Tag: Quantumania

‘Ant-Man 3’ Dethrones ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ as Third-Highest February Release

It’s been a nailbiting weekend for the box office, as many were unsure if Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania may actually manage $100M opening. The B cinemaScore and critical reception made it a make or break situation. Now, for any other ffilm this would be a fantastic opening weekend even with an A score, but Marvel has more weight on its shoulders as one of the biggest franchises and money-makers for Disney. Still, the film surprised and pulled in an additional 33.8M over Saturday after a strong $46M Friday (including Thursday previews) and is set to close the weekend with $104M over three days.

Don’t forget, this is Presidents Day weekend and as such will probably wrap up around $118M. Keep in mind, those numbers can always fluctuate once the weekend wraps up. That would place perfectly in the more positive side of its initial prediction that was between $96M to $131M. So, the film certainly delivered on its box office promise even if the next weekends drop being the true indicator what kind of multiplier we can expect. A more mixed to positive word-of-mouth could still net it a 2.3 multiplier but given the Ant-Man franchise could surprise given how well it worked with children and families. It may have potentially found a niche that could carry the film further.

It should also be noted that the Saturday hold percentage wise is better than Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (-36%), Thor: Love and Thunder (-40%) but not far from Eternals, who also shares the B rating. Deadline believes the draw of Kang the Conqueror may be balancing out any of the critical reception. The film opened 44% higher than Ant-Man and the Wasp and is now the trilogy’s biggest opener. Interestingly enough was playing evenly throughout the entire day. So, this is perhaps a more balanced experience than the other more frontloaded pictures, but only time will tell.

Overall, the film also pulled in a strong $121.3M worldwide and now stands at $238.3M worldwide. The film isn’t breaking any records worldwide and had a smaller opening in China with 19.2M but that market also hasn’t had a Marvel movie in quite some time release at the same as internationally. Deadline has pointed out that science-fiction adventures do have that habit internationally. As of now, the film is now the third highest opener in February ever following Black Panther ($242.2M) and Deadpool ($152.2M). It has now dethroned the former third place holder of Fifty Shades of Grey at $93M.

Even with the current critical and CinemaScore rating, there’s still expectation the film will become the highest Ant-Man entry, which it would manage by passing $622M. To reach though, it’ll need a better multiplier around 2,6 at least, which might be the biggest challenge. A rejuvenated market may help push its legs, as our only real comparison is during last year when fiilms barely had any momentum and multiple weeks of barely any major releases.

Source: Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety

February 19, 2023
‘Ant-Man 3’ Conquers a $46M Friday Opening at the Box Office

The numbers are in and after a very strong $17.5M Thursday preview showing for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, it seems the film managed to pull in a strong $46M haul over Friday at the domestic market. As such, there’s a good chance the film will at least pull in $100M over three days at the box office; though the recent B CinemaScore could slow down its momentum. Still, the film is the biggest in the trilogy as Ant-Man opened to $57.2M; the smallest MCU start; and Ant-Man and the Wasp managed to pull in $75.8M. They grew from previews at around $6M and $12M respectively.

The film is now the third-highest Friday grosser in February and is on track to make around $115M over the four-day weekend. There have been some that believe it could go even higher towards $120M but the current critical reception may make that a bit difficult. 62% of the audience seemingly purchased their tickets in advance or even on the day still makes for a strong opening overall for the film. Audiences seem to give it a 3 1/2 star overall and while it has similar lows like Eternals, this entry has a bit more going for it that could entice audiences long-term.

Kang’s arrival was the main selling point and that could definitely be something that’ll keep audiences interested to check it out in case they missed anything. Creed 3 is also around the corner starring Jonathan Majors, which may boost the film for those wanting to compare his performances. IMAX made up 43% and is showcasing that the format may become a great way to build more revenue for cinemas. The big test remains on how the film will perform overall at the box office, as it’s unclear if it’ll manage to pull $700M+ with its current rating.

