Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania / YMMV

Angst? What Angst?:
- Cassie doesn't appear to be all that traumatized and/or frightened of Darren Cross/M.O.D.O.K. upon meeting him again, despite him showing up in her bedroom in a gigantic suit with laser blasters in her childhood, and then trying to sadistically kill her later in this movie. Slightly justified given that Cassie is a teen now, and Darren obviously looks much different than she remembers.
- Darren himself is weirdly smiley, considering his horrific new body and the fact he's reunited with the guy who caused it. Then again, he is pretty much insane.
Ass Pull:
- Cassie Lang suddenly becomes a Teen Genius who is an expert at Quantum Physics, being able to build a satellite that can traverse the Quantum Realm. While pretty insightful for a girl her age, none of Cassie's previous appearances has established her as someone with a genius-level intellect. The movie tries to Hand Wave the issue by explaining that she read Hank's notes and he himself gave her some pointers, but it is still quite a stretch and comes off as a contrived way to kickstart the movie's plot.
- Janet's whole history with Kang and the Quantum Realm. Not only does it raises the issue of why she never brought them up when reuniting with her family (especially considering the danger Kang poses), but it also runs in contrast with her characterization in Ant-Man and the Wasp where she treated her experience as wonderful and how she had no problems allowing Scott to venture inside the Quantum Realm in the post-credits scene.
Awesome Music: Christophe Beck returns as composer, completing the Trilogy and making him the second MCU composer to remain on a sub-franchise for all its installments (Michael Giacchino precedes him on the Spider-Man Trilogy). The "Theme from Quantumania" sounds both like a natural extension of the previous Ant-Man scores while embracing the psychedelic nature of the Quantum Realm. The new theme also feels more mature and epic, musically underscoring the stakes of this third installment and the threat Kang poses.
Base-Breaking Character:
- In contrast to how well-received she was in her previous appearances, Cassie Lang's characterization in this movie has left viewers divided. There are some who enjoyed her Rebellious Spirit and her getting to become a superhero alongside her father, while there are others who found her attitude self-righteous and insufferable, particularly towards Scott over his decision to retire from heroics. Kathryn Newton's performance contributed to the divide, with some either arguing that it's a step down from Abby Ryder Fortson and Emma Fuhrmann's while others believe she gave a strong performance that was only undermined by the writing.
- Kang the Conqueror tends to divide fans on whether he was the best part of the movie or if he was a huge let-down. Some fans enjoyed Jonathan Majors' performance and liked how he was a much more serious and deadly opponent for Ant-Man, as well as his past relationship with Janet giving him some emotional depth. Other fans were disappointed, often citing how Kang came across as a rather generic Multiversal Conqueror and felt out of place when pitted up against the Ant-Man cast. This often leads into arguments about whether the film properly set Kang up as the next big villain for the Avengers to face; with some being excited to see him and variants return, while others felt he came across as rather pathetic for losing to Ant-Man despite bragging about killing multiple Avengers teams across the multiverse.
Common Knowledge: A lot of viewers give Kang the Memetic Loser treatment by deriding him for getting "beaten by ants". He didn't, they carried him away in a Big Damn Heroes moment, but, barring some damage to his suit, he managed to escape them (and maybe killed them) and was in still good enough shape to beat the daylights out of Scott.
Evil Is Cool: Kang the Conqueror is performed very compellingly by Jonathan Majors. He is an imposing antagonist, with most every scene of his emphasizing his strength and intimidation.
Fandom Rivalry: With Cocaine Bear due to being a more quirky film released around the same time that received higher critic scores than this movie.
Franchise Original Sin:
- The biggest complaint regarding Quantumania is how it felt that the stakes were raised significantly higher than the previous Ant-Man movies, despite the titular hero's films being Lighter and Softer within the MCU. This has actually been rather common with some of the later installments for Marvel's solo heroes, like Spider-Man: No Way Home, a prominent and critically acclaimed example of trilogy capper that had massive stakes to match. The same can be said about Avengers: Infinity War, which had higher stakes, a Downer Ending, and was preceded by the lighthearted The Avengers (2012) and the slightly darker, but ultimately optimistic Avengers: Age of Ultron. That said, the Serial Escalation regarding those films was accepted at the time, as the conflicts felt natural and justifiable for each of the protagonists to face, challenged the way their respective heroes perceived the world. By contrast, Quantumania was criticized for having the stakes raised simply for the sake of introducing the next Arc Villain for the franchise, while also doing little to develop the main characters that people were invested in.
