ant-man and the wasp: quantumania

Marvel fatigue is a real affliction - if you experience symptoms, you should consult a physician. Quantumania is the third Ant-Man movie, the 31st entry in the MCU (in addition to eight shows and counting on Disney Plus), and the inaugural installment of “Phase Five” - the middle phase of the so-called “Multiverse Saga.” Frankly, it’s exhausting just writing that. Up to this point, the Ant-Man films have largely mirrored the easy charm of their star, Paul Rudd, positioning themselves as inventive, cotton candy-textured trifles above all else. The original was essentially a comedic comic book heist adventure, while follow-up Ant-Man and the Wasp served as a breezy palate cleanser between Infinity War and Endgame (so breezy, in fact, it’s hard to even remember what happened).

Quantumania, on the other hand, feeds its characters directly into the insatiable jaws of the MCU machinery. We find Scott Lang (Rudd) content in superhero retirement post-Endgame, much to the frustration of his teenage daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton), who’s big on social justice causes (the sort of flimsy character conflict frequently found in a franchise sequel that’s more focused on crowd-pleasing logistics). Along with Hope (Evangeline Lilly) and Hank (Michael Douglas), Cassie’s also been working in secret on a device that can be used to map the Quantum Realm… but no sooner does Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) frantically implore her to turn it off than the signal opens up a portal and the the five of them are sucked in, revealing an actual civilization tucked between the abstract layers of space and time. 

The first third of the movie has a trippy, surrealist appeal - like a 70s comic book crossed with a vintage episode of Doctor Who - even as the world building proves scattershot (much of the film feels like it was assembled out of spare parts from Guardians of the Galaxy and Waititi-era Thor). And then Kang (Jonathan Majors) shows up. Known as the Conqueror, he’s a genocidal tyrant who was exiled to the Quantum Realm and saw his attempt to escape thwarted by Janet before she returned to Earth. As the overarching villain of the Multiverse Saga, Majors has volcanic star power… but it’s odd seeing his natural gravitas pitted against Paul Rudd, of all actors (there’s only so much he can do with dialogue like “I am Kang! And you talk to ants!”). The first two Ant-Man films hinged on the giddy visual ingenuity of Scott’s powers and their real-world applications, but in the Quantum Realm, Scott and Hope are just swallowed up in the general CGI cacophony (for a film called Ant-Man and the Wasp, their actual relationship barely even plays a role). MODOK, meanwhile, (introduced as Kang's primary minion) was always going to be a risky transition from comic book panel to live action, but this attempt is a ghastly misfire - stick with Patton Oswalt’s animated series on Hulu.​

The five leads have a lot of appeal (Rudd and Newton’s father/daughter chemistry is sweetly genuine)… but in a strange way, the Quantum Realm is a less engaging canvas for their familial dynamics than their day-to-day lives in San Francisco (Hank using Pym Particles to turn a small pizza into a large in order to “save eight bucks” is one of the best gags in the movie). If there’s a non-Marvel-related takeaway, it’s this - why oh why oh why isn’t Michelle Pfeiffer doing more these days? The former A-list starlet is as physically striking as ever, and her considerable talent remains undiminished. Better opportunities must be out there. Quantumania keeps the MCU marching forward like the 31st tick of a metronome, but its rudimentary spectacle and the vagaries of its overall purpose (where exactly does this film leave Ant-Man in the larger scheme of things? Beats me) reflect the growing malaise towards the Marvel empire. If you find your attention wandering or your eyes occasionally glazing over, be advised - fatigue might be setting in. Rewatch Top Gun: Maverick and get a good night’s sleep.