Warning: The following article contains major spoilers for the entirety of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has failed to hit the notes many had hoped it would, and currently sits alongside The Eternals as one of the MCU’s critically lowest-rated movies. The reasons for that outcome are many, but one particularly contentious sticking point, at least for fans, is how the movie’s big bad, Kang the Conqueror, was dealt with.
Quantumania marks the beginning of phase 5 which will include, according to Marvel Studio president and producer Kevin Feige, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Marvels, Captain America: New World Order, Thunderbolts, and Blade. Feige talked up Kang, played by Jonathan Majors, before the release of the movie, and fans had high expectations for the MCU’s greatest villain since Thanos.
Unlike the purple-skinned Titan, however, Kang’s ‘demise’ — this is just a variant, after all — didn’t require heroes from across the known universe to team up for success, but rather, an army of ants.
Of course, fans expect the bad guy to lose. He has to lose, or there is no sense in having good guys. However, is it so bad to show a character’s vulnerabilities, of which Ant-Man has quite a few? He’s not the same type of superhero at all, but full of flaws that are a huge part of the movies.
Also, it’s okay if the hero loses. I honestly would’ve preferred it if Scott didn’t come out smiling in this one.
— Walt (@Uber_Kryptonian) February 17, 2023
It would’ve shown he really was out of his league and instilled the fear that Kang truly was this inevitability and force the multiverse should know. pic.twitter.com/lFR2s0WBd7
There have been some changes from the first Ant-Man in 2015 to this one, and it has a lot to do with the writing. Paul Rudd was a funny and charming escape from the huge and dangerous worlds of other Marvel movies. That’s what made those movies so endearing, but this movie doesn’t have all that. For the Associated Press, Lindsey Bahr writes, “Majors is certainly chilling and captivating, but Kang seems like a mismatched foe for a standalone Ant-Man film and the result is a ‘Quantumania’ that is trying to be too many things.”
Quantumania was a movie…without Jonathan Majors as Kang I probably would’ve walked out. His performance was truly the only thing keeping this movie together. pic.twitter.com/W5SLjT026a
— Walt (@Uber_Kryptonian) February 17, 2023
Will fans be able to take any more disappointment as MCU marches into the future? All anyone can do is strap in for the ride and see where Phase 5 takes us next. This definitely isn’t the last we’ve seen of Kang, so his faux demise in Quantumania may be better received in retrospect.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is out in theaters now.
