Quantumanic Episode

A review of ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.’

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Ant-Man has long been considered a B-list hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will do nothing to repair that reputation.

The third standalone Ant-Man film brings us back to Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) enjoying the easy life as a semi-retired superhero who is universally praised, if not universally remembered, for his role in reviving half the life in the universe after Thanos destroyed it with the Infinity Gauntlet. Lang has fans, an autobiography, and a wealthy, high-powered girlfriend and partner in heroics, Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly). He also has a precocious 18-year-old daughter, Cassie (Kathryn Newton), whose interest in the quantum realm that trapped her father and Hope’s mother ends up inadvertently notifying a malevolent quantum being of their location. 

From there, Scott, Hope, and Cassie are all transported into the quantum realm with Hope’s two retired-superhero parents, Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). The crew then discovers a hitherto unknown world ruled with an iron fist by Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), a one-time ally of Janet’s whom she accidentally helped to power and then spent 30 years fighting.

All of that is the setup. What comes next is a letdown for longtime Marvel fans and casual viewers alike.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Julie from Texas

    I happily made it through all of the Marvel Universe (most of them seen with my husband and two sons) through Avengers: Endgame. And then...it just became overwhelming. As you said, "To fully grasp what’s going on you need to have seen, at the very least..." and then named several Marvel shows, I just can't keep up. And the expectation that I should, or even can, feels a bit insulting to someone who was so faithful to the franchise. It's just so clear that they've moved from telling great stories to making money. You can make money telling great stories, but once the money is the point...it makes sense to flood screens with potential moneymakers. I just can't do it anymore.

    Thanks for saving me from seeing this one. I did love WandaVision, and I'm willing to watch other Marvel content. Just not those that require a Ph.D. in comics.

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  3. CatoTheElder

    That many take this stuff (the “Marvel Comics Universe” and its ilk) seriously is…discouraging.

    I was a Captain America fan back when the character’s revival was a recent thing, and I still am, at about the same level as I am a fan of marshmallows in cocoa—nice, but neither essential nor very nutritious. And not at all to be taken too seriously.

    Ant-Man should be one of the primary exhibits in the case for the MCU being pablum first, last, and always. That we’re talking seriously about the Ant-Man franchise suggests that somewhere, in the control panel for the universe, settings are askew.

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  4. Thewritingfox

    My 11 and 14 year old really enjoyed it. I think they’re the target audience, and the adults are just meant to go along for the ride. As I told my husband, you’ll enjoy it a lot more if you just turn your brain off while you’re watching it. And you know what? I did enjoy it for what it was. A silly Marvel movie.

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  5. Zvikes

    "To fully grasp what’s going on you need to have seen, at the very least, Ant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and the Loki TV series on Disney+"

    Look, if Marvel movies aren't for you, I totally get it. Easy to get burnt out after a while given they follow the same basic formula. But this complaint is just silly. Oh no, to watch this 3rd ant-man movie, you need to have seen the first two! And some other stuff since it's part of a wider film franchise? Egads!

    Not every movie or book is meant as an entryway into a series, and that's a good thing! If you needed to re-establish the entire world every single time, @%(* man, that would be awful.

    If you hate the marvel world after this long, and again, that's fine, just say that.

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  6. Avatar photo
    R0b3rt.Richardson

    Let's be honest, this film is getting widely panned because a concensus has been reached among film buff hivemind that they've all had enough of the MCU. It remains to be seen whether or not the general public will keep on filling seats. I bet they will.

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  7. Avatar photo
    Todd T

    I’m sure it’s not worth the price of a real movie ticket. But seen through the lens as an expensive tv movie you can watch on Disney+, it’s probably fine.

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  8. Avatar photo
    Abridge683

    Superhero movies are proof that "when anything is possible nothing is interesting."

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  9. Avatar photo
    Will I Am

    The fact you have to be so well steeped in the Marvel universe is why I’m pretty much done with Marvel films. There’s really nothing new, either. Smart, funny and beautiful/handsome protagonists overcome overwhelming odds to win in the end.

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  10. Avatar photo
    BloggerBarbie

    I'm going to go see it so I can follow, but my hopes have never been especially high--the multiverse saga just doesn't interest me. (On the plus side, it has to be better than "The Eternals." Anything is.) I was really hoping they'd wipe the board clean and start over with a new slate. "Shang-Chi" gave me some hope of this, with a whole new world to explore and a hero not overly tied to anything else. Then maybe bring in another one, then another... like phase 1 did. Then they just went back to throwing spaghetti at the wall.

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