A $600M run does seem very possible but just how high it goes depends on the drop in the next weekend. The Box office is looking at a lot of competition in the coming weeks but that actually makes for a good thing, as the last few years have been dead at the theaters. So, the more releases there are, the more momentum theater chains get in visitors. Some might come back to check out the Ant-Man threequel and it seems he movie performed very well with families. Perhaps that kind of demographic could make all the difference and push the film towards a 2.3 or even 2.4 multiplier.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline

February 18, 2023
‘Ant-Man 3’ Joins ‘Eternals’ With Lowest MCU CinemaScore

There’s been quite a discourse online about the quality of the recent Marvel movies. The critical reception of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has reawakened discussion points that have been around since all the way back in Phase 2, as the franchise continues to exist in a cycle of quality discussions. Still, even with a mixed critical reception with 48% on Rotten Tomatoes, the Audience Score is quite a bit more positive with 84% of audiences seemingly enjoying the film.

Still, the CinemaScore is a classic way to see where the film’s overall word-of-mouth might land and it seems that audiences are also mostly mixed with the very frontloaded scoring. The film has now been the second Marvel Cinematic Universe film to receive a B CinemaScore. Audiences are seemingly a bit mixed on the film but it’s interesting that the second high sci-fi attempt by Marvel Studios ends up with a similar rating.

https://twitter.com/CinemaScore/status/1626871462463262720

One thing often overlooked is that the CinemaScore does not mean people hate the film, they just simply thought it was okay; a general sentiment you see online. There’s also always a chance that certain elements in the film just don’t jive with audiences. Horror films generally don’t do better than a B or B+ due to the elements included in the film that define the genre. Not every blockbuster film pulls in an A ranking like the recent Plane also landed at a B+.

It’s just unusual for Marvel to have this many B ratings throughout the last two years but also not a complete defining trait of the franchise. They’ve been more experimental and that is reflected by these films not always being “crowd pleasers across the board.” The big thing here is if the film will have legs moving forward though even 2022’s B+ films did manage to pull in quite a box office over its run. We’ll have to see though if this B scoring will slowly come to an end as Marvel Studios reshuffles.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, Twitter

February 18, 2023
All Roads LED Here: Marvel’s Future with Stagecraft May End

If there ever was a piece of technology that went from being “the future” to having the Internet complain about it ruining experiences, it would be Stagecraft. The technology is quite simple, as it makes use of LED screens and pre-rendered elements to give actors something to act from. The Mandalorian popularized it and it became a useful tool during COVID and put Industrial Light & Magic on the map for many productions.

Cinematographer Greig Fraser has been a strong proponent against the use of greenscreen (but still uses them heavily for some of his biggest projects under new names like “Sand Screens” in Dune) and was one of the first to push the technology forward. He went on to make good use of the Stagecraft in The Batman after pioneering it for The Mandalorian. Still, even that great film couldn’t avoid some people feeling it was a little flat in its design give or take.

As its use went on, that complaint started to pick up more and more speed. It got to a point where the main criticism was that this technology creates a lifeless experience and truly only creates something that is “too polished.” Not really great for every project already filming at the time as its criticism took centerstage. Marvel went all in with projects potentially making good use of it, Thor: Love and Thunder, the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and the just-released Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Marvel is already constantly under a magnifying glass for its use of a green screen and CG over the years. Especially once the pandemic hit, it felt like a free-for-all on what problems one can find and focus primarily on the few times it just wasn’t 100% right. So, the use of a technology that is already at a stage of heavy criticism during a time when filmmaking was at its most difficult was going to face some new challenges.

Thor: Love and Thunder was the first to release that technology and the criticism of flat backgrounds has returned. Many discussions online were questioning what was the cause: bad lighting or just generally if the technology is too early for the big screen given how limited it is in scope. Its use, however, was highly praised by those working on the projects in how they combined real set pieces with the technology giving them more flexibility.

It’s a strange fight, as there’s an expectation that “shot on set is always better,” which is definitely the case given its tangibility, but also downplays the value of this technology and its use. We want to move away from greenscreen but also push away any alternatives, especially for projects like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania that explore a completely foreign world. Director Peyton Reed has experience working with the tech and likely was excited to return to its use.