- Another thing that audiences groused about regarding this film is how Scott essentially is dragged into the conflict regarding Kang and the Quantum Realm for no reason, making him stick out like a sore thumb in what’s going on. With the exception of Endgame though, nearly all of Scott's appearances in the MCU have him inexplicably forced into a conflict without much choice in the matter, such as when he was picked by Hank to be the Ant-Man in the first film and being kidnapped by Hope to help her and Hank rescue Janet in Ant-Man and the Wasp. This wasn't criticized by people at the time though because Scott had a personal stake in what was going on in each film: being a hero for his daughter, helping Captain America, and helping Hank and Hope respectively. He also had his connections with the Avengers and the Pym-Van Dyne family established early on, making his involvement in those movies make sense. But here, Scott ending up in the Quantum Realm borders on being an Excuse Plot caused by Cassie, so his involvement in the story and connection with the Big Bad doesn't feel earned or organic as a result.
- Another criticism is how for all the hype surrounding Kang the Conqueror and trying to build him up as the new big villain of the MCU, his performance in this movie is rather unimpressive for getting thwarted by Scott Lang, a superhero who has mostly been regarded as comic relief. A similar problem befell Kang's predecessor Thanos. Prior to Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos's hunt for the Infinity Stones resulted in failure, having failed to acquire the Tesseract and losing the Mind Stone in The Avengers (2012) as well as getting betrayed by both Gamora and Ronan in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). But because Thanos remained on the sidelines and left the heavy lifting to his underlings, his failure to acquire the stones primarily rested on his proxies rather than him and when he finally did take matters into his own hands, he proved extremely effective, wiping out most of the surviving Asgardians and utterly trouncing Thor and Hulk and killing Loki and Heimdall in his first active battle on screen. Kang, meanwhile, was the Big Bad of Quantumania and is directly opposed by the heroes, which makes his defeat at Scott's hands all the more glaring since he has no proxy to take the blame for his defeat.
I Knew It!: Many people suspected that Darren Cross didn't actually die at the end of the first Ant-Man movie, due to his death scene looking like he was shrinking uncontrollably instead of anything life-threatening. Sure enough, he's shown to have mutated into MODOK, who acts at The Dragon for Kang.
It's the Same, Now It Sucks!:
- A large complaint about the film is that the changing of locations from San Francisco to the depths of the Quantum Realm and being much more serious and higher-stakes than the previous Ant-Man films caused Quantumania to lose the series' comedic, Lighter and Softer tone that made those two films stand out from the rest of the MCU and resulted in the film having little to differentiate it from the rest of the franchise's contemporary fare. It especially didn't help that the typical Mood Whiplash and inclusion of several comedic moments—aspects of which have since come under heavy fire for being too distracting—was still included in this movie despite the complaints against it in Phase IV. Worse still, audiences who would normally tolerate such humor for an Ant-Man movie actually felt it too jarring for a Darker and Edgier attempt.
- Another criticism is Cassie becoming a Teen Genius, being the one who built the portal to the Quantum Realm that kickstarted the plot. Some felt that it feels like a retread of previous teen geniuses like Peter Parker, Shuri, and Riri Williams, especially since the latter two were in a movie that came just a few months before Quantumania, making the similarities even more obvious.
Just Here for Godzilla: Quite a number of fans tuned in this movie just so they could see Kang the Conqueror on the big screen after he was previously hyped up in Season 1 of Loki.
Memetic Badass: Darren, while dying after helping to save the family from Kang, deliriously states that he gets to die as an Avenger. Despite this being Played for Laughs, some fans have jokingly given him the Avenger title.
Memetic Loser: For all the hype put into introducing Kang the Conqueror in the MCU, some people found his showing here to be rather lackluster. Not only does he renege on his deal to let Cassie go For the Evulz, but after boasting about having killed countless Avengers in his conquests, his defeat at the hands of Scott, Hope and an army of giant ants made him look more pathetic than what was likely intended. This, combined with the murder of He Who Remains at Sylvie's hands, resulted in said people perceiving the Conqueror as an ineffectual generic villain that can be trounced by even the weakest of heroes. Not helping matters is Jonathan Major's dismissal from Marvel Studios in light of the controversies surrounding him, which led to rumours of Kang being recast or having his storyline scrapped altogether by replacing him with Doctor Doom as the Big Bad of the Multiverse Saga.
