The failings of Quantumania and the future of the MCU

Is this the new normal?

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is the third film in the solo series for Paul Rudd’s shrinking (and growing) superhero, partnered with Evangeline Lilly’s Hope Van Dyne aka The Wasp. The first two films were vibrant, humorous, and frequently clever, serving as a palate cleanser to the frequently darker or more “regal” MCU films it was sandwiched between. And, this was fine. Rudd’s charisma, coupled with the addition of veteran actor Michael Douglas and later Michelle Pfeiffer lent some gravitas to the proceedings and created a fun dynamic in its little corner of the MCU.

While Ant-Man would dabble in the larger universe with Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Endgame, he would remain largely a character dealing with his own drama, unconcerned with the goings on of the larger stories at play in the MCU. Until Quantumania.

The first film in Marvel’s Phase 5 (man, have we really gotten this far already?) puts Ant-Man and his cohorts back in the spotlight, but this time it’s not about them. No, this time out they are serving as the pawns to kickstart the next big bad for the MCU, which comes in the form of Jonathan Majors’ Kang, who was first introduced in Loki season 1 on Disney+.

That’s all well and good, but the issue is that Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania should never have been an Ant-Man movie. It should’ve been a Kang movie. Or, it should’ve been a movie without Kang. Or Ant-Man. Basically, it should’ve been anything but what it is, which is a bona fide CGI mish-mash of nonsense that fails to spark anything but the occasional whimper of delight, while driving the confusing inclusion of Kang and making his backstory something that Marvel Studios is hoping audiences will follow from big screen to small screen and back again without asking too many questions.

Rudd’s Scott Lang is back, this time just kinda walking around with a smile on his face and dealing with his slow-burn fame as an Avenger. Never mind that nobody has checked into an Avengers headquarters or anything close to some kind of organizational meeting place since Endgame, including the myriad of lackluster Disney+ Marvel shows that have been rolled off the assembly line in the last few years.

Lilly’s Hope is now running some kind of tech firm that carries her father’s name (Pym) and is, like, saving the world and stuff somehow. The recently-rescued Janet Van Dyne (Pfeiffer) is reunited with her husband, Douglas’ Hank Pym, and reassimilated into the regular-size world. Then, there’s Cassie, Lang’s daughter, now played by Detective Pikachu’s Kathryn Newton, who is a fine actress, but is a strange addition to the cast, as the actress who portrayed her in Endgame (Emma Fuhrmann) looked and felt more like the natural progression of a grown-up Cassie.

Cassie is now suddenly some kind of genius who creates a satellite into the quantum realm from the basement in her spare time, because why not, while also becoming an activist for the homeless in San Francisco, which has caused some rightful criticism, especially as she’s portrayed as fairly simple-minded in terms of approaching the issue, which in reality has a lot more to do with local and state politics than anything else. Her basic approach is “we need to do something” a common screaming point of activists and protestors all over the world (and on all sides of the political spectrum), who rarely offer a viable solution amidst their screaming. You’d think with all the brain power Cassie has locked away, the script would be more clever and have her present a way to house the homeless she’s seemingly trying to save, but Marvel dares not delve too deep into a real issue, instead painting Cassie with a broad brush as a bleeding-heart activist without a plan. If they had any balls, they’d have had her transport the homeless to the quantum realm where they would have more resources and a place to start over. Controversial? Sure. Clever? Also, sure.

In the end, you have to ask yourself, are you just looking for special effects and one-liners, or do you want a complex story with complex solutions mixed into the usual magical Marvel mayhem? At some point, sugar starts to numb your lips and you need something a bit more savory to bring them back to life, and Quantumania is all sugar.

Cassie’s quantum realm satellite inadvertently sucks everyone in and they’re forced to try and find a way back from this heavily-populated mini-universe within a universe within a universe. There’s a whole lot they could’ve explored in those depths, but instead, we’re served with one distracting, colorful, and weird life form after another with very little explanation or context as to how they all play into this strange new world. Say what you will about James Cameron’s Avatar films, but his VFX extravaganza gives a lot more connection to the magic, rather than just showing off his wares for the hell of it.

Once in the quantum realm, Pfeiffer’s Janet is suddenly full of more secrets than Gretchen Weiner’s hair. But, every time someone asks for an explanation, Janet says that she’ll explain it later, rather than at that very moment, pressing them to keep walking until they find a way out. Well, I don’t know about you, but if I was suddenly transported to a quantum realm and one of the people I was there with knew why and who was responsible, I’m not taking another step until I get some answers. But, everyone seems to just accept Janet’s reasoning and gives her the space she needs, while traipsing through a wilderness of weird without making any kind of conversation at all.

