Marvel’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” kicks off Phase 5 with small heroes, a big multiverse and an intriguing new super villain.

In November 2022, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) concluded their Phase 4 cluster of films in a big way with their straight-to-the-heart blockbuster “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” The MCU officially jumped into their Phase 5 set of “The Multiverse Saga” films on February 17 the release of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania."

Marvel Studios' Ant-Man suit from “Ant-Man and the Wasp” on display at Disney's D23 Convention in Anaheim, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022. (Josh Hogan | The Corsair)

“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" is a sequel to “Ant-Man” released in 2015 and “Ant-Man and the Wasp” released in 2018. The “Quantumania” storyline takes place after the events of “Avengers: Endgame.” Superhero partners Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), alongside Lang’s daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) and Van Dyne’s parents Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), are transported to the quantum realm and face a new threat — the super-villain Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors).

Rotten Tomatoes critics gave the film a “Rotten” score of 48 percent, but Rotten Tomatoes audiences gave it a “Fresh” score of 82 percent, creating the biggest split between critic and audience ratings of any MCU film. Despite critics’ ongoing unfavorable reviews, audiences continue to favor the film, which maintained high ranking on box office charts through its fourth week. It held the fourth place slot for the March 10 to 12 weekend domestic box office earnings, next in line to three newly released films.

At the 2022 Anaheim D23 Expo, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige stated that many of the MCU Phase 4 and Phase 5 film storylines and post-credit scenes connect and lead toward the conclusion of the “The Multiverse Saga.” Feige described “Quantumania" as "a direct line" into this current Phase 5 series and into upcoming Phase Six films “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” in 2025, and “Avengers: Secret Wars” in 2026.

Although “Quantumania'' introduced Kang as a new villain in MCU feature films, Majors’ character is a familiar face to Disney+ audiences. He appeared in the “Loki” series as the character named “He Who Remains,” an alternate version of the Conqueror. Majors will return as Kang in “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.”

Marvel Studios' Wasp suit from “Ant-Man and the Wasp” on display at Disney's D23 Convention in Anaheim, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022. (Josh Hogan | The Corsair)

“In the early days of ‘Quantumania’ test audiences, Jonathan started to pop in a big way,” Feige said. “He's the highest-testing villain we've ever had in any of our friends and families’ screenings."

Santa Monica College (SMC) students Kelyn Brown and Reef Battle expressed their thoughts about the film during a podcast project they created for the SMC Promo Pathways Program.

“I don’t think it’s terrible, but I don’t love it," said Brown. “Of the 31 MCU movies, it’s not a low movie, but I love and support any inclusion of Kang, as a deep comic book nerd.”

Battle added to the discussion and said there were several aspects of the film he loved.

“I loved Kang’s characterization. Jonathan Majors has killed it in this role,” said Battle. “It’s to the point where I’m super excited to see where we are going with this. He signed a multi-picture deal, and that means we got a lot of Kang coming, and I am hyped for that.”

He went on to give the film his own rating of a 6.5 or 7 out of 10, saying there were some “why” moments.

Currently, "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" has grossed over 470 million dollars at the box office. It is currently in theaters only, and a Disney+ streaming release date has yet to be announced.

Featured