Zoe Bowland

This review includes major spoilers! Ant Man and the Wasp is a good movie that is definitely worth watching. The multifaceted storyline includes events that will influence the future of the MCU, and except for a couple of minor qualms, the experience is both intriguing and rewarding. Here are my key takeaways from the film.

After young activist Cassie Lang makes a communication device linking the quantum realm to theirs, Scott Lang, Cassie Lang, Hope Van Dyne, Janet Van Dyne, and Hank Pym get sucked into the quantum realm. As the story progresses, we find that when Janet was trapped in the Quantum Realm, she formed a friendship with Kang, who claimed that they could both escape if she helped him rebuild his multiversal power core. After she helped him fix it, she had visions of Kang destroying multiple timelines and universes. Using Pym particles, she enlarged his power core, making it impossible to use. The group was split up in the initial teleport, the Langs were found by some resistance fighters, and the Van Dynes, accompanied by Hank Pym, were stuck in a large quantum forest.

After we are given this context, the Van Dynes visit an old friend of Janet’s, where we find out he switched sides, now working for Kang the Conqueror. We also find out through Jentorra, one of the leaders of the resistance fighters, that Janet’s connection with Kang caused his rise to power. When Scott and Cassie are taken to Kang after the resistance base is discovered, Kang demands Scott to shrink down and help them recover the power core. When Scott says no, Kang threatens to kill Cassie.

As he shrinks down and gets to the power core, he begins to multiply. After speaking with M.O.D.O.K, a half-human, half-machine who Scott fought in the first Ant Man movie, he learns he is in a possibilities zone, leading to the appearance of every possibility of Scott resulting from making different decisions. Before Scott becomes literally smothered by his variants, he hears Cassie through his helmet, and his possibilities help him get to the power core. As he tries to fix it, Hope shows up and assists him in gathering the core.

After shrinking the core back to original size, Kang goes back on his deal, captures Janet, and destroys the ship the group had stolen with Pym still on it. Pym, being saved by his evolved ants, who were also pulled into the quantum realm, helps save Scott and Hope and they begin making their way to Kang. Cassie frees Jentorra and together they start an uprising against Kang and his army, even convincing M.O.D.O.K to turn against Kang. He ends up losing his life in the battle.

Janet fixes the power core and Hope, Cassie, Janet, and Pym all escape back to their realm. As Scott is about to leave through the portal, Kang attacks, beating Scott with ease. Hope returns to help. Scott and Hope destroy the power core, using some Pym particles. There they knock Kang into the power core, where he is pulled into oblivion. Cassie opens the portal back home and together Hope and Scott leave. Scott remembers the mentioning of Kang’s death to be the start of something terrible, but he brushes it off.

In a post credit scene, we see many variants of Kang planning an uprising. They speak of Kang’s death. We found out earlier in the movie that the Council of Kangs feared Kang and exiled him where he could never escape, in between space and time. Then we see Loki and Mobius find another Kang variant, Victor Timely, located in New York in the 1900’s.

I think the movie was good! The storytelling was excellent and the CGI in most of the film was astonishing. We got to see more character arcs that many Marvel fans were hoping for. Paul Rudd nailed his performance and having Cassie Lang included in this movie provides a possible new character in the Young Avengers cast. Jonathan Major as Kang the Conqueror was the perfect choice. His portrayal of the villain is exactly what I hoped for, linking almost directly to the comics and what we expected from Kang. I enjoyed the after credit scene where the many Kangs started an uprising. It links to Scott’s remembrance of the possibility of Kang’s death being bad. The acting skills of Majors provided some well needed improvements to the MCU, the few versions of Kang we had seen had stunning acting and showed how he was able to be multiple people at once.

The movie had its good parts, but there were also moments of bad CGI and some questionable acting from Kathryn Newton, who played Cassie Lang. My main problem with this movie is that we constantly get world shattering, multiverse endangering threats in every new Marvel movie. Also, Kang has to be an idiot for the plot to move, which contradicts the comics where Kang is probably one of the most intelligent people in the universe. While I like that the “good guys” win, this is not the case in the comics, where villains are designed to be just as strong and as smart as the heroes. Most of the time, it takes multiple super heroes to defeat the villains, so why the creators keep diminishing their intellect and power in modern movies is a conundrum to me. The newer Avengers are pretty weak, and in order to save their views and restore the quality of their work, the creators need to get together and work something out. The lack of perceived effort in Marvel movies has declined, resulting in a loss of profit.

I think my favorite part of this movie was when Hank Pym walked in with an army of ants. The final battle was brutal but amazing and provided insight into the anger and desperation of Kang. We have never seen Scott so upset, and the acting on Paul Rudd’s part made the story even better. The battle proves how strong Kang really is. Scott would have lost that battle if Hope had not returned. The end credit scene with the council of Kangs is a great addition as well, proving that with the sheer number of Kangs there are, the next battle or war involving Kang will be not only brutal, but terrifying.

All things considered, I would give the movie a rating of 3.5 or 4 stars out of 5. While there were some changes that would have improved the quality, it was definitely one of the better Marvel movies in the post Endgame era. Ultimately, Quantumania is undoubtedly worth the watch.