‘Ant-Man & The Wasp Quantumania’ Review: Peyton Reed Tries To Square Peg ‘Star Wars’ Ambitions Into The ‘Ant-Man’ Franchise With Sub-Atomic Results

Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania screenwriter Jeff Loveness has revealed his thoughts on the negative reviews that the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe film has received.Following the release of the film, which has seen a sharp decrease in viewership in the box office across the globe in just its second week, Loveness has revealed in an interview with The Daily Beast that he was “surprised” by the film’s negative reception.“To be honest, those reviews took me by surprise,” Loveness said, “I was in a pretty low spot… Those were not good reviews, and I was like, ‘What the… ?'”. He added: “I’m really proud of what I wrote for Jonathan [Majors] and Michelle Pfeiffer (Janet Pym).

“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” heralds the start of Marvel’s much-hyped Phase Five, but has received some of the worst reviews of any Marvel movie to date.

Jennifer Coolidge almost joined the Marvel Universe.

NOTE: Spoilers are included.It helps to have a little shorthand with multiverse storytelling and a sci-fi comedy background. They [“Rick and Morty” producers] just hire sharp writers. They really put you through your paces of story structure.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead for “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”Kang the Conqueror may be the new big bad of the MCU, and certainly the core villain of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” but he was not the only new villain to enter the MCU with this movie. We also met M.O.D.O.K, in all his big-headed glory, and according to star Kathryn Newton, filming her scenes with the character was like a crash course in being part of a Marvel film.M.O.D.O.K, of course, stands for Mechanized Organism Designed Only For Killing (at least in the MCU. In the comics, the M stands for “mental”).

WARNING: MAJOR spoilers ahead for “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”Kang the Conqueror made his official debut in the MCU with “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” but, as it turns out, it might’ve been a one-and-done situation — at least for that variant. Then again, Marvel fans have come to know the “no body, no certainty” rule at this point, so it’s hard not to wonder if he’s actually gone.

is not only the third in a trilogy of movies from director Peyton Reed but it also officially kicks off Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film starring Paul Rudd as Scott Lang formally introduces Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror and the film franchise's new big bad after he first made a surprise appearance in the season 1 finale of . Kang's presence is expected to be a major presence in the remaining projects of both Phase Five and Phase Six, with presumably being one of the final chapters in that saga.

Paul Rudd is recalling his time on Friends and reflecting on how he felt being on the hit sitcom thinking that he shouldn’t be there.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Disney’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” buzzed to $110 million at the domestic box office, beating expectations and scoring by far the biggest opening weekend in the pint-sized Marvel trilogy. The superhero adventure, starring Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly as the titular Ant-Man and the Wasp, is expected to bring in $118 million or $120 million from 4,345 North American theaters by President’s Day on Monday. It’s the first $100 million domestic debut of 2023. The film added $121 million at the international box office, bringing its global tally to $225 million. “’Ant-Man’ is the first new Hollywood blockbuster out of the gate in 2023,” says Imax’s CEO Rich Gelfond, noting that $24 million came from the company’s premium-format screens.

Despite receiving some of the worst reviews of any Marvel Studios film, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” has become just the third film to earn a $100 million-plus opening in February with estimates projecting a $104 million 3-day launch from 4,345 theaters. That total is 37% higher than the $75.8 million opening earned by the last “Ant-Man and the Wasp” in July 2018 and is the ninth $100 million-plus opening since theaters reopened in spring 2021.

WARNING: Mild spoilers ahead for “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”The multiversal door has been kicked open in the MCU, and Kang the Conqueror isn’t the only one with a bunch of variants to worry about. In “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” Scott Lang also finds himself in a room full of, well, himself. And according to Paul Rudd, it was singlehandedly “the most complex thing” he’s ever had to do.Thanks to a few brief shots in the early trailers for the film, we knew that Scott Lang would eventually come face to face with himself, and a giant version of himself and, somehow, a pile of himself.

