Chris Conkling

“Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania” is the 3rd installment in director, Peyton Reed’s, Ant-Man trilogy and the 31st overall film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As such, audiences are now extremely well-versed in what to expect when heading to the theater to see a new Marvel project. Since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, the MCU has had more critical misses than during its previous 11-year run. So the question is, has “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” recaptured the magic of pre-2020 MCU endeavors? 

The film begins with Scott Lang (played by returning Paul Rudd) settling into life with his newfound superhero fame, having helped save the world from Thanos at the end of Avengers: Endgame. His relationship with Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lily) is going strong, yet he is struggling to make up for lost time with his daughter, Cassie Lang (newcomer Kathryn Newton), who has now become a rebellious teen. Both Scott and Cassie have formed a chosen “Ant-Family” with Hope and her parents, Hank Pym (played by Michael Douglas) and Janet Van Dyne (played by Michelle Pfeiffer). Unbeknownst to Scott, Cassie has been working on a device with Hope and Hank to help them map the Quantum Realm without ever setting foot in it, however, during Cassie’s demonstration of the machine, things go awry and the five of them are sucked into the quantum realm.

Overall, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is a bit of a mixed bag, however, there is still a lot of fun to be had. The sci-fi fantasy elements of the quantum realm and its inhabitants, while underwritten at times, are exotic and interesting, in-line with the creatures and environments you’d see in the worlds of Star Trek or Star Wars. Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang is still the funny and charming every-man we’ve seen in all of his previous outings as Ant-Man, and his father-daughter dynamic with Kathryn Newton, the new Cassie, is equally as heartwarming as when the character was being played by a younger actress, Abby Ryder Fortson. Jonathan Majors, as the film’s primary antagonist Kang the Conqueror, is domineering, imposing, and quietly terrifying, and Michelle Pfeiffer’s Janet, thanks to her connection to Kang, is given more screen time and thus more time to shine than in the last Ant-Man film. 

Despite all of this, Quantumania is not a perfect movie. The core theme of the Ant-Man franchise has always been family, and Marvel Studios’ strength pre-2020 was creating character-driven pieces with action sequences which, for the most part, were in service of those characters. Quantumania’s script shares these familial elements with its predecessors, however, these themes are not the main focus. The film instead shifts its gaze to a more plot-driven method of storytelling, choosing to push the overarching narrative of the MCU forward at the cost of Scott Lang’s personal journey. The film feels like an episode of the world’s most expensive television show. At points, it even utilizes flashbacks in a familiar television style to inform the audience of events from previous films. The deeper we get into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the more often this issue has presented itself. In the past, the titular character’s arc was always the main course of the films, and the connective tissue of the greater MCU was the seasoning, however now it feels as though we are being served up a plate of salt and pepper with a side of steak. 

Your mileage will vary with “Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania” depending on how steeped you are in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and how tolerant you are of the sci-fi fantasy genre. Jonathan Major’s performance is the standout aspect of this film, and as a piece of a larger whole, this movie is a promise of exciting things to come. However, as the final piece in the Ant-Man trilogy, the film fails to conclude its protagonist’s arc in any traditional or meaningful way, instead giving way to the behemoth of a franchise in which it resides. “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is a fun, yet shallow experience, and the magic of MCU-past has yet to return to the silver screen. 

Grade: 3/5