A Guide To Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania

The fifth phase of movies in the MCU has just begun with director Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and there’s a lot to talk about! In this guide to the film, I will briefly describe the plot, share my own thoughts along with the reception from critics and everyday moviegoers, and discuss what the film could mean for the future of the franchise. Let’s get started! (Warning: spoilers ahead)

In the third installment of the Ant-Man series, Scott Lang has become well respected by the citizens of his hometown for his work as Ant-Man, but struggles to fully reconnect with his daughter Cassie after his five year disappearance. He takes a look at a device she’s been working on to navigate the Quantum Realm but are both unexpectedly taken there through the device, alongside Hope Van Dyne, Janet Van Dyne and Hank Pym. They discover that the Quantum Realm is being ruled by Kang the Conqueror, a timeline-shattering supervillain who needs Scott’s help to escape his banishment from the realms above.

The general reception towards the film is fairly split between critics and fans, which is nothing new for comic book movies these days. Critics don’t appear to be too fond of it overall, dispraising its plot structure and disappointingly low stakes. Both this film and Eternals currently sit as the two lowest rated MCU movies on Rotten Tomatoes. Conversely, the fans tend to be more content in comparison, commending the entertaining action and the actors’ performances (especially Jonathan Majors as Kang).

Personally, I’m in the middle. The story is certainly a little messy and feels too convenient at times, and the humour and visual effects can be very hit-or-miss. However, the one thing I whole-heartedly admire in this film is the commitment to the craziness and going all out with what it’s given. From the wacky new characters to the buck wild scenes and action sequences, this movie fully embraces its insane setting and shows you a fun time. There are certainly some aspects that could’ve used more time in the oven, but to me that mostly pertains to the story’s themes rather than the entertainment value. And yes – Jonathan Majors is great as Kang, and I can’t wait to see more of him as other Kang variants.

And this leads into an interesting question: where do we go from here? The best places to look right now are the post-credit scenes. In this first one, we see what looks to be an arena full of Kang variants from the comics, including Immortus, Rama-Tut, Scarlet Centurion and hundreds more. It’s unclear how many of them individually will be primary characters in the upcoming films, but this scene establishes how big of a threat the Kang variants as a collective is, and that the worst is yet to come for the multiverse. The second scene shows yet another Kang variant, Victor Timely, although this time set in the past and giving a speech about time and humanity. He is also being observed by Loki and his partner-in-crime Mobius from the Loki series, implying that this version of Kang could play a big part in the show’s upcoming second season. Not surprising, as Season 1 was the property to introduce the variants in the first place.

If it wasn’t clear already, Kang is set to have a major role throughout the next couple phases of the cinematic universe, eventually leading into The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars. We’re bound to see many more of these variants in action leading up to that point, though it’s hard to say in which movies or series specifically. Loki is a no-brainer, and it’s likely we could see them in other properties that heavily deal with the multiverse, such as Deadpool 3 or What If…? Season 2. You probably shouldn’t expect to see them in any primarily self-contained stories, such as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 or Echo (except in possibly a post-credit scene), but other than that, who knows where Majors will strike next?

Those are my thoughts on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania! Hope you all enjoyed the post, and thank you so much for reading. See you next time!