“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” proves that Marvel isn’t perfect

Following the immense success of the first two Ant-Man movies, Marvel Studios in collaboration with Walt Disney Studios released the third installment in the Ant-Man franchise, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” Directed by Peyton Reed and produced by Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” follows the titular characters on a new journey they embark on exploring a new realm called the Quantum Realm. At the same time, they are thrown into the crosshairs of a time-traveling villain called Kang the Conqueror. Peyton Reed is best known for his work on the first two Ant-Man movies.

“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is the first movie of Marvel Studios’ phase five project. Following the theme of phase four and the overall theme of their “Multiverse Saga,” phase five is set to focus on the multiverse and its effects on the heroes we know and love – and Ant-Man just fails to portray that. The movie takes place 3 years after the events of the 2019 movie “Avengers: Endgame.” Following the release of his new book titled “Look out for the Little Guy,” Scott Lang becomes a national celebrity but neglects his duties as a superhero. Meanwhile his daughter, Cassandra ‘Cassie’ Lang in partnership with Hank Pym and Hope Van Dyne, secretly creates a beacon that accidentally transports the Langs and the Van Dynes to a whole new world called the Quantum Realm.

Their trip to the Quantum Realm sets them on a path against a multiversal and time traveling villain called Kang the Conqueror. Following the release of the teaser trailer for the movie, Marvel fans were excited for the movie as it featured the beloved and famous comic book character Kang the Conqueror. But suffice to say, the theatrical release of the movie left myself and a lot of Marvel fans feeling greatly disappointed. Throughout the movie, Marvel tries to highlight the importance of family and the responsibility of being a superhero. They also try to show off just how extremely powerful and resourceful Kang the Conqueror is but ultimately fail. In 2022 at San Diego Comic Con, Kevin Feige announced that Kang the Conqueror will be the main villain of the MCU’s Multiverse Saga similar to how Thanos was the main villain of the Infinity Saga. Given how big and powerful Kang is, I felt it was unnecessary to make him the main villain of an Ant-man movie. The movie was heavily marketed to feel like an Avengers level movie but after watching it, it didn’t feel like that. It didn’t even feel like an Ant-Man movie.

Similar to how it failed in the thematic choices made for the movie, Marvel also failed in the characterization of new and old characters and the character interaction between them. Ant-Man or Scott Lang, played by Paul Rudd, is the movie’s titular protagonist. He is smart, cunning, charming and brave. He also loves his daughter, Cassie more than anything in the world. In the movie we meet a Scott Lang that doesn’t feel like Scott Lang. He is irrationally confident, fame-hungry, a bit narcissistic and despite his constant proclamation of his love for Cassie, he is distrustful of her and her abilities as a person and a superhero. The Wasp or Hope Van Dyne, played by Evangeline Lily, is also a titular protagonist. She is brilliant, ingenious, determined and protective. She is the love interest of Scott Lang in the movie and daughter of Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne. Kang the Conqueror, played by Jonathan Majors, is the movie’s main antagonist. He is extremely intelligent, ruthless, threatening and immensely powerful. Marvel does a great job on showing how much of a threat Kang is but falls at his on-screen character interactions. 

“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is a movie a lot of Marvel fans anticipated but were ultimately let down. Since its release on Feb. 17, the movie has received a lot of negative reviews from both viewers and critics. The movie is tied with Marvel’s “Eternals” for lowest rated Marvel movie in the history of the studio sitting at 47% on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie was not a great movie but I do suggest you see it as it is still in theaters and will be available on Disney Plus on July 8th. 

Rating 2/5