The suspenseful wait for director Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is finally over as it entered theaters on Feb. 17.

The trailer left viewers in shock when it revealed that Cassie, Scott Lang’s daughter, accidentally sent Lang, Hank Pym, Hope Pym, Janet van Dyne, along with herself to the mysterious Quantum Realm. With the announcement that the movie will discuss the long awaited topic of the realm, the audience was left astonished. 

Not only will Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania be the kickoff Marvel movie for 2023, it is also the first movie of Phase 5 in the MCU. Many viewers have expressed excitement about the release of the movie, especially after the Loki series left viewers with a cliffhanger during its post credit scene.  

Bobby Gutierrez ’25 said, “The creation of the third movie was a smart move by Marvel due to the fact that Ant-Man and the Wasp ended with Scott Lang in the Quantum Realm.”

Ant-Man and the Wasp, the movie that precedes Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, left viewers with various emotions. This third installment has further complicated the MCU as we see it, diverging into the depths of the quantum realm’s complexity and how it affects the outside world. 

Van Whipple, the Russi House Provincial and social science teacher at Archbishop Riordan, stated, “I hope this movie can bring some consistency to the multiverse concept that has slipped in some of the Disney+ content. The success of this new movie depends on how they can weave this movie into the multiverse and Quantum Realm.”

Sasha Ureta ’25 said, “It will be interesting to discover what Marvel believes is beyond the subatomic levels in the universe.

The movie opens with a joyous Scott Lang moving through the motions of his new everyday life, and quickly trails into the Lang-Pym-Van Dyne family getting sucked into the undiscovered realm. As the group splits off, Janet Van Dyne is burdening a secret that no one knows, and eventually leads them into Kang the Conqueror’s clutches.

The mysterious demeanor Kang exhibits is chilling, as the audience realizes the real story behind Kang and his ways. The film strategically places Scott Lang in a sticky situation at the hands of Kang, and shows the real power he holds. 

Unlike any other big threat the Avengers have faced, Kang truly has one weapon by his side. Time. In the Loki series we learn that Kang and his variants discover each other and their respective universes, further advancing time technology, and also bringing war.  

This unfound power is dissected deeper within this film, yet this is only a taste of what Kang can do. As phase five progresses, we will see more of how Kang’s initial creation of the TVA and universe-detanglement was key in keeping the peace across universes. 

The film contains two post-credit scenes that add to the mystery of the MCU’s fate, and teases the continuation of another Marvel series as well.

With Marvel’s announcement of phases five and six, fans anxiously await to see how this movie will affect and lead to Loki season two, Avengers: Secret Wars, and Avengers: Kang Dynasty.