The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s tiniest trilogy reaches its epic conclusion! That’s right, true believers: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is in cinemas now.
It looks like the gang’s all here, with Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Hope van Dyne/Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), Dr. Henry Pym/the O.G. Ant-Man (Michael Douglas), and Janet Van Dyne/the O.G. Wasp (Michelle Pfeiffer) all back in action, along with recurring players David Dastmalchian, Corey Stoll, and Randall Park. Also new to the franchise—but playing a previously seen character—is Freaky’s Kathryn Newton, who’s playing Scott’s daughter Cassie, all grown up and ready to join in on some superhero action.
And in the red corner we have rising star Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror, the MCU’s next big bad. This is Kang’s first big screen appearance; he sort of appeared in the Disney+ series Loki as He Who Remains, but this iteration is not the same. Kang is… complicated (hit that link, I’m begging you). He’s a time-travelling, cross-dimensional would-be despot who essentially wants to bring all possible realities to heel under his rule, which is a big step up for Ant-Man after battling Yellowjacket and Ghost in the two previous films. Hope the little guy can handle it.
Here Kang is a warlord in the Quantum Realm, the subatomic universe we were introduced to in Ant-Man. When the Lang Gang are catapulted into the Realm en masse, they join the fight against his evil rule, because that’s what superheroes do.
Peyton read is back in the directing chair, and it’s worth noting that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the 31st film in the MCU, is the first in Phase Five, so it’s responsible for setting up the future of the franchise after what I think we can all agree was a fairly lacklustre Phase Four. That’s a heavy load to bear, but ants can lift up to 40 times their own body weight, so it’ll probably be fine.