To me, that’s just silly nonsense. Yes, we’re already in a fantastical world with all manner of acid-trip CGI, but the thing that makes that stuff compelling is how real people react to it. Quantumania just assumes you’re along for the ride and don’t require more information, because, hey, look they’re driving a spaceship with Jello! Bill Murray! An alien that looks like broccoli!

Majors’ makes his first lengthy appearance as Thanos’ replacement, Kang, the next big bad for the MCU, and while his performance is solid, the background and character work are so minuscule that it’s hard to get a feel for what the trajectory is for this guy. It doesn’t help that the post-credits scene is basically a commercial for Loki Season 2, which is Quantumania’s way of giving you a Starship Troopers’ Would-You-Like-To-Know-More? Ad.

Kang eventually captures Scott and Cassie, revealing that he’s killed Avengers in multiple timelines, but doesn’t seem to remember Ant-Man. Instead of an intricately-plotted reason for bringing Scott and his family into the quantum realm (via Cassie’s satellite device), Kang wants Scott to…steal. Somehow, Kang knows that Lang is good at stealing, and wants him to use his abilities to steal back the device that powers his ship, which would allow him to get back to time traveling and killing Avengers and ruling the multiverse and stuff. If he doesn’t do it, then he'll kill Cassie, which is the plot equivalent of a 90’s action movie. This is where we are now.

Scott almost accomplishes the task, until he’s saved by The Wasp, who is very much like an actual wasp in this film, just buzzing in and out after being shooed away. Neither Hope nor Scott’s relationship dynamic is explored in any way aside from an early montage that shows them smiling and happy, and the only dynamic between Scott and Cassie comes in the form of their bonding over being arrested. All the tension-filled, tender, and complex moments between these three characters in the last two films have been shelved in order to focus on Kang and Janet’s complicated backstory, which barely skims the surface.

Herein lies the problem with universe-building films. We never get a clear, complete, and concise answer to the movie’s problem, because the show must go on, be it into another film or another show. We get a little resolution and a whole lot of “to be continued”. While that works in smaller bites, the plotting that makes your attendance at the next film, and the film after that, and the film after that, etc. contingent upon your enjoyment and understanding of the movie you’re watching is some really backward shit.

Another issue with Quantumania is the secondary villain, MODOK. A giant floating head with a tiny body, MODOK has been one of those weird, cool characters from the comics that always served as a fun mastermind villain that you couldn’t wait to see get knocked out by Cap’s shield. He was diabolical in his methods and took himself way too seriously, which is somewhat played with in Quantumania, but ultimately comes off as fairly goofy and silly. It doesn’t help that they repurposed Corey Stoll’s Yellowjacket villain from the first film into MODOK, a choice that’s more than a little embarrassing for Stoll’s talent. He’s nothing like the egomaniacal baddie Darren Cross from the first film, apparently driven insane and wacky after being exiled to the quantum realm. A more evil, angry, and dangerous MODOK could’ve served the film much better. In fact, MODOK should’ve been the main villain, with Kang serving as a post-credits appetizer, not a side dish that took over the main course.

One of the most annoying things I hear people complain about is VFX. For one, none of us are doing any better, so it frequently comes off as the overweight jackhole on his couch that’s yelling at the Quarterback on TV for dropping the ball. That said, there is an expectation that VFX for a Marvel movie fall into the upper echelon, especially as they’ve become notorious for near slave labor on every VFX house in town. Shit, if you stay for the post-credits scene of Quantumania it should come as no surprise that there are more credits for VFX than any other credits in the entire film, with one VFX house after another filling the scroll. It’s no wonder that it’s so inconsistent as it’s outsourced to the gills.

There are plenty of things that look cool or compelling, but the problem is that it’s ALL VFX. I don’t think they put a single practical thing in the damn thing. No practical monsters, creatures, sets, environments…nothing. It’s all green screen and if you don’t have Avatar-level crews bringing that to life then you’re going to have problems. And Quantumania has problems. It’s been reported that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever stole away the VFX crews for Quantumania, but between both of those films I think it all evens out. Neither is especially terrible or especially impressive in the VFX department. The job is done and some of it looks great, some of it looks fine, and some of it looks shitty, which is about as inconsistent as the story, so I guess it fits.

