On February 17, 2023, the marvelous Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania made its public debut, ready for eager Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lily fans. As a Marvel rookie, my superhero knowledge is very limited. Through my interest in director Peyton Reed’s film series, I made an effort to binge the previous Ant-Man films: Ant-Man and Ant-Man and The Wasp. As Quantumania has been released, box office sales are taking quite the hit, leaving Marvel to wonder whether Ant-Man will survive.  

Warning: this article discusses minor plot points throughout the film. Read at your own risk.

Based in San Francisco, CA, Scott Lang’s (Paul Rudd) story, beginning in the first Ant-Man film, originates from his history as an ex-convict. As he returns to his old habits after being released from prison, Lang attempts to rob the wealthy scientist Hank Pym’s (Michael Douglas) house.  Setting a trap, Pym captures Lang and gives him the daring opportunity to become Ant-Man. During the first two films, as Lang is getting used to his new powers, he encounters villains, anxious to take him down leaving him trapped in the quantum realm with seemingly no way out.

Taken from the title, the majority of Quantumania is based in the quantum realm where Lang, Pym’s daughter and Lang’s partner Hope, Lang’s daughter Cassie, Hank and his wife Janet have all been trapped. As the film begins, time travels back to Janet’s life while stuck in the quantum realm.  In the course of the film, Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Major) is introduced as the new franchise’s new villain,  and Janet’s encounters with Kang set up for the later major turning points. When Janet and the family reencounter with Kang, they have to quickly adapt to the new environment they are in to attempt to defeat Kang and rebuild the capsule to travel back to Earth. 

As of February 27, 2023, the box office numbers seem to be a shocker, yet still leave analysts not too concerned. Ticket sales are down 69% from its $105 million debut.

“Movies that open with over $100 million are generally front-loaded. In some cases ‘the bigger they are, the harder they fall’ comes into play.”  senior Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian said. 

The film itself is critiqued to be a two hour long teaser for the next movie. Reed captured more of the danger happening in the quantum realm concerning Kang’s character rather than focusing on Ant-Man and the Wasp themselves. 

In my lack of deeper curiosity of Marvel, I am not entirely adequate to review such a multi-million dollar film. However, Ant-Man and the Wasp:Quantumania didn’t ‘wow!’ me. Having binged the previous two films to the series, the two hour and three minute film was my least favorite. Yes, they were stuck in the quantum realm and introduced to many new people, yet all in all everything came to their advantage. With no new major plots or storylines created, Quantumania acted solely as another movie of tiny hero’s taking on powerful villains. In connection to many Rotten Tomato critics reviews, the film lacked in one way or another. Paving the way and giving insight into how new and upcoming Marvel films will carry-on, watch Ant-Man and the Wasp:Quantumania only in theaters.