In February 2023 Marvel Studios entered phase 5 and the 15th calendar year of the MCU with the debut of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. But, the elephant in the room must be addressed as it also put every card on the table with its next saga-long villain Kang the Conqueror. He is played by Johnathan Majors, who has recently been found guilty of one count of misdemeanor third-degree assault and one count of second-degree harassment forcing his firing by Marvel Studios. With that being said, this film’s best moments were Major’s portrayal of Kang and the setup of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Unfortunately, the setups in this film might now have become meaningless unless another actor takes over the role. But due to this film’s poor reception at the box office, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Marvel took this as an opportunity to abandon ship and go ahead with another story altogether ruining the impact of this film in the overarching saga. With that being said this review will discuss Major’s portrayal in a non-biased way because it’s not fair to critique the film on this trial. I will also act as if Kang will be recast and the Kang Dynasty will live on allowing the film to truly mark a defining chapter of the current MCU saga. It’s also important to point out that Major’s actions are a serious topic and equally importantly do not reflect an entire team of hardworking individuals who brought this movie to life. With that out of the way, let’s get into the review properly.

Premiering in Westwood, Lost Angeles, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is an exciting new chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe setting up the long-awaited fifth Avengers film and finally showing more of what He Who Remains teased in the Loki season 1 finale. Fans and reviewers alike however called the film a disappointment due to a lack of Ant-Man elements from past films, the exclusion of several beloved characters, questionable CGI at its very best moments, and a lack of the Wasp… a character in the film’s title. It is hard to call the film a disappointment the second Kang the Conqueror comes onto the screen as a striking juxtaposition to Scott Lang’s loveable and charming humor once again brought in full force by Paul Rudd. The acting is top notch and the villain is the best since Thanos. Mix this with all the Avengers build-up and it should become a fun Marvel entry that does its best when being small. But that is the problem, it’s not small, it’s an Avengers-level film, one that was advertised like crazy and not given the time to cook in the oven properly. Quantumania is held back by becoming too big for its own good and straying from what an Ant-Man film should be. 

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania features a talented cast. From the loveable leads that are Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lily to the menacing Kang the Conqueror portrayed by Johnathan Majors. This is a lineup of believable people who bring heart and emotion to the plot keeping you in the story and the world of Quantumania. This list also includes an intriguing mysterious side of one terrified Michelle Pfifer as Janet Vann Dyne who was previously locked in the Quantum Realm for 30 years and created the villain of the Conqueror. The chemistry between Janet and Kang is near perfect and is the focal point of Kang’s motivations setting a tone of intrigue throughout the first two acts as we don’t discover their relationship until Act 3. When the reveal occurs it pays off, we see Janet and Kang in similar situations allowing them to open up when at rock bottom. Kang clearly feels for Janet and promises to return her home. He is caring, kind, and seems to be misunderstood. His calm collectiveness drives Janet to rebuild his ship allowing them to leave apparent exile. But as they go to take off she discovers his horrifying past. He explains his past and his intentions to both her and the other characters throughout the film allowing the viewer to see he has no bad intentions. He just wants to get rid of the chaos his variants caused and stop the wars of genocide by himself. But what he fails to realize is he himself is committing genocide by eradicating all other timelines and universes to fix things. It’s hard to stand behind him due to this but he comes from a good place forcing feelings towards the villain similar to Thanos back in Avengers: Infinity War. He is especially menacing next to Scott Lang who is charismatic and loveable more than ever in this film. His relationship with his daughter is believable and they both are willing to do anything to save the day with their bright views of the world to fight for hope in a world where it is all lost. The big drawback in the acting department thought is Hope Vann Dyne as she is simply underused. Her screen time as the Wasp is little and she receives absolutely no new character development which would only be acceptable if the film didn’t include Wasp in its title. But that’s all that can be said about that one. 

The big fault of the film is that it forgets what it is meant to be. Not only is the wasp lazily integrated, but it has many absences from past films. The most notable one is Luis, who is Scott’s best friend and business partner. His absence removes an element of lighthearted tones that are sorely missing from this Ant-Man sequel. He was the comedic relief that was realistic. A relief replaced by hole jokes by cartoony gelatin in Quantumania. It’s also missing the elements of using ants as a power until Act 3. Although it was nice to see, it was too little too late as we are supposed to believe they evolved millions of years in the same time since Scott and his family entered the realm. Time might work differently but it just comes across as a cheap cop-out. Finally, for a film about Scott and his daughter, it seems very odd to not include Cassie’s mom at all even if it was limited to a silent cameo in the film’s closing moments during the birthday party. The saddest reality was to learn all this was cut in favor of building an entirely new world and Thanos-level villain. If this was done well, it may of worked. But, only Kang was done justice. The new world felt tonally correct as they were forced into repression after Janet stranded the conquerer, but the characters within it felt irrelevant and were only included to make jokes about living buildings and drinking the ooze. This then took any sense of feeling for the world away causing it to feel like a backdrop for the heroes to shine, and if this was the case why couldn’t we of had our proper Ant-Man moments and stakes back. A heist would have been cool to include as every film previously made time for at least one. Scott was a criminal for crying out loud. Replacing a fight with a heist also may have allowed more CGI budget to go into other areas of the film that desperately needed it. Personally, the environments were believable enough to pass, though a ton of flack was given to these areas. The only CGI that was appalling to the point of being funny was M.O.D.O.K., aka Darren Cross as a big robotic baby. Sure it’s from the comics, but maybe if it can’t be done justice we just simply shouldn’t adapt it. Darren’s appearances never fail to take a viewer out of the film… which is not a good thing as it causes people to laugh at the film, not with it. He also is nowhere near important enough to justify keeping as his development since the original film is nonexistent and his on-screen development is shallow. He dies saying he’s an Avenger too, maybe it was funny to the studio. But it wasn’t funny to the fans. 

All in all, Quantumania spent its budget in the wrong areas. Both its creative budget and its literal budget. It’s not the worst film in the world, but it’s nothing special and is certainly not an Ant-Man film. It tries to do more than it can because of this and stretches itself thin to the point where the project becomes amusing and uncanny to watch. The only redeeming aspects are Kang’s setups and the top-tier believable acting that drives the characters and the viewers to keep moving through the film. Its top-notch aspects sadly cannot outweigh its countless negatives forcing it into mediocrity territory. It’s also worth stating that its post-credits further prove mediocrity as they outshine the film itself. The first scene reveals the Kang Dynasty ahead of the next Avengers film titled after them. The latter was our first look at Loki season 2 and its inclusion of yet another Kang variant Victor Timely. For one final nitpick at the film, Ant-Man should’ve also lost. It’s crazy that a Thanos-level villain lost to ants and the street-level of Scott Lang before he has a chance to ultimately slaughter the Avengers in the next Infinity War moment. The more thought put into the film makes it worse to think about and shows it was truly a genuine flop like other fans and reviewers have long discussed since its initial release. As for a recommendation, I would have to advise against it. Unless you plan on being caught up before Avengers: The Kang Dynasty I would skip it for now as that is still years away. Also, with the firing of Majors, it looks like there is a possibility this will all become abandoned and irrelevant anyway when it comes to the overarching multiverse saga. For those who want to watch, it can be found streaming on Disney+, but to those who want an alternative, I highly recommend watching both seasons of Loki on Disney+ to get your Kang dynasty fulfillment.