Witness the beginning of a new dynasty.
Hello everyone! This is a new thing I'm doing for my most anticipated movies of 2023. When we're about a month out from the film's release, I'm going to write a summary of news and rumors about the film while also discussing my excitement for it. This is basically a preview for this movie.
So Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania hits theaters in exactly a month and a week from today. We got our final trailer for the film last night, so people are talking about it a lot. Let's start with the preview.
Plot
In Marvel Studios's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne continue their adventures as Ant-Man and the Wasp. Together, alongside Hope's parents and Scott's daughter, the family finds themselves stuck in the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought was possible. All of these roads lead to a dangerous new enemy that threatens the very fabric of the universe as well as everything Scott holds dear.
History of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Discussions of a sequel to Ant-Man and the Wasp began before that film came out. Director Peyton Reed talked about exploring more of the Quantum Realm in a third film, and said he'd discussed that possibility with the execs at Marvel Studios. A third film was officially greenlit in November 2019, about a year and a half after Ant-Man and the Wasp came out.
All of the actors signed on to return around that time. The script was written during COVID, but production didn't have a start date, because the pandemic stopped all of Hollywood for a few years.
Reed said that the third film would be much bigger and, visually, much different. He once again talked about the exploration of the Quantum Realm and the sprawling adventure that our characters would go on.
In September of 2020, Jonathan Majors was cast in a "lead role" for the film. Although nothing was confirmed at that point, he was heavily rumored to be playing Kang the Conqueror. Kevin Feige later confirmed this rumor during Disney's Investor Day while also revealing the title to be Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. He also revealed that Kathryn Newton would be playing a grown-up version of Scott Lang's daughter, Cassie.
Release dates were confirmed and filming began. Bill Murray was revealed to be playing a villain character in September 2021. Principal photography finished up a few months later, in November 2021.
The film's release date was actually switched with The Marvels. Quantumania was originally set for July 28, 2023 and The Marvels was supposed to have February 17. These films swapped spots because Quantumania was further along in production than The Marvels.
The irony of Quantumania is that the Ant-Man films have always come after big, event films. Ant-Man was the first film released after Age of Ultron. Ant-Man and the Wasp was the first film released after Infinity War. They've always been "palate-cleansers". They're light-hearted. They usually have small stakes. They usually aren't box office behemoths like the rest of the MCU. So the Marvel team decided to change that up and make Quantumania the kickoff to Phase Five. It's the introduction of Kang. It's gigantic.
Writer Jeff Loveness, who is also writing Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, says that Quantumania will have a "profound impact" on the MCU and tie directly into the next two Avengers films.
As the first trailer neared release, the character of M.O.D.O.K. was confirmed to appear in the film. William Jackson Harper of The Good Place was also cast in an undisclosed role.
Why I'm Excited for this Movie
Well, like. Kang.
He's the main reason, but I'd be excited for Quantumania either way. Peyton Reed is a very good director that has a solid track record with both previous Ant-Man films. The writer for the film, Jeff Loveness, has written multiple episodes of Rick and Morty, which translates very well to Ant-Man. There are tons of reasons to get hyped for this movie.
Not to mention it's the beginning of Phase Five. Phase Four of the MCU was a pretty mixed bag. There were great things, but overall, the phase was relatively mid. Quantumania looks like it's setting the stage for a great next phase of the MCU that really hits the multiverse part of the Multiverse Saga.
And let's talk about Kang for a second. If you don't know about Kang the Conqueror, here's a brief history. His name is Nathaniel Richards. He's from the future. He's the distant descendant of Mr. Fantastic. He is a time-traveling menace that is one of the main enemies of the Avengers in Marvel Comics. And he's one scary motherf**ker.
A variant of him appeared in season one of Loki as the man behind the TVA. "He Who Remains" was in charge of the entire timeline of the MCU thus far. He's murdered by Sylvie, a Loki variant, unleashing the multiverse and creating chaos in the MCU. Now, there are going to be millions of Kang variants rushing to take control of the timeline. And this variant in Quantumania is the first one that we're going to meet.
I cannot wait for this movie.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania hits theaters on February 17.
Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man
Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne / Wasp
Kathryn Newton as Cassie Lang / Stature
Jonathan Majors as Nathaniel Richards / Kang the Conqueror
Michael Douglas as Hank Pym
Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet van Dyne
Bill Murray as Lord Krylar
Corey Stoll as Darren Cross / M.O.D.O.K.
Randall Park as Jimmy Woo