About the film (courtesy of Marvel Studios):
Super-Hero partners Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) return to continue their adventures as Ant-Man and the Wasp. Together, with Hope’s parents Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), the family finds themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought was possible.
For those of you that don’t already know this, and I wouldn’t blame anyone that may have missed this small fact, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania officially kicks off Phase Five of Marvel Studios’ ever-expanding super soap opera. Let’s first acknowledge the familiar returning foursome of Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer. Each are reprising the roles that we’ve come to know and love over the years. Scott Lang’s (Rudd) young daughter, Cassie, has grown into a more prominent role this time around and is now played by Kathryn Newton. There are a couple more familiar faces to be found in this third Ant-Man endeavor that can be seen as this small, but massive story plays out.
A couple of new actors to the MCU fold, Bill Murray and William Jackson Harper (television’s The Good Place), are eager to make their presence felt. In addition, the largest impact to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is Jonathan Majors. He’s not totally new to Marvel since he debuted Marvel’s small screen (but then again he kind of is, due to his character’s complexity which is first learned about in Disney+’s Loki), though by the letter, or letters of the law aka Marvel Cinematic Universe, this is the first appearance by Kang (Majors). And let me just say that he really commands the screen whenever he’s a part of it.
There’s a lot going on in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which is to be expected with it being the ambassador of Phase Five. The movie itself is self-sufficient in terms of being able to watch and enjoy regardless of how many other MCU films you may have seen. But you also have to remember that this is the third Ant-Man movie, therefore you’ll want to, at the very least, be pretty familiar with the first two entries.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is grand on a small scale, meant literally and figuratively in this case. There’s a lot of moving parts packed into 125 minutes of this primer for an impactful game-changing future. There’s a nice mix of solid content, emotional exploration, action, comedy and loads of special effects everywhere you look. After a slightly heavier and more dramatic tone that fans got in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), this one feels pretty much like the first two, albeit with a much more formidable foe.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will be in theaters everywhere Friday February 17th with a host of earlier time slots starting Thursday. You’ll obviously want to check this one out sooner than later.
