Majors, the MCU antagonist had established himself as a major threat that could either live up to Thanos or surpass him at some point in MCU Phase 5. However, in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, the bar is wobbly after viewing and I blame the writing for that.
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania kicks off the highly anticipated MCU Phase 5. Paul Rudd and his iconic expandable black and red suit as well as Evangeline Lilly’s yellow-suited Hope Van Dyne aka The Wasp team up for a third solo run. With the Blip behind him and years lost due to Thanos’ Snap, Scott Lang (Rudd) feels disconnected from his daughter, Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton). While he tries to spend as much time as he can getting to know his daughter, he becomes surprised by her various tricks, one of them being her ability to contact beings in the quantum realm.
Cassie’s genius mind transports Scott, Hope, Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) to a world known only to Janet – the quantum realm. While Scott and Cassie land on one side of the realm, Hank, Janet and Hope are thrown to the other end. Though they are welcomed by the alien creatures, little do Scott and Cassie know that a greater danger awaits them – Kang the Conqueror. The dreaded villain captures the two and they are made to pay the price for the actions taken by Janet when she was trapped in the realm. The film follows Scott’s journey to save the realm while finding a way to pay for Janet’s actions.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantummania aka Ant-Man 3 marks a huge step forward for Marvel Studios in the world of science-fiction. While the genre has been explored in films such as the Guardians of the Galaxy series, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is the first to embrace it fully. Ready from. The style abounds, giving it a Star Wars touch.
Director Peyton Reed introduces new alien characters, establishes a new universe, and even takes a closer look at those who have access to the multiverse. It hints at various possibilities of new characters coming in, especially the X-Men, which sounds exciting. It is well supported by VFX. Even on a basic 2D screen, the rich colors and concepts of the area grab your attention. There is a scene in which Scott is losing hope and is on the verge of being buried under a pile of people. The scene barely lasts for two minutes but it was enough to make me feel suffocated. The scene that follows, which will remind a lot of desi Dahi Handi, looks different in terms of concept as well.
However, I really wish the script strongly supported the visuals. Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania has nothing concrete to offer on the story and arc front. The film lacks depth which results in a slow paced boring film. This is probably the first Marvel movie I looked away from the screen and started discussing theories with my friend while the movie was playing. While we know Scott is struggling with the time he lost the last time he was in the Quantum Realm, the movie doesn’t go deeper or present a character development that helps fans feel sympathetic towards him. Characters such as Gentorra (played by Katy O’Brien) showed potential to become the biggest takeaways from the film but the writing doesn’t go deep into the roles.
Ant-Man is known for its humor, especially by Michael Peña. His absence was strongly felt in the film. Reed tries to fill the void by bringing back Darren Cross/Yellowjacket (Corey Stoll) in an unusual body but it’s borderline between comic and an uncomfortable sight. On top of this, the dialogues in certain parts, especially while setting up the climax, felt like they needed a little more work.
Paul Rudd, Jonathan Majors and Michelle Pfeiffer do their best to shoulder the weak film and almost succeed. Paul returns as the superhero who thinks from his heart but it’s nothing we’ve ever seen before. In his face-off against Kang, I found myself rooting for Scott to win and hoping he comes back for yet another Marvel movie so he gets better treatment.
Meanwhile, Jonathan shines as Kang throughout most of the movie. You walk out of the theater already theorizing his role in the future of the MCU. But compared to his performance in Loki, the new Kang doesn’t quite live up to He Who Remains. Meanwhile, Mitchell makes an impression with his portrayal of Janet – a warrior with a gruesome past. Unfortunately, Evangeline Lilly was doomed as Hope aka The Wasp. Both titular superheroes deserved better writing.
Bottomline: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantummania ends up being another Thor: Love and Thunder or Doctor Strange in the Madness of the Multiverse where superheroes become supporting actors in their own movie. While visually it’s much better than the prequel, Ant-Man 3 needed a little more brewing.
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