REVIEW: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is the beginning of Marvel’s multiversal end
Posted February 16, 2023 5:10 pm.
Marvel Studios has released 31 films. Almost every single one of them is a variation on the same basic theme. A hero or group of heroes encounters a villain, they fight, the villain is defeated, and the heroes return to fight another villain in another film. It’s a formula that has clearly worked well for the studio, with many of their films earning over a billion dollars at the box office. However, none of their 2022 releases reached a billion at the box office (Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness came closest, it’s about $45 million shy of crossing the billion threshold). This newest film clears up some of the post-Thanos mystery by showing where the franchise can go.
Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man and Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror in Marvel Studios’ ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA. Photo by Jay Maidment. © 2022 MARVEL.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania finds Scott Lang (played by Paul Rudd from I Love You Man and This is 40) and Hope van Dyne (played by Evangeline Lilly from Lost and the Hobbit), better known by their super-hero names of Ant-Man and the Wasp, encountering the Marvel’s multiverse’s biggest threat. After Scott’s daughter Cassie (played by Kathryn Newton from Big Little Lies and Freaky) builds a device that can help to map the quantum realm, the three are pulled in (alongside Hope’s parents, once again played by Michael Douglas from Wall Street and Michelle Pfeiffer from Batman Returns).
Down there, Ant-Man meets Kang the Conqueror (played by Jonathan Majors reprising his role from Loki), a scientist who learned how to travel the multiverse in desire to conquer every universe. The two make a deal to help each other get out, but anything goes in the Quantum Realm.
(L-R): Kathryn Newton as Cassandra “Cassie” Lang and Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man in Marvel Studios’ ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA. Photo by Jay Maidment. © 2022 MARVEL.
The first two Ant-Man films occupied a unique place in the franchise. Both of them came in-between two big films, and functioned as light comedies to ease the tension for audiences waiting for a resolution. This third Ant-Man film however is one of the bigger films of the past few years, with a gigantic visual budget made up of mostly CGI. The film is one of the more visually interesting of the franchise, but at times it can just look silly. Highlighting colour in a mostly CGI setting does a good job of differentiating from the background, and making the image look more full and engaging. But it does have the secondary effect of looking somewhat silly, which admittedly does work for a more comedic film like the Ant-Man series.
I spoke to Kathryn Newton at the film’s red carpet premiere in Toronto, and she tells me that she was “really intimidated and nervous” to jump into such a big franchise, especially on such a large film as this. But she was given the opportunity to play around in this world, which made it a much more fun experience. One that allowed her to “not hold back…and take risks.” She especially her joy at working with Paul Rudd, an absolute dream to work with. And Rudd, as always, excels at the comedic elements of this film. One of the best scenes comes early on, where Rudd’s character catches the audience up on what he’s been up to.
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But the comedy does take a back seat here to highlight the overall direction that Marvel Cinematic Universe is going, and it’s marching right towards Kang the Conqueror. Majors does a good job playing this intensely serious villain, and the film does lay out an interesting path to follow for this character. For those who didn’t read the comics, Kang is a time-travelling and multiverse-hopping villain who wants to conquer all, and no matter where or when he is he’s always an immense danger to the Avengers. Majors oozes a scary charm as Kang, his performance is easily the best part of the film. His performance is cold, yet painful. He plays a person who intends to hurt everyone, so that he won’t be hurt again.
Jonathan Majors as Kang The Conqueror in Marvel Studios’ ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL.
But bringing his performance in here forces us to take away what makes the original Ant-Man films works. This truly does feel more like a stepping stone in the overarching story, a story beat to be crossed off to the next pair of Avengers films. How often will people re-watch this film in the years to come as a piece of art on its own? Will people just watch it as part of a recap in lead-up to another Avengers film?
This is part of the problem of why Marvel’s box office returns seem to be heading slightly downwards. As the years go by, continuing to watch this film series means holding a lot of information from over 30 films (and now several tv shows) in your mind. To watch this film and understand it fully, you’ll need to have seen the prior two Ant-Man films, Loki, and the last two Avengers movies (with all the lead-up to those). Are general audiences willing to put in that much work? For many people, this franchise is getting too complicated, especially as we head into a multiverse. Everything Everywhere All At Once and Spider-Man: No Way Home proved that audiences can show up for multiverse films, but will they be willing to show up for a multiverse franchise?
The people who will enjoy this film the most are the people who already knew that before they saw a trailer. For general audiences, there may be appeal here and maybe this makes them want to dive more into the franchise. But this series is becoming more of a chore to stay with, and this could spell the beginning of the end for the audience. Only time will tell though.
The appeal of the multiverse is that you can tell anything, anywhere, anytime. Hypothetically, that means there’s something for everybody. But when you make something for everybody, you appeal to the lowest common denominator. People may recognize things here, but no one can identify with the struggle of this film. When you make something for everybody, you connect with nobody. That’s the mistake this film makes. It’s a funny blockbuster, but one that lacks in comparison two its previous Rudd-led films. That’s why this films gets a 2/5. You can watch it in cinemas now.