Memetic Mutation:
- MODOK looks like Mr. Electric.^Explanation
- "Quantumania is a sequel to Spy Kids."^Explanation
- MODOK is sexy.^Explanation
Narm: The mid-credit scene foreshadows the Council of Kangs, which is clearly is supposed be a foreboding and ominous tease for the next big threat the Avengers are set to face. However, seeing several of Kang's variants filling up a huge stadium, complete with whooping and cheering like they're at the Super Bowl, ended up making the scene unintentionally goofy.
Never Live It Down: Whether or not he will recover from his Memetic Loser status in future appearances, Kang the Conqueror will have to live with the fact that his onscreen debut in the MCU saw him getting beaten by ants. While there's more to it, it is still an undignified showing for someone who's hyped up to be the Big Bad of the Multiverse Saga.
One-Scene Wonder: Ruben Rabasa only appears as the cafe owner Ruben at the very beginning and the very end of the film, but he still brings the same comedic energy that fans know him for, albeit greatly toned down.
Overshadowed by Controversy: The praise for Jonathan Majors' performance as Kang the Conqueror quickly died down after Majors was arrested for domestic abuse, just a month after the film's release. Subsequently, fans went from expressing enthusiasm for Majors continuing to play Kang and his variants in the MCU, to wondering if he would even remain in the franchise at all. Since the incident, his only confirmed appearance in the MCU is Season 2 of Loki. Marvel Studios later fired Majors when he was found guilty of the assault charges in December 2023.
Questionable Casting: Kathryn Newton as Cassie Lang, replacing previous actress Emma Fuhrmann from Avengers: Endgame. Some fans expressed confusion about the recasting given Fuhrmann's praised performance in her scene with Paul Rudd in Endgame, alongside the very minuscule age difference between the two actresses. A key point of criticism focused on how an up-and-coming actress like Fuhrmann was sidelined for a bigger star like Newton, when Marvel Studios was once known for giving previously unknown actors (Chris Hemsworth, Simu Liu, etc.) a chance at playing a headlining superhero. Newton's performance ended up being divisive, though most ire was directed at the studio for the recasting in the first place.
Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Darren Cross wasn't exactly a popular villain in the first Ant-Man film, as most people found him to be a generic and bland character who had little in the way of personality and used the same powers as the hero to fight him. This film completely retools him as M.O.D.O.K, turning him into the Large Ham Laughably Evil Dragon for Kang the Conqueror, who is constantly Chewing the Scenery in nearly every scene he's in, and has a far more diverse power set. As such, Darren became far more popular amongst audiences, with even those who didn't even care for this film, admitting that M.O.D.O.K was one of the best parts of it, maybe not effects-wise or writing-wise, but certainly in terms of being entertaining.
Salvaged Story:
- Some fans have criticized the MCU in general for how quickly the world seems to have moved on from The Blip in such a short time. This movie makes a point that there are plenty of people who are still feeling the effects, even if the rest of the world is no longer paying attention, and Hope and Cassie are said to be doing their part to help them.
- Similarly, some fans harshly criticized the season finale of Ms. Marvel (2022) for the scene where the cops stand up to Damage Control, finding it tone deaf given the public focus on police brutality incidents. Here, Cassie Lang is confirmed to be specifically standing up to police violence, calling an officer out for firing tear gas at peaceful protesters.
- One of the most prominent criticisms of the first Ant-Man film was its depiction of Darren Cross as a one-note Big Bad with little other development for him as a character. His usage of the Yellowjacket suit was similarly disliked because of how it gave him the same powers as Scott did, making the battle between them rather boring. This film reintroduces Cross as the Laughably Evil M.O.D.O.K, which made his interactions with Scott and his family much more interesting than he was previously. Being a deformed cyborg also means his abilities are very different now, giving his fight with Cassie more of an edge during the climax.
- The Wasp's outfit from the previous and Endgame received criticism for its green and brown color scheme being too muted, making it difficult to see in darker environments. Hope receives a new costume in this film that has black and honey-yellow coloring, not only making it easier to see, but is Truer to the Text for how the Wasp's suit was depicted in the comics.
