You can imagine a pitch meeting for “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” — one sticking to references within the Marvel Cinematic Universe — going something like this: “It’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ meets ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ meets, you know, an ‘Ant-Man’ movie.”
“Quantumania” is, after all, an “Ant-Man” movie, following 2015’s “Ant-Man” and its 2018 sequel, “Ant-Man and the Wasp.”
All of them star the ever-likable Paul Rudd, as Scott Lang/Ant-Man; “Lost” alum Evangeline Lilly, as Hope Van Dyne/The Wasp; and the great Michael Douglass, as Hank Pym, Hope’s father and once himself the Ant-Man.
In those two highly entertaining movies, our heroes exhibit the ability to shrink to insect size — and occasionally to become gigantic — as well as to control an army of ants to help save the day.
And when compared to “Quantumania,” those first two romps seem positively grounded in reality.
A science-fiction-inspired, visually dazzling, largely fun but also frequently nonsensical experience, the latest MCU entry — the film that begins Phase 5 of Disney-owned Marvel Studios’ ever-expanding saga — takes us farther into the Quantum Realm.
This isn’t your father’s Quantum Realm (or, more accurately, Hope’s father’s QR). This is a deeper-down layer where Hank’s wife and Hope’s mother, Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), had lived for 30 years before being rescued by the gang in the second movie.
Turns out Janet hasn’t been entirely forthcoming about her experiences in the QR, including what and who resides there. Relatedly, she is alarmed to learn Hank and Hope have been helping Scott’s daughter, Cassie — now 18 (and portrayed by newcomer Kathryn Newton) — with an endeavor to send an exploratory signal into this subatomic inner space.
Well, Janet’s concern quickly proves to be justified, as someone or something uses the signal to pull all five of them into the QR.
Scott, Hope, Hank and Cassie soon learn what Janet knows, that the world-within-a-world is populated by a wide array of intelligent beings, including blobs, monsters and humanoids, one of whom bears a striking resemblance to Bill Murray. (While the movie’s production notes do not hide Murray’s inclusion in the movie — as Lord Krylar, an old, um, associate of Janet — they do keep secret the appearance of a face from one of the first two movies.)
The QR also is home to a powerful presence who goes unnamed for a while — he’s first referred to as “a man” and then “a conqueror” — but eventually is revealed to be Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). Poised to become the new mega villain of the MCU, Kang has MANY variants across the multiverse, one of whom was introduced in 2021 in the Disney+ MCU series “Loki.”
That characters regularly withhold information from others and, by extension, to us is one of the irritations of the screenplay by Jeff Loveness, who has penned several episodes of “Rick and Morty” and is a newcomer to the franchise.
That “Quantumania” is such a confusing mess is another. (If you always understand what characters are doing and why, you get a gold ant sticker.)
Essentially, our heroes need to get home while keeping the wildly powerful Kang from leaving the QR, where he has been imprisoned. Oh, and if they could take him down and free the QR’s inhabitants of his tyrannical reign, that would be even better.
“Quantumania” feels largely different from the first two films in a number of ways, including that key supporting players Bobby Cannavale, Michael Pena, Judy Greer and others sit this one out. It’s a bit of a bummer
On the plus side, Newton is a key addition who, thanks in part to her advanced age, gives the series’ daddy-daughter dynamic a different feel this time around. Cassie, who has gotten in trouble with the law while attempting to help those in need, feels her father is becoming a man of inaction.
Newton continues to have that “it” factor. She lights up the screen, just as she did in her previous two movies, 2020’s “Freaky” and 2021 “The Map of Tiny Perfect Things.”
Similarly, the typically terrific Majors (“Lovecraft Country,” “Devotion”) is fairly interesting as Kang, who’s refreshingly contemplative … when he isn’t on the warpath.
And even with the engaging trio of Rudd, Lilly and Douglass again in place, the dynamic has changed, with Scott and Hope comfortably in a relationship and Hank (mostly) no longer giving Scott a hard time. There isn’t as much of a spark now.
Lastly, Pfeiffer’s Janet is almost as key to the proceedings as Scott, with the veteran actress seemingly dusting off a few of her moves from her turn as Catwoman in 1992’s “Batman Returns.” She really gets in on the action here, which is cool to see.
Franchise director Peyton Reed is at the helm again, so “Quantumania” does at times have that comfy old feel, including in the opening minutes. This is when we catch back up with Scott, an Avenger who has written a book — “Look out for the Little Guy,” about his sizable role in saving the universe — and is working on accepting just how strange his life has become.
If he only knew what was right ahead of him.
“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is a wild ride that will be more to some tastes than others. On the one hand, it boasts a pretty traditional villain — when Kang wears his highly technologically advanced suit, he is a virtually unstoppable force — and on the other introduces a blob named Veb (voiced by David Dastmalchian), who’s a little too interested in how many “holes” Scott has and whose “ooze” aids in language translation.
Much of it is just too silly.
If you are deeply invested in the increasingly weird goings-on in the MCU, be aware you may want to stay for both the mid- and post-credits scenes. (Let’s just say the Kangs all here.)
The MCU probably is about to get even crazier, with a coming multiversal war eventually leading to the announced “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” and “Avengers: Secret Wars,” on the books for 2025 and ’26, respectively.
Buckley up for just about everything, practically everywhere and almost all at once.
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‘ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA’
2.5 stars (out of 4)
Rated: PG-13 (for violence/action, and language)
Running time: 2:05
How to watch: In theaters Friday
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