The film also received similar criticism due to the technology and the usual CG comments that have dominated Marvel discourse for quite some time now. It starts blending together where it’s difficult to truly tell if it’s Stagecraft or the CG that makes it difficult as a topic overall. Though some have also praised the CG and Quantumania‘s very mixed reception creates a difficult point of discourse. Yahoo’s review of the film just called it “almost wholly on green screens” which just completely sidelines the tech while, for example, CNet‘s just generally praises the world created.

CG is a sour topic and Marvel became quite the focus given its size and popularity. Post-Endgame, there’s also a big “it’s not like it used to be” mentality that has just been pushed forward by the pandemic’s restrictions on the industry. A film like Quantumania also will rely more on CG given that it takes place fully in a non-realistic world and given its design choices, it wanted to be as wacky as possible; something praised and loathed from one review to the next.

We know that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was initially announced to use the technology; another franchise that makes a lot of use of greenscreens and sets given its space-focused storyline. Yet, James Gunn seemingly decided against its use due to it not being able to bring his vision to life for the final film in his trilogy. So, he would’ve used it if it were fitting for what he was trying to accomplish.

By all accounts, that would seemingly be the end of its use with this week’s release of Quantumania. Yet, there is one more hint that exists for use on The Marvels. Sadly, it’s just a very unreliable source in the form of IMDb. The upcoming Captain Marvel sequel includes credits for Stagecraft artists Robb Gardner, supervisor Christopher Django Johnston, and more. The only thing is, there’s no real official announcement about the use of the technology.

So far, we haven’t had any official announcements for future projects and it almost seems like they won’t be focusing their use on the technology moving forward. Select projects like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever did not make use of the tech. So, they aren’t forcing it into every project and there’s definitely a surprising silence on its future use after heavy promotion for Quantumania.

At this rate, it does seem like they aren’t going to rely too heavily on it anymore. It should also be noted that all productions released this year used the technology in 2021 while COVID was still at a high point. Thor: Love and Thunder was produced in 2020 when it was even unpredictable, which makes the expectation of its necessity higher. Yet, we’re about to enter a very different era for Marvel Studios’ productions.

It should be noted that non of the 2024 releases have even started filming just yet. In a way, we’re returning to some normalcy and their usual production schedule from before the pandemic moving forward. There hasn’t been a single production in 2022, which is curious and perhaps a showcase of rearranging pieces around the board. Quantumania was originally the ending of Phase 4 and the reception seems to hgihlight that.

Stagecraft might still get used but we shouldn’t expect any major promotions of its use for future titles. It probably will only be a sparing addition to production if there ever is truly a necessity given whatever the production is working on. Perhaps this year will signal the final “COVID era productions” from Marvel Studios with a potential new future going into the next year. Phase 5 may have not kicked off how some wanted, but it doesn’t mean Marvel is truly over, it may just be getting started once again.

Source: YouTube, GameRant, IndieWire, DisInsider, Movieweb, IndieWire, Total Film, IMDb, ILM

February 17, 2023
Peyton Reed Addresses the Absence of a Fan Favorite Character in ‘Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania’

Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania broadens the horizons of the Ant-Man franchise and continues to expand on the Multiverse, now featuring the time-travelling Kang the Conqueror. The movie received mixed reactions from reviewers after the review embargo ended on Tuesday, widely criticising the screenplay but praising Jonathan Majors‘ performance as Kang. It currently stands at a critics score of 51% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The movie left out some prominent fan-favorite secondary characters, such as Michael Peña’s Luis, Dave, and David Dastmalchian’s Kurt Goreshter. Although Dastmalchain managed to return to the movie’s cast as Veb, as well as composing a song for the movie’s soundtrack titled “Holes”, Luis was a no-show.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Quantumania director Peyton Reed was asked if earlier versions of the movie during the development process ever featured Michael Peña’s Luis.

Peyton responded to it by saying that “no versions of [the] movie” ever featured Luis. He went on to explain that fitting the Lang, Pym, and Van Dyne families, Kang, MODOK, Krylar, the freedom fighters, and including Luis and co. wouldn’t give them enough space to breathe and grow.

There were no versions of this movie [with Luis]. There are a lot of characters in the movie. We obviously have our Lang, van Dyne and Pym family, but then we also introduced Kang, MODOK and all of our Freedom Fighter characters. So we had to make decisions early on about what stories we could tell and what stories we couldn’t tell.
Peyton Reed

He admitted that Luis, Kurt, and Dave were “really, really, fun” in the previous Ant-Man installments, but because the movie sends the Ant-Fam to the Quantum Realm pretty early on, it “didn’t make sense” to include Luis and the gang in the movie.

I love those characters. They were really, really fun and part of the Lang family, but as we got further and further into [development] and knew we wanted to bring the family into the Quantum Realm pretty early in the movie, it just didn’t make sense [to include Luis and co.].
Peyton Reed

Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania releases exclusively in theaters on February 17, 2023. Read our review of the film here.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

February 16, 2023
‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Set for Trilogy’s Best Opening Weekend

2023 is definitely looking to be a much stronger year at the box office with quite a few releases going all the way to September. It’s getting kicked off by Marvel Studios’ latest, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania which is already eyeing a franchise-best opening weekend. It’s currently set to track $120M over a four-day period to use the Presidents Day holiday. The minimum expectation is $95M over three days with a conservative $105M to $110M by the end of the weekend.

While some may complain it won’t rival the recent releases, it’s a franchise-best as it’s 25% higher than Ant-Man and the Wasp‘s $75.8M opening in 2018. It’s also eyeing a $160M global start, which may include a long-awaited Chinese release between $35M to $55M. That would put it at a global launch at around $280M, but there is definitely potential. As it now opened to rather mixed to positive reviews with 63% on Rotten Tomatoes going by 70 reviews, it’s uncertain if that may impede its success a bit.

Though, many are looking forward to seeing who the “next Thanos” is going to be in Jonathan Majors‘s long-awaited arrival as Kang the Conqueror. There’s a chance the film may still score a positive A- CinemaScore and even the last B entries weren’t affected too negatively. Eternals was more of an indie film that may not work for everyone (especially with its long runtime and slow pacing), Thor: Love and Thunder took a very comedic direction even for Marvel’s standard and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness dipped its toe enough in the horror genre that may have general audiences a bit squeamish (going by general horror reception).

The film is currently tracking 15% behind Thor: Love and Thunder opened to $144.1M over three days last year and still went on to make $760M on a B+ CinemaScore. It might seem like a $700M run is possible for the film but that also depends on how frontloaded it is; which is not uncommon for any of these types of films. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever also managed an impressive $828M global run, so even as Marvel Studios remains quite experimental, they aren’t slowing down at the box office quite yet. Only time will tell as we enter Phase 5 and its comparably bigger projects.

Source: Deadline

February 14, 2023
‘Quantumania’ Writer Teases MODOK May Get Him Fired From ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’

MODOK has been Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘s worst secret, as early on we got quite a few teases and rumors that hinted at his involvement. It went even as far as to hint at who exactly is playing the character long before we got our first look at any footage from the Marvel sci-fi epic.

In an interview with SFX Magazine, writer Jeff Loveness revealed that his work on MODOK may be his favorite of the entire film. That is saying a lot considering we’ll have the first real look at Jonathan Majors as the iconic Kang the Conqueror, the main antagonist of the entire Multiverse Saga moving forward. He also teases a “little bit of extra” that they added to the character that’ll be interesting.

There is a little bit of extra we put into him. Maybe I’ll get fired off [Avengers: The Kang Dynasty] when people see it, but some of my favorite moments come from M.O.D.O.K. and the dynamics there.
Jeff Loveness

That sounds quite promising and MODOK has always been a fantastic ploy. The Hulu animated series showcased just how out-there the character can be and we’re about to see how he works in live-action. It’ll be funny though to see what exactly he added that makes Loveness think he’ll get fired off of his next film, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.

Source: SFX Magazine via Comic Book Resources

January 28, 2023
Early ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Box Office Projections Eyeing Trilogy’s Best

It’s become more and more difficult to truly project just how much money a film will make at the box office. Most of the 2020 holdovers were the only ones to beat early projects going into last year with Top Gun: Maverick and Minions: Rise of Gru. Still, Marvel films remained reliable box office performers even as they hit a sophomore slump, not too surprising with a franchise event like Avengers: Endgame that would normally wrap up any other franchise.