- While it's true that Scott's outing with the Avengers in Germany had bad consequences for them, some people had issues with Hank and Hope being overly antagonistic to Scott in the previous movie, as it felt like it was repeating the same dynamics as the first film without adding much else, especially as they were forcing him to help them bring Janet back from the Quantum Realm. This film begins with Scott and the Pym-Van Dyne family on far better terms, with Hope rekindling her relationship with him and Hank explicitly telling Scott that he's proud of him for what he's accomplished. With Cassie acting as a surrogate granddaughter for Hank, they feel far more like a cohesive family unit now.
- A lot of people who watched Loki had become frustrated that for all the hype put into Sylvie killing He Who Remains and creating the Multiverse, none of the stories that extensively involved the Multiverse really acknowledged the events of the show. The mid-credits Stinger of this film shows the branching timelines seen at the end of the first season to give a Continuity Nod to the Season 1 finale, while the post-credit scene reveals Loki and Mobius themselves spying on a Kang variant in Victorian England, reaffirming the God of Mischief's connection to the new Big Bad of the MCU.
- Many fans and critics have noted that the heroes of the MCU seem to hoard their technology, with society appearing more or less identical to the real world despite the development of arc reactors, advanced nanomachines, et cetera. This film explicitly shows Hope running an organization that uses Pym particle technology for various humanitarian and environmental efforts, firmly averting Reed Richards Is Useless.
- Throughout the Ant-Man films, Hank and Janet have primarily remained as Retired Badass characters who rarely participate in the action outside of flashbacks, which miffed some people who were familiar with their statuses as founding Avengers in the source material. This film gives Hank and Janet a lot more to do, with Janet having a personal connection to the film's Big Bad, and Hank using his army of ants to fight against the Conqueror's forces.
Sequelitis: Quantumania was not only considered a step down from the first two Ant-Man films, but ended up being one of the worst-reviewed films in the entire MCU. The most common complaint among fans was that the film lacked the low-stakes heists that made the first two films fun, instead putting the cast into a bloated, cross-dimensional epic with the fate of two different realms at stake. The constant tonal shifts between the usual lighthearted Ant-Man antics and the deadly threat posed by Kang's forces was too jarring for most audiences. Combined with the absence of most the supporting cast from the previous films, lacklustre dialogue and pacing, and heavy CGI effects that felt rushed, Quantumania proved to be a major stumbling point for Phase Five of the MCU.
Signature Scene: The flashback where Darren Cross is shown being put into the M.O.D.O.K suit is the scene most people remember from this film, if only because of the sheer Fan Disservice of seeing his deformed naked body.
Special Effect Failure:
- The design of MODOK has been the source of snickering since trailers. The film proper didn't help matters, as he's basically just Corey Stoll's head stretched over a CGI chair with arms and legs sprouting from it. This has drawn unfavorable comparisons with the MODOK seen in Marvel's Avengers, which is seen as properly balancing the creepy and the goofy, and actually portraying the body horror aspect inherent to most incarnations of MODOK.
- The green screen is sometimes very noticeable, with some scenes where Michelle Pfeiffer as Wasp appears to be talking to the void, or sequences where the actors are noticeably not interacting with anything at all. This is very apparent in the scene where Cassie and Scott first encounter the Freedom Fighters, for example.
- Victor Timely's Einstein Hair in the post-credit stinger is a very obvious wig on Jonathan Majors' head.
Tainted by the Preview: A few Ant-Man fans have expressed their disappointment with the promotional material emphasizing the Darker and Edgier Serial Escalation tone this film has, especially since the previous movies had much smaller stakes and light-hearted tones.
They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: A common complaint of reviewers is that after two Ant-Man movies that were basically low-stakes action comedies set in San Francisco, Quantumania changing locations to the depths of the Quantum Realm and being much more serious and higher-stakes lacked that carefree and fun nature that made the first two films well-received. The lack of familiar characters such as the Wombats, Paxton, and Maggie also disappointed many fans.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
- In contrast to their appearances in the previous Ant-Man films, both Hank and Hope end up getting Demoted to Extra, with Cassie and Janet taking their place as the film's deuteragonist and tritagonist respectively.
- Despite having a prominent backstory with most of the main Ant-Man cast and being a major threat to the Avengers in the comics, Darren Cross/M.O.D.O.K. only really serves as an Elite Mook to Kang. His abrupt Heel–Face Turn and Redemption Equals Death are both played for laughs.
