(Credit to Marvel Studios/Disney)
Written by Hayley Samulski, Staff Writer
Warning Spoilers Ahead for Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantimania
“Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantimania” hit theaters last Friday, Feb 17th, officially kicking off Phase 5 for the MCU. With heavy criticism aimed at phase 4, Marvel needed to come out of the gate strong. A lot was riding on the shoulders of this film. Not only was it responsible for launching the Marvel Cinematic Universe into Phase 5, but it serves as the introduction to the MCU’s next major villain, Kang The Conqueror.
Despite mixed reviews from critics and audiences, the film soared to first place at the box office with $140 million. “Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantimania” does a great job of laying the groundwork for the entirety of Phase 5 and the exploration of the multiverse. Marvel boss Kevin Feige reports that “of all Marvel Studios’ films we’ve done since Endgame, Quantimania is the one that connects the most to the (MCU’s) bigger picture.”
Star Performances
Marvel Studios/Disney
“Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantimania” sets up a solid foundation as the opening act for Phase 5. The movie balances the silly comedy from Ant-Man’s past movies and raises the stakes for what lies ahead for the MCU.
The Antfam dynamic was great in this movie. Paul Rudd, as always, was a superstar in this move and nailed his performance. Much like so many of his co-stars, Rudd embodies the character of Ant-Man and does a great job of bringing his character to life. While many critics and fans felt Kathryn Newton’s performance as Cassie was lackluster, I found her character charming and the scenes with her father were very fun. While her character development could have been better overall, it was a solid performance, leaving room to see her character grow.
Evangeline Lilly, as Hope, had a decent performance, though her character felt lackluster at times and she faded into the background until the end of the film.
Hank Pym also felt a bit like a background character, but he had some enjoyable scenes. Especially when he showed up with an army of super ants!
Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van-Dyne had an impressive performance. The movie took its time fleshing out her character and exploring her time spent in the Quantum Realm. We learn that she’d had trapped down in the Quantum Realm with another variant of Kang.
Johnathan Majors’ performance as Kang carried this movie. All the love for Paul Rudd but Majors outshined Rudd with his star-studded performance. Majors made his debut in the hit Disney+ series “Loki”. His first full-on-screen appearance was in the show’s final episode as a multiverse counterpart known as “He Who Remains,” revealed to be the master behind the TVA. “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” officially introduces Marvel fans to the MCU’s new big villain, Kang the Conqueror.
Who is Kang the Conqueror?
The variant we meet at the end of Loki states he was a 31st-century scholar who discovered multiple universes atop his own. Within those universes live variants of himself who eventually gathered together, agreeing to share their technology and knowledge. However, Kang explained to Loki and Sylvie that not everyone was keen on sharing. “To some of us, new worlds meant only one thing, new lands to be conquered, the peace between realities erupted into all-out war, each variant fighting to preserve their universe and annihilate the others.”
After stopping the war, Kang created the TVA and ruled over it for what was probably centuries. Eventually, he grew bored with his role as the master of the timelines; he presented Sylvie and Loki with two options. Take over and rule the TVA or kill him and start another war across the Multiverse. Before anyone could react, Sylvie killed He Who Remains.
In the film, we meet another Kang variant and learn how he ended up in the Quantum Realm. Kang says he was exiled to the Quantum Realm because it is the only place that could hold him, since it existed outside of space and time. Left with no way to escape, Kang conquers the microscopic realm of becoming its ruler.
The film ends with Kang dead when he gets pulled into the Multiverse Engine Core. Our heroes return home with the battle won against Kang, but the post-credits scenes reveal that’s not exactly the case.
The End Credit Scenes
In true Marvel fashion, the two end credit scenes of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” tease major things are on the horizon for our heroes.
We get our first look at the “Council of Kangs”, a group made up entirely of the multiverse counterparts of Kang. The council is called together to discuss the apparent death of the Kang variant that was banished to the Quantum Realm. Three variants in particular (Rama-Tut, Immortus, and a cyborg Kang) seem very displeased with how events have unfolded. With our heroes now aware of the multiverse, they pose a major threat to their plans. Now the Council must figure out a way to destroy Earth-616 (MCU’s cannon earth).
The second scene jumps straight into season 2 of Loki introducing yet another Lang Variant known as Victor Timely. Timely is giving a speech about time. In the audience is Loki (Tom Hiddleston), and Mobius (Owen Wilson). Loki tells Mobius that Timely is “him,” referring to the variant He Who Remains.
While we don’t have the full story on this Timely variant, we know it’s nothing good. So much is still unknown about how Phase 5 will unfold, but what we know is that Kang will return.
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