Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is slowly getting his life back on track after missing five years of it lost in the Quantum Realm. With the love of his life, Hope (Evangeline Lily), and daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) playing a role in his journey toward normalcy, and things looking up, a new threat lurks in the shadows of the unknown. Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania sees the miniature heroes trapped in the Quantum Realm facing the mulitverse’s greatest threat yet, Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). This is something unlike anything they’ve ever faced before–and the stakes have never been higher.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has slowly but surely fallen victim to one major issue over the course of the past couple of years–comedy. For whatever reason Kevin Feige and his team at Marvel Studios began pushing more comedy-based projects, limiting the number of times that genuine emotion found its way to the surface. Films such as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder are prime examples of when comedy was far too strong and emotion took a backseat. I won’t lie, I was nervous that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania would fail in the same ways. I didn’t think it would be a bad film (as I really did enjoy those aforementioned films), but I was worried that this was the way in which the MCU was trending, and viewers would struggle with the first Phase 5 installment of the universe.
The reality, however, is that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania rectifies some of these issues and creates something both funny and heartfelt. Rudd finds himself in charge of bringing emotion to life in a character that has often been seen as the comic relief, and he fills the role beautifully. He, for a good portion of the film, is himself–the comic that the world has come to know and love, and as usual, he delivers wonderfully. Beyond that, as mentioned, Rudd is the heart and soul of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and even better than his comedy, he brings genuine emotion to life. I’m not sure that I’ve ever really seen him in this capacity before, and it was something of a breath of fresh air seeing him like this. His performance measures up to some of the best in the MCU, and he steals the show here in his third solo film.
The talk of the town was the introduction of the harrowing Kang the Conqueror. Majors had already played a role in the MCU back in 2021 in the Disney+ series Loki. He was wonderful then, and he’s even better now. He’s daunting, powerful, emotional, and downright scary. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania sees the MCU’s new big bad come to life–and Majors plays a significant role in him delivering as many had hoped.
Majors fills the shoes of this massive character wonderfully well–but the writing, introducing this character in a way that meets viewers’ expectations and moves the paramount series of films forward, is ultimately what allows him to succeed. Majors is handed a well-rounded and enticing character in Kang–and while it’s still no easy task bringing him to life, the character itself is brilliant.
The world-building ability of this team is, by far, the most impressive aspect of the entire film. Even with all of the good that I’ve already talked about, the Quantum Realm, every single bit of it, is nearly perfect. While there are pieces of the fictional universe derivative of Star Wars, Avatar, Dune, Blade Runner, and The Fifth Element, Director Peyton Reed and the set designers in charge of creating this world create something interestingly unique that exists on its own. They borrow some of the best parts of each of those aforementioned worlds, but those elements are combined in a way that is hard to describe as anything other than perfect. The color alone is enough to mesmerize viewers, to captivate them from nearly the opening moments until Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania concludes. However, there’s more to this world than just color and vibrancy–there is something familiar about the things that exist in the film as well. Beyond seeing pieces of worlds that we already know and love, there are bits and pieces of the real world that exist within, and they entice viewers throughout. I can’t speak highly enough of what the team creates in this regard, as just about every second wows even more than the previous.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is the first installment of the fifth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s the third (and likely final) installment in the Ant-Man franchise, it’s following a series of films that didn’t deliver as expected, and it is used to introduce one of the most anticipated villains in the history of Marvel lore–the stakes couldn’t have been higher. I didn’t really know what to expect when walking into the theater, and I had no idea whether or not this film had the ability to work at this point in the MCU. It’s emotional, it’s hilarious, visually it’s one of the best things that I’ve ever seen, and Reed ends his trilogy on a high note, creating the best MCU film in some time.
Directed by Peyton Reed.
Written by Jeff Loveness & Jack Kirby.
Starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐½/10
