Ant-man And The Wasp Quantumania Thoughts

Quantum Realm

Most of the film takes place at a far remove from the Marvel Universe we know, down in the subatomic Quantum Realm that characters from previous movies have visited (Ant-Man), gotten stuck in for decades (Ant-Man and the Wasp), or used as a series of temporal highway bypasses on their way to saving the universe (Avengers: Endgame).

This time around, it’s the entire Ant-man Family that gets sucked down into the MCU’s own microscopic universe. There’s Scott/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), his girlfriend Hope/The Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), Hope’s father Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), Hank’s wife Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer), and Scott’s teenage daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton).

There, they quickly befriend some interchangeable locals, including Krylar (smarmily smarmed by Bill Murray), who are fighting against the evil Kang (Jonathan Majors) to make their way back home.

Stunning Animation

The film by far is spectacular when it comes to CGI and the animation itself could be a character on its own. You can tell they paid attention to every detail and character. I was brought back to a combination of Star Wars, Star Trek meets Guardians of the Galaxy.

One thing that I have to say and I may get slack for is that in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will also introduce a number of new characters to the MCU, most notably M.O.D.O.K. and well I have to say I didn’t dig the animation for him when he took his mask off I don’t want to give any spoilers but I was not a fan but to eaches own right!

Storyline

Quantumania is unlike any storyline we have seen from the MCU, it does have it’s funny punch lines like we are used to seeing in the Ant-Man films however I wish they would have elaborated a bit more on Kang’s backstory as well as a bit more in terms of Scott and Hope. The movie tends to revolve around Scott’s daughter Cassie which is great but I felt there was a bit more room for more.

Director Thoughts

Recently I had the opportunity to attend a virtual press conference where there was a Q and A about the movie and one of the stand outs was from director Peyton Reed who when asked about what set Quantumania apart said

“The Ant-Man movies have really always been about family. It is a generational story about a family of heroes, and Scott Lang, who is not a billionaire or super scientist or anything, getting sucked into this world, and Hope van Dyne who is the legacy daughter of two superheroes, Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer. So it’s this generational thing, and now young Cassie Lang,who is probably Scott’s biggest motivating factor of, like, having time with his daughter.

He wants to be a hero, obviously. He’s an Avenger, but it’s really about work-life balance and also
finding time with his daughter. It’s the most important thing. In this movie, Cassie Lang is 18, but we continue
the story of this family, and I think in Quantumania, one of the things we’ve done is really broaden that story and
start talking about the secrets the family members keep from each other, the things they don’t tell each other”.

Without giving too much away we see that Janet is a major part of Quantamania, which circles around her time that she spent in Quantum Realm.

Ant-Man Progression

Its hard to believe that Ant-man has been around for nine years, but in the course of those years we see a different type of Ant-Man and one that Paul Rudd has also seen through the years as well. “Well, I think, you know, when we start this movie, when you see this movie, it’s kind of been present day. The events of Endgame, everything has already transpired. I wouldn’t say he’s taking a victory lap, but others might say that.

And he’s written a book, you know, a memoir, look out for the little guy, and he’s explained everything
that’s been going on in life and his experiences with the Avengers, but now he is ready to have some time, be a
normal dad. And, you know, there are some issues there, because we missed out on a lot, and I kind of wanna
recapture some of those years. Cassie’s older, you know? She has ideas of her own, so we’re, yeah, trying to kind of grapple with all of that”.

Kang The Conqueror

Johnathan Majors plays Kang the Conqueror in the film, and I love him as an actor he is the type of person that could play any character. We see that in the film with Kang as mentioned before I wish they would have elborated more on his story in the film but it will do as there are more Kang movies coming. For Johnathan playing Kang

“Who is Kang? I think that is a question that we will all be answering for a very long time. I think the quick answer to that is Kang is a time traveling super villain. Who is also a nexus being. Which leads to this idea of variants. There’s multiple versions of Kang. Versions being variants. They occupy different universes, multi-verses, they have different intentions. They are all different beings, and yet something that we’re still and I’m still working on and continue to refine and refine and refine to something as a throughline between them. And that, to me, is the Kang gene”.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania is a great start to Marvel Studios Phase 5. It is a film in which the whole family can enjoy since the main topic revolves around family. There are a few cuss words here and there but they are pretty subtle, and I am sure the kids will be mesmerized by the Quantum Realm itself and its beauty.

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