(Updated 01/11/2023)
We've all made mistakes and wasted time. What if you were offered the chance to have more time to undo those mistakes, and live out the parts of your life that you didn't fully embrace? It's not an academic question for Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man, who missed out on years of his daughter's life thanks to the effect of Thanos's attacks.
In ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA, Lang is offered the chance to get all that time back — and even though he must know he is making a deal with the Devil, he leaps at the chance. Get an overview of that story in the new QUANTUMANIA trailer, and then stick around as we discuss some of the implications of what we've seen so far.
When Can You See Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania?
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA opens exclusively in movie theatres on February 17, 2023.
Watch The New Trailer For Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania
The third ANT-MAN movie kicks into gear when Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), his daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton), Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) are sucked into the Quantum Realm after Cassie uses a bit of technology to broadcast a signal into that mysterious area. There, they meet Bill Murray (more on that in a moment) and, more importantly, the ominous Kang the Conquerer.
Marvel's Phase Five Begins Here!
ANT-MAN 3 features the villain who will be the primary antagonist through the next AVENGERS movie: Kang the Conquerer. While we've met a version of Kang before, in "Loki," this will be his first time on the big cinematic stage. Oh, and the movie also has MODOK! If you're not much of a comic book reader that name might mean little to you, but we're going to change that.
How Much of That Trailer Is Misdirection?
This is a big question with any new Marvel movie. While we think Scott Lang being tempted by the possibility of re-living his life (or living some of it for the first time) is a major point in the movie, what we see in the new trailer could easily be some alternate version of the character rather than the main story path.
In short, keep in mind that Janet Van Dyne says that Kang can "rewrite existence and shatter timelines." So pretty much anything is on the table here.
Who Are All Those Characters In The Quantumania Trailers?
Honestly, we're still digging through back issues of old Marvel Comics to see if we can identify all the characters who seem to populate one area of the Quantum Realm. More were seen in the first main trailer for the movie than in the new one, but there are still several mysteries.
Certainly the biggest character in the trailer is the full villainous form of Kang the Conquerer. The "Loki" TV series version was less overtly evil, though he did not seem like anyone you want to mess with. Here he is presented as the Big Bad he has often been in comic books — complete with his classic mask.
Who the Heck Is MODOK?
MODOK is one of the Marvel characters who is so silly that he loops all the way around the end of the spectrum and becomes cool again. His name is actually an acronym for Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing. Yes, that's right. He's also basically a giant head on a flying platform/helmet/thing. And just as you would if your name was Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing, he scowls a lot.
You might ask why MODOK is basically a giant head. Well, he was originally a guy called George Tarleton, who worked for Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M). An experiment meant to increase his intelligence also drastically remade him physically — and drove him insane. The newly-transformed MODOK killed most of the people around him, took over A.I.M., and has been making trouble around Marvel ever since. And we love him for it.
MODOK briefly appears in the QUANTUMANIA trailer. Corey Stoll plays the character. And, yes, Stoll played a different role in the previous two Ant-Man movies. We do not know if they are related, but it's possible that MODOK as seen in the movie is an evolution of Stoll's Darren Cross character.
The Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Cast
The QUANTUMANIA cast has quite a few returning actors, and several new ones, too. Paul Rudd, of course, returns as Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man, and Evangeline Lilly is also back as Hope van Dyne, aka the Wasp. Michael Douglas returns as Hank Pym, and Michelle Pfeiffer is back as Janet van Dyne.
One big addition is Jonathan Majors (THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO) as Kang. In one trailer he says, "You're an Avenger… have I killed you before?" which is one of the more chilling lines in a Marvel project so far.
Additionally, Kathryn Newton (DETECTIVE PIKACHU) plays Lang’s now-teenage daughter, Cassie. She has a heroic alter-ego too. The movie's poster (above) features her alongside Ant-Man and the Wasp. In comics, Cassie has used two different names, Stature, and Stinger, but we don't know which (if any) she will adopt in the movie.
And, wait… Bill Murray is in the movie, too? The comedy legend let it slip while promoting THE FRENCH DISPATCH last year that he had recently made a Marvel movie, alluding to Peyton Reed as the director. The first trailer revealed how the heroes run into Murray's character inside the Quantum Realm and that he has some connection to Janet van Dyne.
Additionally, William Jackson Harper of "The Good Place" plays a character called Quaz, who could be a version of the Marvel hero known as Quasar. He's one of Marvel's cosmic heroes who evolved through the late '70s and early '80s into a solid second-stringer. Meanwhile, Katy O'Brian plays Jentorra, a character who has appeared here and there in Marvel Comics, but may be very different in this movie. Finally, the hilarious Ruben Rabasa, known for the bizarre "Focus Group" sketch from "I Think You Should Leave," has at least a cameo appearance.
And David Dastmalchian, who played Kurt in the first two Ant-Man movies, now plays a new character called Veb. We don't know anything about Veb at this point, however. He could be the armored character with a glowing tubular head who shows up in one trailer, but that is just a guess.
Are the Micronauts in Quantumania?
If you thought MODOK was obscure and nerdy, buckle up! He's as mainstream as "The Big Bang" theory compared to where we're going now. The Micronauts were characters in a 1970s toy line that was promoted by a surprisingly good Marvel Comics series. The comics, written by Bill Mantlo with art by Michael Golden and Josef Rubinstein, were good enough that the Micronauts were incorporated into the greater Marvel Comics universe.
The toys are long gone, and the comics publishing rights have changed hands several times. But the "Quantum Realm" is basically a rebranded version of the Microverse of that comics storyline. Bill Murray's character, Krylar, was a Microverse guy. So is Katy O'Brian's character, Jentorra. The overarching Micronauts storyline featured freedom fighters battling against a despotic overlord. In this case the overlord is Kang.
So the Microverse is clearly an active inspiration for this movie. Given the rights issues — and the fact that Hasbro and Paramount have actively developed their own Micronauts movie — we don't expect bigger (pun intended) Micronauts characters like heroes Acroyear and Bug, or villain Baron Karza, to show up. But, to borrow Marvel's own concept, what if…?
The Creative Team Behind Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
With Peyton Reed, who made the previous two ANT-MAN movies, back in the director’s chair, we know QUANTUMANIA is in good hands. "Rick and Morty" writer Jeff Loveness is also in the credits, as he wrote the screenplay.
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All images courtesy of Marvel Studios.