Still, there are some early projects coming in on how their first Phase 5 entry may perform at the box office. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is only a few more weeks away for hitting theaters and early projects seem to have the film potentially earning between $96M to $131M in its opening weekend. with their usual performance of a strong drop in its second weekend, there’s a chance the film could end between $249M to $347M in its domestic run.

With good word-of-mouth, the film may become the first $100M+ opener for the year and that’s in a strong February market. The film has the advantage of no real competition until Shazam: Fury of the Gods in March though Creed 3 has the potential to take the top spot in the domestic market. There’s also the Dungeons & Dragons film hitting theaters in late March.

It should be noted for those ready to call this a potential bust for Marvel Studios, the film would still have the biggest domestic gross for any part of the Ant-Man franchise if it hits the lower end of the projections. Ant-Man managed to pull in $180M while its sequel had a slight boost to $216M. Plus, the last entry was five years ago and the main antagonist of the current Multiverse Saga might make it a “don’t miss” for fans that will check out the film early on.

Also, its opening may double the initial opening weekend at the domestic box office, which was around $57M. It’s sequel opened to $75M, which makes this the potential biggest opener for the franchise. It’ll also have the biggest budget for an Ant-Man entry, which means the expectations are higher. The February release also opens up some questions on how it’ll perform but Marvel could still prove to be a reliable performer at the box office going into its fifth phase.

Source: Box Office Pro

January 22, 2023
‘Quantumania’ Producer Teases an “Epic Sci-Fi War” in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ Sequel

Ant-Man is about to wrap up its trilogy in style with the arrival of Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The film will seemingly move away from the more light-hearted direction the franchise took to include some of its darkest moments, especially going by its trailers.

IIn a new press release for the film, Stephen Broussard, who is the Marvel Studios Vice-President of Production and Development, teased that the film is going to be an “epic sci-fi war movie,” further showcasing that this isn’t going to be your usual Ant-Man adventure. Though, he still calls it “a family adventure first and foremost” but all that changes once they enter the Quantum Realm.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ is many things. It’s a family adventure first and foremost. It’s the story of a family of Super Heroes basically being pulled into an adventure within the Quantum Realm, and within that, 3 it becomes an epic sci-fi war movie and a coming-of-age story. It’s a lot of different things wrapped into one film.
Stephen Broussard

It’s definitely an exciting prospect to not only see the franchise jump fully into the science-fiction aspects we were teased throughout the Infinity Saga. The Quantum Realm was an important milestone for the Avengers to find a way to reverse what Thanos has done to the world. Now, it seems whatever they did will catch up with the Ant-family.

Source: The Direct

January 12, 2023
Five Things ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania Needs to Get Right

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is set for its next major shift in the status quo. Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania will seemingly be the ultimate resolution for the Ant-Family trilogy, while also marking a starting point for Phase Five and various new plot threads. The film is set to introduce the next Avengers big-bad in Kang the Conqueror as portrayed by Jonathan Majors. As seen through the marketing and the latest trailer, Marvel Studios is making it clear that the Ant-Man franchise is moving away from the strictly light-hearted tone of the first two installments. Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania has lofty expectations for being a turning point in the Multiverse Saga. With that in mind, here are five elements Marvel Studios’ next film needs to get right in order to be a success.

Connections to Phase Four

With the conclusion of Phase Four, one major complaint from fans online was the lack of a “connective tissue” between projects. Some have drawn the conclusion that Marvel Studios has no “plan” for the Multiverse Saga; even after they showcased their future plans. This is a ridiculous conclusion to draw with Phase Four mirroring the early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with projects being building blocks to introduce characters and concepts that will pay off by the time films like Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars hit theaters.

When it comes to Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, the film has a golden opportunity to prove the nay-sayers wrong. As the first project of Phase 5, Marvel Studios can quickly change the narrative into that of full anticipation for how each project connects to the conclusion of this saga. This was a key element that made the Infinity Saga such a triumph in the 2010s. If Quantumania can be the film to kickstart that positive momentum for the general direction of the MCU, then it will be that much more strongly received historically speaking.

