The MCU is heading toward Phase 5 next year with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quanumania. After fighting Thanos’ army with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, the character is set for a bigger solo adventure. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ant-Man director Peyton Reed is making Avengers comparisons to give an idea of the scope of the third movie for Paul Rudd’s unlikely hero.
The upcoming film will follow the Ant family (Rudd, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Evangeline Lilly, and Kathryn Newton) going into the Quantum realm, where they meet Kang (Jonathan Majors). A variant of the character was introduced in Loki to tease what’s to come, and the Ant-Man director will be delivering the villain on the big screen to set up his time as the next Thanos-like baddie who will threaten the universe.
The character was known for comedic relief in between tentpole films in the MCU. The first film gave audiences a breather after Age of Ultron and prepared them for another heavy hitter with Civil War. The sequel gave some relief (until its after-credit scene) after Infinity War. Now, the Ant-Man director is done having the films be “palate cleansers.” It is time for the tiny (and sometimes large) hero to go against someone heftier without the help of powerful allies like Thor, Captain Marvel, and a Mjölnir-wielding Captain America.
“People felt like, ‘Oh, these are fun palate cleansers after a gigantic Avengers movie.’ For this third one, I said, ‘I don’t want to be the palate cleanser anymore. I want to be the Avengers movie.”
The trailer for the film fits with what Reed said. We see some comedy in the beginning, but soon we see a more dramatic take of the character as he feels the weight of a foe who is a real threat to him, his family, and even the world.
Ant-Man director sets scale to level of Avengers movie for third installment
Some fans have felt the reset point of Phase 4 has been tedious after the epic conclusion of the Infinity Saga with Phase 3’s Infinity War and Endgame. With Kang getting the big screen treatment, some of those criticisms may relax as we see the story unfold for the greater MCU. It still needs to reach a high bar after Josh Brolin’s performance as Thanos and the satisfying conclusions we got for characters like Captain America and Ironman.
There is not much time left before we see what Phase 5 has for fans. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania hits theaters on February 17, 2023.
