5 Marvel movies that definitely should have been better
By Bryce Olin
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
- Release Date: Feb. 17, 2023
- Directed by Peyton Reed
- Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, David Dastmalchian, Katy O'Brian, William Jackson Harper, Bill Murray, Michelle Pfeiffer, Corey Stoll, and Michael Douglas
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was the first Marvel release of 2023, which was a little bit of a down year for Marvel (and DC, too!). It's the third movie of the Ant-Man trilogy, and unfortunately, it's the worst of the three. It's not a bad movie, in my opinion. I was entertained throughout. In the end, though, I had to ask myself if the movie was necessary. In some ways, probably, especially with all of the stuff setting up Kang to be the next big bad in the MCU, which has now been potentially derailed after Jonathan Majors, who played Kang, was convicted of assaulting and harassing his former girlfriend and dropped by Marvel.
In the film, Scott Lang (Rudd), Cassie (Newton), and the Van Dynes are transported to the Quantum Realm and have to find a way out. It's an interesting premise, but it doesn't quite feel like the other Ant-Man movies. The first Ant-Man worked so well, even better than Ant-Man and the Wasp, because it's basically a heist movie, which Marvel hadn't really perfected until that story. I would have liked the third Ant-Man to tap back into that, somehow. There are elements of it with the escape from the Quantum Realm plot, but it's just not there.
In addition to it not feeling like the other Ant-Man movies, the character development is lacking. The story is kind of boring at times. And, worst of all, it just doesn't look that good. It's not aesthetically pleasing, and for a movie that is more than two hours long, it better look good.