Cassie’s (Kathryn Newton) stepmom, and Hope and Scott (Paul Rudd) aren’t officially married, as far as we know. But at this point, they’re very solidly together, and Hope has clearly struck a good relationship with Cassie — so good, in fact, that the two secretly work together on quantum science projects.With Hank Pym’s (Michael Douglas) help, Hope and Cassie build a device that can send a signal to, and subsequently map the Quantum Realm. It’s something they’re clearly proud of building together, and excited to show off to their loved ones.

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Marvel Universe is expanding!With “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” the interlocking series of superhero movies enters Phase 5, a new era of potentially confusing continuity and even more material that you’ll have to consume to appreciate the full story. But if you don’t have all the time in the world to revisit every Marvel Studios superhero entry since the movies began, in earnest, in 2008, what can you skim to get you ready for “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania?”Consider this the Cliff’s Notes version of MCU history that you can cram in the days leading up to “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” an adventure that sees Ant-Man (once again played by Paul Rudd) and the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) get sucked into the Quantum Realm – a pocket universe where the Wasp’s mother (Michelle Pfeiffer) was trapped for decades.

EXCLUSIVE: We’re hearing from box office sources that Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania zoomed to a $17M-$18M last night in previews from showtimes that started at 3PM. That figure, which could be higher or lower once Disney officially reports later this morning, is where Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2‘s Thursday night was back in 2017, at $17M.

The stars of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania are taking over London!

It’s a wonder that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (★★★☆☆) should work as well as it does, or feel half as transporting as it does, when, by the looks of it, the actors were planted inside a studio for the majority of the action, and it shows. For the size-shifting superhero’s third solo MCU outing, director Peyton Reed — also at the helm for Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp — filmed much of this journey to the sub-atomic fantasia known as the Quantum Realm using technology that surrounds the actors in an immersive digital environment. Rather than emoting towards blank green and blue screens, Paul Rudd, as thief-turned-Avenger Ant-Man a.k.a. Scott Lang, can gaze across a virtual Quantum Realm and perform face-to-face opposite whatever outlandish creatures the filmmakers might imagine.

Hannah John-Kamen's Ghost is not a character that appears in, director Peyton Reed couldn't be more excited that he'll get to see her in the MCU again soon.The character, whose real name is Ava Starr, was introduced as the antagonist of 2018's, which Reed also directed. Ultimately, it was revealed near the end of the film that she wasn't really a villain at all -- Ava had a painful condition that made her molecularly unstable and her battles with Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and The Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) were merely just her efforts to stay alive.John-Kamen is set to reprise the character in Marvel's upcoming, which will team her up with Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Wyatt Russell as John Walker/U.S. Agent and Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster. «I love it,» Reed said of the casting.

Evangeline Lilly stole the spotlight at the U.K. premiere of On Thursday, the 43-year-old actress was all smiles as she hit the red carpet at BFI IMAX Waterloo in London, England, wearing a fun silver sequin gown with plenty of tassels. The look was a perfect match for her gray hair and new buzz cut.At the premiere, Lilly twirled her tassel-adorned dress for photographers and posed with her  co-stars -- including Paul Rudd, Jonathan Majors, Michael Douglas and Kathryn Newton -- as well as the film's director, Peyton Reed. Lilly seemed to first show off her new buzz cut earlier this week on Instagram.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is set to become the next blockbuster Marvel, and is set to be the longest in the Ant-Man series to date.The long-awaited start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s fifth phase is released in the UK from Friday (February 17), and is expected to be one of the biggest films at the box office this year.How long is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania?The original Ant-Man, released in 2015, had a run-time just shy of two hours – clocking in at one hour and 58 minutes. The second film to star Paul Rudd as the size-changing superhero, Ant-Man and The Wasp, ran at exactly the same time.However, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, is due to exceed its predecessors, and will clock in a run of two hours and five minutes – making it the longest Ant-Man film stand-alone film to date.NME‘s review hailed Quantumania as the perfect vehicle for the arrival of “a major new Marvel villain” in the form of Jonathan Major’s Kang the Conqueror.