Also, while we’re at it, can we put a moratorium on the whole “touch a button and have a magic suit on” trope? I mean, fuck. I get it, man, it’s a superhero movie, but it’s gotten so far from the realm of trying to be convincing that they’re just like, fuck it, let the suit just pop on in one second, fit to perfection on the user. I’m not asking for a long, drawn-out scene of heroes struggling to put on spandex (although it would be kind of funny), but maybe slow it down and make it a little more convincing as to how it may work in the real world. I know, it’s a small criticism to have, especially for the genre, but the older I get, the more I question just how in the hell they are getting away with that, while I struggle to live out of a basket of clothes in my bedroom.

By the time Quantumania reaches its climax, the whole thing comes together like a last-minute project with people gluing on pieces and taping forgotten items to make it all work. Ant-Man turns into Giant-Man again and invades Kang’s fortress, only for the film to devolve into a mano y mano brawl that has Ant-Man getting his ass kicked, before being saved (again) by The Wasp, who embraces Scott in a moment that slows down for them both to say I love you, which feels like a last-minute “Oh, shit, we forgot to put the heart in the movie” moment. Nothing is built up to it, nothing questions their love for one another, and yet it happens as if everything was building up to it for the whole movie. It feels like a trick, an audience manipulation, rather than an earned moment of endearing sentiment.

The film ends in a similar montage as the opening, with Scott walking around all happy-go-lucky, suddenly questioning himself over whether he won the day or doomed them all, cutting to the credits abruptly as if they forgot to shoot a proper ending. It’s a perplexing end to a perplexing film, that doesn’t feel like it’s about the titular characters, but the setting (and the villain, to boot).

And, let’s not even try to make sense of the first post-credits scene, which has a bunch of variant Kang’s meeting up in one place to…I don’t know what. The Council of Kangs, which is all the Kangs from all over the multiverse, discuss the death of the “exiled one” which is the Kang that was killed at the end of the film, alluding to The Avengers getting too close to touching the multiverse and upending everything they built. It’s all vague set-up with some familiar variants of the character, but we continue to get more and more obscure with the MCU, to the point that these end-credit scenes are no longer for the average moviegoer, serving only the deeply-entrenched comic nerds (such as myself), which may be great for them, but not so much for everyone else.

At the end of the day, Quantumania has a massive identity crisis, as it never settles on which characters it’s actually about. If I went in order, Scott Lang would be at the tail end of that list, as there doesn’t appear to be any real conflict for him outside of what’s directly in front of him, which is a pretty damn boring plot for a big-budget Marvel movie. It’s almost a procedural that’s only missing the Law & Order jingle to drive it forward.

I don’t know what’s going on with Marvel Studios, but I have some ideas. Certainly, the woke ideology has spread its disease throughout the ranks of Disney, but I’m not going to do a conspiracy theory workshop about that. There’s already substantial proof that Disney has a real problem aligning itself with the loudest voices on Twitter and continues to hire people internally that swallow a blue pill with their nonfat chai latte every morning, openly expressing their brazen attempts to inject their own politics into everything they touch at the house of mouse. That shit is a given at this point.

The bigger problem is that the MCU no longer has a foundation, which is (and always will be) Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, and Thor Odinson. You can swap genders, races, etc. on those characters all you like, but they have always been the anchor, not just in the MCU, but in the comics as well. No matter how often they’re killed off, gender-swapped, race-swapped, etc., it always returns to the status quo. Readers anticipate it, wait for it, and suffer along for it, until things are back to that base.

The problem for the MCU is that it isn’t possible to do that, as actors are real people, who age, and eventually die. Characters on the page are immortal. So, how do you keep Steve, Tony, and Thor as the perpetual foundation? Recast every decade? Reboot every decade? I don’t have the answer, but I’ll say that without a foundation, the MCU feels more and more lost and Quantumania is a shining example of that.

At the very least, the MCU needs to reset that foundation, even if some fans hate the characters they put in those roles. It won’t be Robert Downey Jr. or Chris Evans, and probably not Chris Hemsworth, either. Mark Ruffalo is getting a little long in the tooth to jump into that fray as well. So, what does the future look like, then? Well, it looks different, and maybe that’s just what everyone will have to get used to.

As Vision said at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron: “A thing isn’t beautiful because it lasts.” Perhaps Avengers: Endgame will always be the crowning achievement of the MCU, and we’ll just have to get comfortable with that. It’s always possible that the franchise could find new footing, but at this point, there’s no indication it will and every indication that it won’t. Here’s to hoping they find their way again, but if they don’t, we had one hell of a run through those first three phases and they’ll always be there to revisit.

Just as the original Star Wars trilogy is frequently the most revered, so too will it be for the first three phases of the MCU. And, that’s okay. The next generation and the generation after that may feel differently. That’s also okay. History has frequently taught us that the bigger something gets, the more difficult it is to maintain anyway. Just ask Rome.