(L-R): Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, Kathryn Newton as Cassandra "Cassie" Lang, Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne/Wasp in Marvel Studios' ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.

Quantumania, the third Ant-Man movie, goes small, in a big way, and in doing so kicks off Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a bang. It features many returning favorites, and a brand new baddie that is poised to wreak havoc on not just our universe, but on a whole lot of others.

Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly reprise their roles as Ant-Man and the Wasp, as do Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer, as the retired originals who passed the baton. Cassie, Scott’s daughter played by Katherine Newton, is a young lady now, and eager to take her place with the grown-ups fighting evil-doers and saving the day. This creates some tension between Scott and his little “Peanut”, especially because after his time in jail and being stuck in the quantum realm, he has missed out on much of her growing up.

For a movie series about teeny-tiny things, it certainly grew big in every way. The scope is larger, for sure, as most of this movie is spent in the quantum realm, which has never been explored as much in previous films.

**ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA. © 2023 MARVEL.**

In fact, a sizable chunk of the film’s two hour runtime focuses on Pfeiffer’s Janet Van Dyne and answering the question, what happened exactly to her down there? She’s cryptically hinted at it before in an Ant Man and The Wasp deleted scene where she tells Hank of the quantum realm’s “worlds upon worlds” and how things were “much more than they ever theorized.” And now, we finally get to see all of it.

The Quantum Realm itself never looked better, still filled with trippy abstract visuals as well as otherworldly constructs, creatures and characters. The inhabitants of the Quantum realm are largely unremarkable, mostly expendable story-wise, with the exception of a very under-used Bill Murray. There’s not much time spent on connecting with them and their plight. But that in itself is not an issue, they’re not the focus of the story at all.

The stakes are higher as well, as in this film we are introduced (or re-introduced, depending on how you look at it) to the new big villain, Kang the Conqueror. We saw a version of his character in season 1 of Loki on Disney Plus. There, as in Quantumania, Kang is wonderfully played by Johnathan Majors.

(**L-R): Michelle Pfieffer as Janet van Dyne and Michael Douglas as Hank Pym in Marvel Studios' ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL.**

Not exactly a household name right now, he soon will be as his Kang is going to be around for a while, certainly appearing or being mentioned throughout all of Phase 5 and 6. Majors plays the villain with aplomb, deftly switching from vulnerable to intense, reasonable to terrifying, as the character arc demands. His is certainly the breakout performance.

When it comes to character development, there isn’t much ground being covered, and it would have been interesting to really push the tension between Scott and Cassie a bit further. She’s all grown up and he’s not her hero anymore, and hasn’t been for a long time.

Though even without that added wedge between father and daughter, the movie is already more serious than its predecessors, as it should be because of the danger Kang poses. He is shaping up to be an Avengers-Level threat, after all. However it is still an Ant-Man film, and Ant-Man films hail from the comedy corner of the MCU, so don’t expect it to get overly dark or weighed down with gravitas.

The Ant-Man threequel is an excellent addition to the MCU, with mind-bending visuals, funny moments and plenty of action. The great MCU head honcho Kevin Feige says that Quantumania is the movie that connects most to the bigger picture, and this author for one can’t wait to see how that evolves.

Quantumania is now showing in theaters,

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Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania: An excellent addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe