Ryan Shoots First: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
A new era of the MCU begins with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania kicking off phase 5 of the MCU. Ironically, while yes this film is the next installment of the massive larger Marvel Universe if you stripped all of it away and just watched Quantumania as a stand-alone trippy sci-fi flick it would still be pretty awesome. If you don’t need context for why the dude can shrink and grow and just take in the crazy worlds, imposing villain and story of rebellion against oppression it’s a nice and tidy film. Obviously, there are payoffs and things only dedicated watchers will get but on the whole, this movie can be enjoyed by anyone and its overall concepts are simple enough.
You may be thinking how can they really show us anything new? We’ve seen space, we’ve witnessed Gods, well it turns out micro universes may be the new frontier. The quantum realm feels more than just alien it’s almost microbiological. Sure there are plenty of aliens running around but the way the movie builds the world of the Quantum Realm is really enthralling. The life forms, architecture, flora and fauna are all unlike anything we’ve seen before. I mean like giant single-cell organisms roaming the wasteland. Living ships and bacteria looking to destroy life. It’s as interesting as it is visually pleasing. As someone who loves world-building and seeing how alternate evolutionary paths may change how society and technology change it was a fun world to explore.
Of course, our heroes are not alone in this world. Kang has arrived. Jonathan Majors somewhat reprises his cameo role from Loki but as a new version of Kangs many variants. And he delivers. He’s imposing, and threatening and draws the attention of every scene he is in. This deep into the MCU making villains seem like legitimate threats can be a challenge but Kang has a great showing and as we build to Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars he is worthy of the big bad mantle he is taking over from Thanos.
Battling the menacing Kang are our returning heroes Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne played by Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly. They build on their well-established characters finally settling a little bit into this post-Thanos world. The family is rounded out by Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet and Hank and when you have heavy hitters like that coming off the bench the movie is never short of excellent talent to carry it. Pfeiffer particularly is very important to the story and does an excellent job in what ends up being a larger role than many probably expected. New to the cast however is Kathryn Newton who is taking over for Scott’s daughter Cassie, many were iffy on the recast of who played Cassie briefly in Endgame but I get it. Kathryn was great and maybe it was because I saw the film with my daughter but the dynamic between her and Scott as father and daughter really hits home for me. I mentioned earlier how some simple premises make the movie accessible to everyone and the role of father and daughter is a key one.
I know it seems liking Marvel content nowadays is a hot take but I really enjoyed this movie. More than many recently, I rank it above Doctor Strange 2 and probably any of the films from phase 4. I can see where many will compare it to Thor: Ragnarok as it takes an established hero in their third film and places them in a new world and shifts the tone. While the tone shift isn’t as massive here I can see the comparisons coming and I would say I feel this movie is even stronger with the threat and presence Majors brings as Kang.
The major complaint about Phase 4 was that it didn’t feel as connected. But that can’t just happen. After the massive peak of Endgame, I like the fact we somewhat reset, introduced new characters and explored a little deeper some of our old favorites. It was a deep breath while Marvel set up the next big event and we are here now. The path is clear and with the arrival of Kang and the start of phase 5 the next massive story in the MCU is off and running.
