While family is still the heart and soul of Peyton Reed's third Ant-Man film, Quantumania breaks from tradition and delivers a decidedly Star Wars-infused story, complete with alien-filled cantinas, sand speeders, and the sort of “rise against our oppressor” messaging that is often lost within the Marvel Cinematic ...
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania by itself was a decent, average movie that had its moments while also having their cringy moments also. But for the beginning/start-up of Phase 5, not going to lie: it sets up Phase 5 very well.
With Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Marvel Studios decided to raise the stakes for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe just as Phase 5 began. The movie introduces Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton) to the superhero life, the main attraction of Quantumania is undoubtedly Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors).
“In the end, with its clumsy collision of influences, star power, CGI that is often rubbery or outright ugly, and a convoluted plot that should have an Excedrin tie-in, 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' is like a child's mixed media project, made of paper mache, glitter, and hunks of rotting ground meat,” she said.
Commercially, Quantumania was just as disappointing. While the latest Ant-Man title earned $476 million at the global box office, the film became the first non-pandemic MCU movie to lose money, falling well short of the $600 million it needed to break even.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania - Cosmonaut Quickie
Why did Ant-Man 3 fail?
Not only did the third installment in the Ant-Man franchise reject the same light tone of its predecessors, but the narrative was jumbled, its CGI was some of Marvel's dodgiest in years, and it somehow managed to waste one of the studio's most charming talents, Paul Rudd.
Ant-Man 3 earned $476 million on a reported $200 million budget, but beyond the financial information, it broke some of the trust of diehard MCU fans. The villain being set up as the lead antagonist of the Multiverse Saga, Kang the Conqueror, was defeated... by ants.
It's not a twist that Kang the Conqueror is the villain of Quantumania. He was named as such when the film was first announced, and he's been all over the marketing and pre-release narrative regarding his overall importance to the MCU's ongoing Multiverse Saga.
However, the rest of the movie is fairly woke-free, and even paints Scott as a heroic and selfless dad who would sacrifice himself for his child without a second thought.
Speaking to THR, Reed shared that the reason Luis wasn't in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was simply because the team knew they were going to go into the Quantum Realm early and feature a lot of new characters there. "There were no versions of this movie [with Luis]," Reed said.
Kang is his own worst enemy, constantly trying to prevent the future or undo the past. By doing so, he inadvertently creates variants of himself who sometimes hinder his world-conquering goals.
Marvel Studios' Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has two end-credits scenes, both of which have major implications for Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Even Loki Season 1 danced around actually naming Kang, with the eccentric He Who Remains instead alluding to the character by calling himself a "conqueror." This is why none of the characters have spoken the name "Kang," as they are only acquainted with "He Who Remains," and his variants.
Kang isn't physically stronger than Thanos, and if the two were to square up in a one-vs-one fight then the Titan would arguably win. However, Kang's knowledge of the multiverse means that would quite literally be several steps ahead of Thanos at all times. As a result, Kang wins this battle.
At this rate, “Ant-Man 3” may become one of the rare Marvel movies to either fall short of (or barely surpass) the $500 million mark at the global box office. At this point, it's earned just $470 million globally after six weeks of release.
Reportedly, 'Captain Marvel 3' and 'Ant-Man 4' Are No Longer Being Considered for Development - IMDb. In 2023, three MCU movies hit theaters: 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,' 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,' and 'The Marvels.
A report exploring the behind-the-scenes drama behind Victoria Alonso's untimely exit from Marvel Studios has revealed that Disney chose to remove gay imagery from Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania ahead of its theatrical debut to avoid a ban.
It's fast moving, full of strange worlds and creatures, and a lot of stylised violence. The movie conjures up images from Star Wars as it's superheroes Ant-Man and Wasp save the planet(s) from an evil Kang the Conqueror. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is aimed at older kids and teens.
Ant-Man has already shown the ability to sabotage technologically-advanced suits like he did with Falcon and Iron Man in previous movies. This could be a key advantage in defeating Kang. However, disabling Kang's suit may not be easy as he is a more dangerous opponent than Falcon and Iron Man.
ILLUSTRATION: Kang the Conqueror is a villain in "Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania". Throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe, villains make or break their movies; Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin, Michael B.
Summary. He Who Remains and Kang the Conqueror are different variants of the same person, and Loki Season 2 revealed how they were connected. Victor Timely was another Kang variant, but fans speculated they all may be the same people at different points in their individual timelines.
It was a box-office disappointment, falling short of its reported break-even point of $600 million, against a gross production budget of $326.6 million. This budget was initially reported to be around $200 million.
With the poor reviews, unserious tone, and superhero fatigue present in Hollywood of late, fans could have decided to wait until the film is released digitally rather than flock to the theater. This would have largely impacted the film's box office run.
The film grossed $760.9 million worldwide, making it the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2022, as well as the second highest-grossing film in the Thor franchise.
