Shocking Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania Reactions Are Pouring In
The early word on Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is overall positive with some dissenters but pretty much everyone singing Jonathan Majors' praises as Kang.
The first film of Phase 5 of the MCU is almost here and the critics are raising their voices about the film on social media. A little over a week before Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘s wide theatrical release and most reviewers seem to have loved the film with a few dissenters. One constant through even the negative reviews is praise for Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror.
With scenes set in a bar where aliens seem to like to hang out, there were a lot of early comparisons to the first Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania trailer and Star Wars, and according to a number of critics the similarities don’t end with that scene. Both Erik Davis of Fandango and Big Screen Leaks gave the film high marks and compared it to Disney’s space-faring franchise.
Unsurprisingly, critics can’t seem to get enough of Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror. His debut as a version of the character was one of the fan-favorite moments of the well-received Season 1 of Disney+’s Loki. This version of Kang is likewise being hailed as one of the high points of the upcoming threequel.
Even those critics who don’t 100 percent endorse Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania have at least a few wonderful things to say about it (while usually making sure to send love Jonathan Majors’ way). For example, Daniel Baptista of The Movie Podcast said he enjoyed the film, but regretted that it was missing the “comedic charm” of earlier entries. Richard Nebens likewise says the movie takes “big swings,” and lands “most, but not all.”
The reviews overall seem like good news for not only Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general. The past few years have brought with them record-breaking commercial and critical Marvel successes like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, but Marvel’s recent experimentations with other genres haven’t all proven objective successes. Judging by Rotten Tomatoes‘ critic scores, its two most critically panned films — Eternals (47 percent) and Thor: Love and Thunder (64 percent) — were released in the past couple of years, and at 74 percent, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness didn’t do much better with reviewers.
More importantly, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘s success is crucial in the unfolding Multiverse Saga. One common complaint of Marvel fans over the past few years is that too many MCU projects lack any obvious connections to the larger story. Meanwhile, the third Ant-Man chapter has much more direct ties to Marvel’s Multiverse, and if it doesn’t do well, that failure could endanger the entire upcoming Phase 5.
From the sound of the early reviews, we don’t have to worry that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania won’t deliver on its promise. The third film in the Ant-Man series arrives in theaters next Friday, February 17.
