3 reasons Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania (2023) is a worthy entry in the MCU

With the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) now expanding over 30 movies and 10 Disney Plus television shows it’s hard for the franchise to feel fresh and innovative. Audiences know exactly what they’re getting into now with each instalment, however, Ant-Man & The Wasp: Qunatumania manages to create a fun and unique entry in the franchise. The film follows our crew of heroes, Scott Lang (played by Paul Rudd), Hope Van-Dien (played by Evangeline Lilly), Hank Pym (played by Michael Douglas), Janet Van-Dien (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) and Cassie Lang (played by Kathryn Newton) as they venture down to the Quantum realm where they are confronted by the new big-bad of the MCU, Kang the Conqueror (played by Jonathan Majors). The film has a unique location and feels like a contained adventure, which is quite refreshing compared to some of the recent Marvel output. To celebrate the films release on DVD, Blu-Ray and 4K Ultra High Definition (4K UHD), I will be breaking down three reasons why Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania is a worthy entry in the MCU. So, without further ado, let’s go!

It’s the end of the world as we know it – Kang the Conqueror –

One of the biggest issues that the Marvel films have, had up until this point, is a strong villain, a few exceptions aside, but largely this has been a massive issue within the MCU. Marvel’s new big-bad, Kang has been a standout so far in his brief appearance in Loki and as the main antagonist in Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania. He is menacing and because of his calm and collective nature, is unpredictable and terrifying in moments. Actor Jonathan Majors does a wonderful job at playing Kang, making him feel real, with a lot of history behind how he got to the Quantum realm and why he is stuck there. Whenever Majors is on screen as Kang, you really do feel his presence and power and that there really is a threat in front of our heroes. Even in the third act, when all the crazy action is happening, Kang’s power is felt whenever he enters the battle. In the final moments of the film, where Scott goes toe-to-toe with Kang, you can really feel the stakes piling up against our heroes, and I honestly did not know if Scott was going to come out of this film alive. It’s a testament to the power a film's villain can possess and the impact it can have on the overall film. This elevates the film from recent Marvel output for this reason.

We’re not in Kansas anymore – the unique setting and location –

One of the film's strongest elements is the unique setting of the film. With so many locations across the 40+ MCU films and series, it's difficult for one of these films to feel wholly unique. Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania benefits from its wonderfully weird and wholly unique setting. The Quantum Realm is very strange and colourful, populated with weird and wonderful characters, customs, culture and locations. The weird textures and strange backdrops add to the overall fun of the film. We’ve had two Ant-Man films set in San Francisco, so going to an entirely different universe this time around was a welcomed change to the Ant-Man & The Wasp formula. I wish we explored the world a little more, the futuristic city was fun, but we barely got to spend any time there. In future instalments it would be a lot of fun if we could explore the Quantum realm even more.  

Darren? The great cast of characters –

One of the films strongest elements, which has been the case for the previous Ant-Man and Ant-Man & The Wasp films, is the great cast of characters. Paul Rudd’s portrayal as the titular hero Ant-Man is great. He is just so damn likeable as the character of Scott. The supporting cast here is also a lot of fun. Evangeline Lilly as Hope or The Wasp, is also great and Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer finally get to share the screen together as Janet and Hank. The two are really likeable together, and its great seeing two Hollywood legends share the screen with one another. New additions to the cast include Kathryn Newton as Scott’s daughter Cassie, Bill Murray as Lord Krylar and William Jackson Harper as Quaz. The film also sees Darren Cross (Yellow Jacket – the villain from the first film) return as M.O.D.O.K (Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing) a new villain once again played by Corey Stoll. The character is weird but also a lot of fun and it was great to see Corey Stoll return. The film is unfortunately missing Judy Greer, Bobby Cannonvale, Michael Pena, Tip TI Harris and David Dastmalchian who appeared in the previous two instalments, but at the same time, the new additions are all a lot of fun.

Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania was a lot of fun. It doesn’t reach heights that the MCU has before, but the film's energetic cast, wonderful locations, fun action and fantastic villain make it a worthy entry in the greater MCU. Well worth the watch especially on 4K UHD. Be sure to secure your copy today on DVD, Blu-Ray or 4K UHD from Sanity’s online store. Link below.

Buy Ant-Man & The Wasp Quantumania on DVD, Blu-ray or 4K UHD Here

Christopher Pattison wrote this blog post for Sanity. See more from Chris here