And based on eagle-eyed viewers of the trailers, this seems to be the case in tying Chronopolis to important artifacts from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Ms. Marvel. Here’s hoping that these connections will be overt plot points in the new Ant-Man and The Wasp film.

Lead Into ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’

While having an eye toward the past is critical to the success of Quantumania, focusing on the future is equally important. The upcoming film is the first introduction to Jonathan Majors‘ Kang the Conqueror; not counting the wildly different variant shown in the Loki season one finale. As such, this film enters the road to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty for him to become the main antagonist of the MCU.

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania absolutely needs to get the character right in order for the film to be a worthwhile trilogy ending and for the Multiverse Saga to be worth watching. Audiences should be leaving the film in February with a clear understanding of why Kang is dangerous to whatever permutation of the Avengers he faces in 2026.

And Quantumania being a direct path to The Kang Dynasty goes beyond just the titular character. The film’s exploration of the Quantum Realm would very well benefit from also being an exploration of key plot elements useful for the remainder of the Multiverse Saga. The Ant-Family should be host to pertinent information for the next Avengers film beyond just Kang himself. This certainly is something hard to quantify in the immediate future but would help the long-term perception of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania like previous films in the Infinity Saga.

Set Up William Jackson Harper for More MCU Appearances

This is the most specific element of this list, but one that shouldn’t be overlooked. William Jackson Harper is one of the most underrated actors working in Hollywood today. He was a frequent name on fan castings for Fantastic Four, and his character on The Good Place highlighted how excellent Harper would’ve been as Reed Richards in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

With the recent news of the actor being cast in a supporting role for Quantumania, some quickly jumped to the conclusion of Harper being introduced as the new Mister Fantastic through the Quantum Realm. However, this is clearly not the case with casting still well underway for Marvel Studios’ 2025 reboot.

With that in mind, one would hope that Harper will still have a meaningful role both in Quantumania and become a recurring face in the MCU. Rumors have circulated that he could be playing a variety of characters which included Psycho-Man, Quasar, or just a citizen of the Quantum Realm. Ultimately, what’s most important is that he holds genuine relevance to the film. Having an actor as talented as Harper in a supporting role is a massive boon for Marvel Studios, and placing him in a decently important role can easily create a new memorable face for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Setting the Stage for ‘Young Avengers’

While Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has done a good job setting up the next two phases, one major component that currently feels underdeveloped is the Young Avengers team. A number of key players have been introduced through the previous two years, but a Young Avengers project has curiously remained absent in the tease of the future.

It would be a massive missed opportunity to not make use given their relevance in Kang’s storyline, and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is the perfect place to set the stage for that to happen. Kathryn Newton’s Cassie Lang could instantly become a fan-favorite character by having the events of Quantumania motivate her to form a team of fellow young heroes to help curb the multiversal calamity awaiting. This wouldn’t need to be a time-consuming element of the film to be successful. In fact, a stinger (pun intended) towards the end would be able to satiate audiences and cement a positive reception for the film.

A Strong Conclusion to Ant-Man’s Arc

While most of the elements presented for Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania are esoteric to the larger MCU, arguably the most important element for the film is successfully rounding out its self-contained trilogy. While the first two films in the franchise aren’t among the most popular, the Ant-Man movies have told a strong unifying story about family and striving to be the best version of one’s self.

Paul Rudd has provided a strong performance to grow Scott Lang into a true hero for both the world at large and his daughter Cassie. Quantumania provides the opportunity to conclude this storyline in a grandiose fashion, regardless of who does or doesn’t return following the events of the film. His time as an Avenger has forced him to lose key amounts of time with his daughter and has been challenged in being present for key parts of her life.

Now while faced with his greatest individual opponent and having to do so side-by-side with his daughter, Peyton Reed has a critical opportunity to tell a profound story about legacy and what a parent passes onto their child. If done correctly, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania can become the next classic interpersonal tale in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, despite the massive stakes attached to the future of the Multiverse Saga.

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania has been written by Jeff Loveness and is directed by Peyton Reed. The film stars Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lily, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfieffer, Kathryn Newton, and Jonathan Majors. Quantumania opens exclusively in theaters on February 17.

January 9, 2023