Phase Four is coming to an end to welcome the fifth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and what a great way to start this new phase with one of the announced films, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The movie is set to release on February 17th, 2023. The upcoming film based on Marvel Comics will bring back characters like Scott Lang (Ant-Man) and Hope Pym (The Wasp). Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania will be directed by Peyton Reed who previously directed Ant-Man (2015) and Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), both films were acclaimed by the critics and it is expected the third movie to be as successful as the older ones.
Marvel is starting this phase with the smallest superhero with a big drama coming. This film completes the trilogy of the Ant-Man movies and introduces a new villain called Kang the Conqueror to the Marvelverse, the character will be the leading villain on 2025’s Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Ant-Man movies have been crucial in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) because they introduced time-travel elements that were fundamental for Marvel superheroes in Avengers: Endgame (2019).
Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) alongside Hope’s parents Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Lang’s daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) will go on a new adventure exploring the Quantum Realm that pushes their limits and pits them against Kang the Conqueror. Cassie Lang invents a satellite that sends a message into de Quantum Realm, this hits Janet van Dyne who lived in the Quantum Realm for decades.
When the family gets into the Quantum Realm, where they meet the host (Kang the Conqueror) who offers them help for them to get back home, what our superheroes do not know is that is a scheme by the leading villain, Kang the Conqueror.
A third movie was confirmed back in November 2019 with Reed and Rudd returning. By April 2020, Jeff Loveness was hired as the writer of the film, and the development of the project started that year during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The film’s title and cast were announced in December 2020, then filming began in February 2021 in Turkey. Some scenes were filmed in San Francisco, and in Pinewood Studios located in Buckinghamshire. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will be the first film of Phase Five of the MCU.
The cast for this movie is formed by Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne/Wasp, Michael Douglas as Hank Pym (who is also a former S.H.I.E.L.D agent), Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet van Dyne (the original Wasp who was lost in the Quantum Realm for 30 years), Kathryn Newton as Cassie Lang (who obtains a similar suit to her father’s), Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror (who is an alternate-timeline traveler, the creator of the Time Variance Authority, also known as, TVA, which appears in the first season of Loki) and Randall Park as Jimmy Woo. We cannot forget that Cassie in Avengers: Endgame was played by actress Emma Fuhrmann, but later the actress was replaced by Newton.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is definitely one of the most awaited movies for 2023. Marvel is loading up this upcoming phase with films such as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 (2023), The Marvels (2023), Captain America: New World Order (2024), Thunderbolts (2024), and Blade (2024). Bill Murray’s appearance was also confirmed and fans are speculating that Murray’s character had an affair with Janet, Hope’s mother. Ant-Man will be back in theaters in the winter of 2023 and Marvel fans cannot wait for this film.
Andrea Rich