- Many people bemoaned that for all their importance plot-wise, the members of La Résistance didn't get their personalities fleshed out all that much. Special mention goes to Quaz, played by the fan-favorite William Jackson Harper, who only speaks a handful of lines, most of which has to do with jokes regarding his mind-reading abilities.
- Krylar shows a surprising level of depth as a Fallen Hero and ex-lover of Janet, as well as being played by the beloved Bill Murray. Unfortunately, he only appears in one sequence before being forgotten about. The resistance attack at the end of the film gave him a chance to return as villain or to redeem himself, but sadly he does not reappear.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
- The viewers who appreciated the darker themes of Quantumania were let down that the film reverted to the traditional Superhero Movie Villains Die trope which is common in the MCU instead of letting Kang escape that could've lead directly to upcoming MCU movies. Additionally, despite initially appearing as if the film would conclude with a Bittersweet Ending with Scott and Hope being trapped in the Quantum Realm, the movie instead went for a more uplifting resolution with their quick return home.
- The trailers imply that Kang is offering Scott a deal where he, as a master of time, can help Scott make up for the time he had lost with his daughter during the five-year time-skip in Avengers: Endgame (and perhaps even during his time in prison). In the actual film, however, Kang simply takes Cassie hostage and coerces Scott into retrieving the power core for him. Some felt that the former would have been more interesting as it would not only highlight Kang's manipulative side but also adds weight to Scott and Cassie's father-daughter relationship which many viewers thought could be explored better in the final product.
Took the Bad Film Seriously:
- While critics have not liked this film very well, they have praised the performance of Jonathan Majors as Kang, saying that he is very intimidating and intriguing despite having a thinly written role.
- Fans have also appreciated Paul Rudd's performance. Scott Lang generally is a more comedic character but like some of the scenes of despair in Avengers: Endgame, Rudd sells the darker, more dramatic moments well, especially whenever he is acting as a Papa Wolf to Cassie and his brutal Final Battle against Kang in the climax.
- While "serious" might not be the term one would use to describe M.O.D.O.K, many people were happy with Corey Stoll's portrayal of Darren Cross here, especially when compared to the first Ant-Man film. He completely embraces the zany Large Ham concept of M.O.D.O.K, and goes all-in Chewing the Scenery every moment he's on-screen. Yet, Stoll also gives some surprisingly sincere moments near the end of the film regarding his decision to not be a dick and his subsequent Heroic Sacrifice. It's clear that Stoll had a blast with the character, and even those who didn't like the movie found M.O.D.O.K to be entertaining all the way.
Uncertain Audience: One of the biggest criticisms against this film is that it tries to draw in MCU fans who were otherwise not interested in the previous Ant-Man films for their relatively low-stakes and general unimportance to the overall MCU narrative while still trying to appeal those who are fans of the films for those aspects, which ended up alienating both camps. For example, the film attempts to be Darker and Edgier than the previous two films to make things more high-stakes, yet still retains much of the humor of the previous two films, resulting in severe tonal whiplash at times.
Unexpected Character:
- The first official trailer for this film showcases Dale, the Baskin-Robbins manager from the first movie commemorating Scott in his office. His return was very surprising for people, especially given how small his role was.
- The second trailer reveals none other than MODOK, an iconic Avengers villain who very few people would've expected to appear in an Ant-Man movie. Even more unexpected is that he's not George Tarleton like in the comics, but rather Darren Cross, the Big Bad of the first Ant-Man movie who had seemingly perished in a horrifying way at the end of the film.
- Bill Murray's character is confirmed to be Krylar, a character who was introduced and killed off within a single issue of The Incredible Hulk.
- Another character slated to appear is Jentorra, who has only ever appeared in Hulk-related books much like Krylar.
- While it does make sense given that we already saw a Variant of Kang in Loki, nobody expected to see Loki and Mobius in The Stinger so far ahead of Loki's second season.
Unintentional Uncanny Valley: While MODOK is always going to have an element of this, his comic book design tends to be more intentional about it, leaning into the grotesque. His appearance here, as Darren Cross' regular face stretched out, is much more human to try and make his Heel–Face Turn more sympathetic, but inadvertently makes him much more upsetting to look at.
WTH, Costuming Department?: Hope's shaggy pixie haircut has generated some criticism. While it's clearly meant to be a homage to her mother's own hairstyle in the comics, some felt that it doesn't translate as well in a live-action medium and it only makes it look like Hope just got out of bed.

YMMV / Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

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