Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania marks the official beginning of Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But has MCU fatigue set in after the lackluster performance of Phase 4? The film opens with Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), aka Ant-Man, enjoying a modicum of success as a universe-saving Avenger with high fives on the street from passers-by, the release of his best-selling book, Look Out for the Little Guy (scheduled for an actual release in September), and a happy home life with Hope (Evangeline Lilly), Hank (Michael Douglas), Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer), and Scott’s daughter, Cassie (Kathryn Newton).
Did I say happy home? During a book signing, Scott is forced to leave early to bail Cassie out of jail. It’s not what you think. She was arrested during a peaceful protest to stand up for the city’s homeless. She finds herself disappointed that Scott would rather live the rest of his life as a celebrity than help people… like an Avenger should. And now comes the superhero stuff. During the “blip,” Cassie studied Hank’s journey. With Hank’s help, Cassie built a “radio” to the quantum realm.
“…Ant-Man, Wasp, Janet, Hank, and Cassie are sucked into the Quantum Realm.”
Realizing this is a bad idea, Janet tells Cassie to shut it off, but before you know it, Ant-Man, Wasp, Janet, Hank, and Cassie are sucked into the Quantum Realm. Scott and Cassie are split up from the others. Janet is freaked out because she knows what danger everyone is in and never talked about it to Hank and Hope after she returned. Long story short, the evil Kang (Jonathan Majors) was banished to the Quantum Realm by… stay for the end credits of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania or watch the last episode of season 1 of Loki.
While in the quantum realm, Janet unwittingly helped Kang build a device to return both of them to Janet’s reality. However, she figured out his evil plan of domination and destroyed the machine. Now the angry man has become the totalitarian dictator of the quantum realm. He subjugates its denizens and builds an army to invade Earth eventually. However, Kang needs the Pym particle technology that powers Scott to fulfill his dream.
"…fast-food when audiences demanded a five-course meal."
